Free The Seven Towers by Patricia C. Wrede

Jermain got so mad he got up and left in the middle of the Council.”
    “Marreth wouldn’t like that, either. I think I’m beginning to understand. Then what?”
    “As soon as Jermain was gone, Terrel started talking about how many army commanders have overthrown kings and how useful a false rumor of invasion could be and things like that. I told Terrel that Anareme was the commander of the army, and anyway Jermain wouldn’t start false rumors. Terrel said, ‘Then why won’t he tell us who he heard it from?’ I got angry and said I knew Jermain had a friend in the Hoven-Thalar caravan and he probably didn’t want to get him in trouble. Terrel didn’t say anything; he just looked smug, and Father called the end of the Council. The next day, Jermain tried to bring it up again, and Father had him arrested.”
    Vandaris shook her head. “I don’t believe it. I thought you and Trevannon had some sense, but between the two of you, you’ve managed to make the most miserable tangle of a straightforward affair I’ve ever seen.”
    “What? What do you mean?”
    “First Trevannon springs a major decision on Marreth at a Council meeting. Then he refuses to say how he found out about it, and then he loses his temper. That would have been bad enough, but you start being helpful and explain all about how Jermain knows a Hoven-Thalar caravaner. Dragon’s blood, didn’t you know that would make Marreth even more suspicious? Marreth would be sure Trevannon was plotting with the Hoven-Thalar, especially after all the hints Lassond seems to have been dropping. Of course Trevannon was arrested as soon as he brought up the subject again!”
    “Then it really is my fault that Jermain was exiled,” Eltiron said miserably.
    “Oh, stuff it in a rat hole and leave it there. It’s as much Tevannon’s fault as it is yours, and it’s much too late to do anything about it.”
    “I suppose so.” Knowing that he couldn’t repair the damage he had done did not make Eltiron feel any better, but he didn’t think he could explain that to Vandaris.
    “Then stop sulking. We still have to think of some way to convince Marreth to double the size of the army in a hurry.”
    “We do?”
    “Of course! Do you want to be killed by the Hoven-Thalar three months from now?”
    “No, but—”
    “Well, how else are we going to stop them? They are moving north, you realize.”
    “How do you know?”
    Vandaris snorted. “Trevannon isn’t the only one with sources in the south; I’ve heard rumors from other places as well. Mournwal is arming already.”
    “Have you told Father?”
    “You think I’m stupid? Another day won’t matter, and I have to know what’s going on here first. Besides, Anareme isn’t nearly as stubborn as Marreth, and she can do a lot without official word. Now, come on; we’ve wasted too much time here already, and I have things to do before tomorrow night.”
     
    Eltiron spent the remainder of the day being measured for what seemed an endless series of betrothal and wedding garments. At first he was glad to have time to think about his conversation with Vandaris, but he quickly found that his thoughts only made him more unhappy. He went over the Council meeting again and again in his mind, seeing more and more clearly every mistake he had made and wishing he could go back and do it differently. Vandaris was right; he should have seen what could happen.
    It occurred to him suddenly to wonder what things Vandaris might want to do before Marreth’s dinner. The thought was unsettling, but at least it did not make him feel any more wretched than he already was. Eltiron began worrying about Vandaris instead of Jermain. When the tailors finally left, he went straight to Vandaris’s rooms, but neither she nor her sword squire were there. Eltiron found that even more disquieting.
    He spent much of the next day speculating worriedly about Vandaris’s plans. Several times he tried to find her, without success. By the