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the things he could not be to her. Words like that could
never be unheard and would lie between them. After years of
marriage, such small resentments festered and became mortal wounds.
He’d seen enough of that between his own mother and father to want
to avoid the same in his own marriage, if at all possible. His
idealism at work again—to be contemplating a loveless, sexless
marriage of state and still hoping for happiness between them. And
yet perhaps it wasn’t entirely blind optimism that made him think
Oria pushed to marry him instead of Arnon.
    “So you call your reasons self-serving
because you’ll get to be queen, which makes little sense since you
don’t really want the power or the glory.”
    He had the impression that she grimaced.
“That—and because being queen will give me access to the highest
level of temple secrets. Which will let me discover how Yar
summoned the Trom, so I can do likewise. That’s how I’ll wrest
power from Yar and relieve Dru from the Trom’s incursions.”
    “How did Yar get access to these secrets if
he’s not yet king?”
    She ticked a finger at him. “You’re good at
this. I didn’t think to ask that question for some time. I’m not
certain, but I think High Priestess Febe broke sacred law and gave
the spell to him. Or she gave it to Nat and Nat gave it to
him.”
    “Your brother Nat was king following your
father’s death, so why was that breaking sacred law?”
    “Because he wasn’t king.” She made a
disgusted noise and waved her hands in the air. “They told the
Destrye that, but Nat wasn’t married either, so the rites couldn’t
be performed. But Febe and the head of the non-magical side of the
council, Folcwita Lapo?”
    “I remember him,” Lonen said with grim
distaste for the overblown man.
    “They both heavily favored bringing in the
Trom once it became clear the city had fallen to the Destrye.”
    “And they now support Yar’s bid for the
throne.”
    “Not coincidentally, yes.”
    “So, marrying me is the expedient choice, I
can see that, but how likely are they to support your claim? Why
wouldn’t they delay a decision for Yar’s return?”
    “A potential pitfall to be sure, but I have
some people on my side, too. My mother, formerly queen, may have
been relieved of her mask and crown, but she still holds a great
deal of sway on the council, in the temple, and in the hearts of
the people of Bára. Also the city guard supports her and me, which
helps enormously. For example, that’s how you came to be personally
escorted to me without anyone else knowing you’re here. Something
I’d like to keep from public notice as long as possible, another
reason to have this conversation here, where no one can overhear.
Finally, though you declined taking a role in governing Bára when
we set terms for our surrender . . .”
    Her voice wavered a bit on that word, just as
she’d been unsettled when he’d said it to her earlier, about having
surrendered to him. She wasn’t nearly as unaffected by him as she
pretended to be. Perhaps he stood a chance of wearing her down on
the sexless marriage concept. Surely there must be ways for their
women to be touched, or there would never be babies. He might not
be a Báran man, or a priest, but he knew how to pleasure a woman.
If nothing else, Natly with her bold demands and sensuous nature
had taught him that much.
    Oria had found her composure again, her
stride more measured as she paced. “The treaty might say that you
did not care to exact governorship of Bára in any way, but you are king of the Destrye and you did conquer Bára. They won’t
like it, and I might have a fight on my hands, but they’ll have to
acknowledge that Bára, and everything and everyone in it, belongs
to you, by right of the ancient laws.”
    A heady thought, that Oria already belonged
to him. Had he been one of his rougher ancestors, he likely would
have already dragged Oria back to Dru with him as a war prize, his
to do with