She displayed her handful of dirt, and the small sprout with two leaves poked up about four fingers in height. “They’re growing!”
Grigori Orlov opened his arms and pulled the child onto his lap. “Show me, Katerina. That’s incredible!” The dour high lord beamed. “In such a short time too?”
“The high lord’s daughter,” Sergei murmured to Amber.
Both Katerina and her father ignored the dirt spilling out onto the floor. Grigori scooped the dirt and sprout from his daughter’s hands and then gently shook out the soil, adding to the mess. “Look at the roots. A strong plant needs good roots. They’re thick and wide, see?” He laid the sprout flat on his palm and pulled his daughter close. “If they’re all like this, you’ve done an excellent job.”
“Really?” Katerina squirmed.
“Come,” Sergei said to Amber, leading her to the balcony and closing the doors behind them.
Amber breathed in the fresh springtime air wafting from the city across the moat. She realized her hands were shaking, and she clasped them, one inside the other.
“I’m sorry,” Sergei said. “I’ve tried to convince the high lord to agree to your proposal, but he only cares for Vezna and for watching his daughter grow.”
Amber looked out at the Juno Bridge, a tall arch spanning the moat. The high lord had conceded to let her mount her reflector on a single rod fixed to the living bridge. Amber had placed the device in the center of the bridge so that the prism was high in the sky, above the tops of the trees, but also visible in the palace.
Amber took relief from the fact that the reflector was dark. The chain of towers reached all the way to Sarostar via Samson’s Bridge. It stretched to Ralanast and to Seranthia. No distress call had been sent.
“What else can I say?” Amber said. “I was there. I saw what’s coming with my own eyes. Vezna isn’t safe. If Altura falls, your lands will too.”
“Perhaps you should go home, my Lady,” Sergei said gently.
Amber shook her head. “I can’t leave without a promise of aid. I’ll stay for as long as it takes.”
“The high lord’s hospitality only extends so far.”
“Then he’ll have to lock me up.” Amber lifted her chin. “He can try to cast me out, but I’ll just come back.”
Sergei let out a breath. “You are determined.” He gave her his charming smile. “I will continue to work on your behalf.”
The next day, at mid-morning, Amber walked around the Borlag, following the thin strip of land surrounding the high lord’s palace. She felt cooped in the brooding interior and needed to stretch her legs.
Katerina, the high lord’s daughter, sat playing in a puddle, her golden hair in a wild tangle. She pulled at the weeds on the edge of the puddle, clearing a space around a single solitary summerglen.
Amber sighed. As always, she missed Tomas. She crouched at Katerina’s side.
“Hello, Katerina, isn’t it? I’m Amber,” she said warmly. “What are you doing there?”
“I’m saving this flower’s life,” Katerina said loftily. “My father says healthy plants must be encouraged, and weeds rooflessly destroyed.”
“Ruthlessly,” Amber corrected, smiling. “Your father is a wise man,” she added.
“Papa says I’m going to be high lady one day,” Katerina said, pausing to beam at Amber. “Then I won’t have to do lessons, and I can make better plants than anyone ever.”
“That’s wonderful,” Amber said.
As Katerina returned to her weeds Amber’s brow furrowed. Vezna was famed for its court intrigues. What would the conservative Veznans think of a woman ruling their house?
“Your rings are pretty,” Katerina said. “I like that one best.” She pointed to the emerald-set ring Miro had presented to Amber the day he’d proposed. “It’s green, like a tree!”
“Green’s my favorite color,” Amber said. “Is it yours too?” Katerina nodded. “This ring belonged to my husband’s mother, and my husband gave it to me when we were married.”
“Will I have to marry?” Katerina asked, turning to Amber with serious eyes as she plucked at the weeds. “I don’t want to.”
“That’s your choice,” Amber said. She hoped it would be, at any rate.
On a whim, Amber pulled off the pale silver ring with a small ruby she wore on the smallest finger of her right hand. It was tight and took some yanking, but she managed to get it off.
“I’d like to give you this as a gift. It’s not as pretty as my emerald ring, but it’s just as special.”
“Why?” Katerina asked.
“It has a special power. Do you want to see?”
Katerina immediately lost interest in her weeding, staring in fascination at the ring. “Show me!”
Amber held the ring out carefully in two fingers, looking at the tiny symbols spanning the circle. It was simple, but she’d made it herself, and was quite proud of it.
Amber spoke the activation sequence. “Tuhlanas.”
The symbols glowed softly and the ruby began to shine. “Put your hand close to the ring with your palm out. No, don’t touch it.”