Free The Black King (Book 7) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch Page A

independent member of my family I have met in years.” It was an obvious compliment from a woman who gave none. She beckoned with her hand. “Come stand beside me, and look at this small kingdom. Do you know how insignificant it is?”
    The switch in topic startled Lyndred. She crossed the room, past the columns and the tables, until she reached the floor-to-ceiling bubbled glass.
    Below, the courtyard was barely visible, and beyond it, the city of Jahn extended for miles. Her great-grandfather Rugad, the Black King, had been killed east of here. This land was powerful enough to slaughter the greatest of the Fey. She did not think it insignificant.
    Arianna was watching her. “You disagree with me, don’t you?”
    The question wasn’t hostile. Arianna seemed to like Lyndred’s spirit, even though Lyndred didn’t know why.
    “I think any place that can defeat the Black King has to have significance,” Lyndred said.
    Arianna’s body went rigid. It seemed like an involuntary movement. Then she relaxed. “Blue Isle is part of the Fey Empire now.”
    “Yes,” Lyndred said, “but it’s the only part that entered voluntarily. You could have held this place against the rest of the Empire, and dared them to try to take it.”
    “I could have,” Arianna said, as if that had never crossed her mind.
    “Our grandfather tried to conquer this place and failed, then our great-grandfather tried and failed. That makes Blue Isle significant, don’t you think?”
    This train of thought seemed to bother Arianna. Lyndred felt a perverse pleasure at shaking her seemingly unshakeable cousin.
    “I think,” Arianna said, “that the Black King ultimately got what he wanted. Blue Isle is part of the Fey Empire, ruled by Fey.”
    “With its own traditions intact,” Lyndred said.
    “Like Nye.” There was a definite edge to Arianna’s voice, one Lyndred had never heard.
    “And if the Islanders rebelled in any way, we don’t know if we can hold them down.”
    “Are you sleeping with a rebel then?”
    “No,” Lyndred said. “You called this place insignificant. I told you I didn’t think it was.”
    Arianna took a deep breath as if she were trying to calm herself. Then she turned back toward the window. “What made you do so much thinking about Blue Isle?”
    Lyndred felt dizzy. She could talk about Visions now, and Arianna was the one who opened the door. Unexpectedly.
    “My Visions,” Lyndred said. “They’ve increased since we’ve come here.”
    “Do you think that’s because of the Isle or because something significant has happened?” Legitimate questions, both of them, but neither were very helpful. Arianna was good at word games.
    Lyndred would have to be direct. “Have your Visions increased lately?”
    The skin around Arianna’s eyes tightened, as if she were struggling to control her expression. “Since you arrived?”
    “Yes,” Lyndred said, her heart pounding.
    “No,” Arianna said. “My Visions have not increased.”
    “What about other Visionaries? I haven’t talked to any. The Infantry Leaders seem too busy with maneuvers, and I don’t know of any others.”
    “Except your father.”
    Lyndred always forgot that her father had Vision. It was so minor that it seemed like he had none at all. “My father rarely Sees anything.”
    Arianna was silent. Lyndred hadn’t expected that.
    “So,” Lyndred said, “if no one else has had increased Visions because of my arrival, then it must be the Isle that’s doing it.”
    Arianna tilted her head upward. A Hawk Rider circled around the tower, and then soared toward the courtyard below. Arianna’s eyes tracked it. Lyndred watched it too, wishing it were a Gull Rider, wishing it were Ace, but knowing it was not.
    “You give this Isle too much power,” Arianna said.
    “I give it none that it doesn’t deserve,” Lyndred said. “It killed a Black King.”
    “Did it?” Arianna’s voice was cool. “I still feel his power.”
    A chill ran down