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Chapter Four
    Garrick waited impatiently at the head of the table the following night’s meal. People were milling about, awaiting the dinner gong to be sounded, chatting about in the usual small gossiping groups. He sat at the head of the table alone, an empty chair on his right. Usually the chair was occupied by whatever female caught his fancy or entertained his mind, but he had seen it purposely empty tonight. He had a very different sort of female in mind to fill it. A woman of intriguing intelligence that had proven herself a creature loyal to her family. She had also proven herself to be honest in the face of the king…even to her detriment. She had done so bravely and steadily, as if lying or coddling had never and would never occur to her.
    It was refreshing to say the least. Most women were so busy vying for position beside him that they would cater to his every need and mood. Often to the point of annoyance. The truth was, he hadn’t actually had a woman in his bed for the better part of a misra. Women had been getting on his nerves lately. He did not have nearly half as many conquests as people thought he did. He would seat a woman to his right for the sake of having conversation and company and either people automatically assumed he would be taking that woman to bed, or the woman herself would claim that he had in order to raise her own standing in the eyes of her peers. This generally amused him, and it enriched his reputation of his prowess, so he never corrected the lies.
    But lately…lately all he had wanted was someone to be honest. With him and with others. Someone who was not so interested in what position she could gain by use of him.
    Sarea had jockeyed for position, but not for herself. She had merely wanted him to notice her brother. And, as it happened, he was a young man worth noticing. Garrick was glad she had drawn his attention to him. There were many candidates for Trusted, but he saw something in Dakon that deserved to be nurtured.
    No sooner had he thought of him then the man himself appeared in the arched doorway leading into the night’s meal hall. Garrick waited. And waited. But Dakon’s sister did not appear after him. He stood up, radiating impatience as he walked directly to Dakon. Dakon immediately knelt before him, but Garrick pulled him back up to his feet.
    “A bow will suffice, Dakon,” he said. Then without preamble, “Where is your sister?”
    Dakon flushed. “I am sorry but…my sister has had to decline your kind offer of taking night’s meal with you. She and my mother are previously occupied. There is dashu fever in the southlands and as is her duty she is tending to the farmers there.”
    “She is exposing herself to dashu fever?” Garrick asked, immediately worried for the girl and her mother. Dashu fever was quite contagious. “That is insane!”
    “I-it is part of her duties as a woman of our house—“
    “Hannibol!” Garrick shouted, sending a wave of stunned silence throughout the dining hall.
    “Yes, my king?” Hannibol said, hurrying to be by his king’s side. If something was wrong because of one of his men of the Order, he would see it rectified immediately. “Is there something amiss with this soldier?”
    “Only that he cannot seem to corral his sister for a single night’s meal with me,” Garrick said. “There is dashu fever in the southlands?”
    “I had not heard—“
    “Dakon says his mother and sister are tending to the sick,” Garrick said. “Are there no medics in the southlands? Why have I not heard of this? We should be sending medics to tend the sick, not expecting our healthy females to risk themselves.”
    An unassailable fear had gripped Garrick. He knew firsthand what a dangerous fever could wreak on a female. He had lost his young queen to a wicked fever ten yana ago almost to the day. It had not been a love match, it had been a political one, but he had been friends with his queen. Good friends. And it had hurt