Rei nodded. "I plan to do the same if Syfka follows you to the Keep." I knew there was also a member each of the palace guard and the Royal Flight waiting outside the door, one to be my shadow and one to be Danica's.

"Presuming Syfka isn't lying about why she is here, we should be able to get rid of her by finding her falcon. I refuse to believe there is nothing we can do to help that search," I said, opening the floor to the discussion we had gathered for. I wanted Syfka out of my land. I wanted her away from my people, and my mate. I looked at Rei first. "She seems to think your flight would be the best hiding place for a falcon. Is there any chance she might be right?"

Rei shifted uneasily. "She has a point there, though, as you know, it isn't one I care for. Falcons are trained in fighting skills from a very young age. If someone with their talent could impersonate a crow or raven, it would make sense for him to join a group where his ability to fight wouldn't be unusual."

"Crow or raven... or sparrow?" Danica's voice was tentative as she asked.

"Yes," Rei admitted, though he obviously wished he could say no.

"I hate to even suggest it, but you sound as if you're describing Erica. You said yourself that her fighting skills were amazing, though she claimed to have had no formal training. And-"

"Erica's loyal," Rei interrupted, sharply enough that people around him jumped. "I know her. She's no criminal." He seemed to realize he had spoken too hastily, and he backtracked, adding, "Valene, you would know if your niece was an imposter, wouldn't you?"

"I would know." The raven's voice was uncertain enough to worry me. But it didn't worry me as much as Rei's words. They had been too sharp, too quickly spoken. Perhaps he was only defensive of accusations toward his guards, but that alone could be a problem. If he refused to consider that there might be falcons in his flight, he could overlook something.

Though doing so brought up a score of memories I did not want to relive, I pointed out as gently as possible, "Loyalty does not necessarily ensure innocence." I forced myself to meet Rei's eyes as I added, "We've all been wrong before." The crow tore his gaze away from mine and looked at the floor. Rei had personally vouched for a young guard who had twice plotted assassination when Danica and I had initially made our arrangement  -  first on his own, and next with Ailbhe's sister. Rei spoke slowly, every word a little tight as he asked, "What if the missing falcon was a member of the Royal Flight, or was even Erica? What would you do? Would you really be willing to turn her over to Syfka, for torture and execution, just because she was born with a falcon's wings?" He looked at Danica, who held his pleading gaze sadly. "Every member of my flight is loyal to you; every one of them would give his or her life and soul to protect you. Does falcon blood really have the power to negate a loyal guard's willingness to take a knife for the queen?"

He knew. Maybe it wasn't Erica, but either way, Rei knew.

"I would never endanger those I have sworn my allegiance to. I would never endanger my Tuuli Thea, or her alistair, or her people. You know that." He took a breath and said heavily, "And you both know that if you order me to tell you, I will. But I must ask you to consider whether you want to make me betray someone who would give everything to keep you safe."

In the silence that followed Rei's words, Valene spoke, her voice holding the same intensity as Rei's as she looked at Danica and me. "As long as you don't know who their falcon is, you can say so to Syfka and she will believe you, but once you know, she will know. You can't lie to a falcon."

If I knew for sure that someone in the Royal Flight was a falcon, I would want him gone. Unfair perhaps, but I didn't trust falcons. I didn't want them guarding my queen or my child. I knew I was being unreasonable, but that didn't make me any more comfortable.

The only thing that kept me from demanding that Rei tell us everything was my knowledge that Rei would sooner turn himself over to torture than risk having Danica endangered. He was loyal to his queen. Could I fault him for also being loyal to his flight?

This tram of thought was interrupted as something else occurred to me. "Syfka spoke to you about your flight. How did you lie to her?"

"I didn't," Rei answered. "I told her there was no way a simple crow would be able to identify a falcon unless that falcon came forward willingly, and I pointed out that a traitor hiding in our midst was unlikely to be so honest. The words were true, technically. Then I introduced her to those in my flight who were available. If nothing else, the falcon's arrogance gives her faith in my stupidity." I looked at Danica. The Royal Flight was hers to command, which meant that, ultimately, this was her decision.

She looked at me and shook her head. "For the moment, we'll let it drop. But if Syfka does start to cause trouble, we'll need to do what is necessary to get rid of her." Rei nodded, his expression more troubled than I had ever seen it.

"We have some problems beyond Syfka," Valene asserted. "I spoke to Ailbhe about them earlier, but you should hear for yourself." She hesitated, shaking her head. "As you know, when I'm in the market here, I'm a dancer. That gives me a chance to listen to a lot of gossip."

"Go on," Danica prompted when the raven paused again.

"News travels fast," Valene said. "Most everyone has heard that their Naga is carrying a child. But not everyone is happy." She sighed and joined Ailbhe's pacing. Her dancer's garments swirled around her when she turned, expressing her agitation. "People called it madness when their Diente proclaimed his love for the Tuuli Thea, but they thought it was romantic. A child between you two is all well and good. But many people don't want that child to rule."

My hand slammed down on the table as if of its own will, but my words froze in my throat.

Danica's voice rose as she abandoned her normal calm. "Why not? It's their Diente's child."

Danica had only scratched the surface of my horror. I would not allow mob rule to deny my child its rightful place on the throne. Valene turned from Danica to me, as if seeking a more reasonable listener, but she flinched as she met my gaze. She continued cautiously. "The cobra form breeds true with any serpent, except the white viper. So the child of a cobra and a python or boa will always be a cobra. But the child of a cobra and a hawk is a less certain equation. The serpiente don't mind having a hawk as Naga so long as their Diente is pure cobra  -  the Naga's power is always second to her mate's. But they aren't fond of the idea of a feathered Diente. They are even less fond of the idea that any half avian child could choose an avian mate, leaving the serpiente throne ruled entirely by birds."

"It gets more complicated." Ailbhe took over. "Many people refuse even to consider that you would let a half-avian child take the throne. They're acting as if you've already declared your sister's child your heir."

Valene nodded, adding, "They might tolerate a mixed child as your heir if he or she is raised serpiente, and if they are assured that its mate will also be serpiente, but..." She trailed off, not needing to say what the other side of the problem was: Danica's court would feel the same way. They would want a daughter to be given an alistair  -  an avian alistair. Even if the child was male, avian tradition would demand that he be betrothed to a suitable avian girl within his first few years of life. I had worried about how our child would be raised and how people would react, but this abject refusal was too horrific for me to have imagined.

The serpiente were ruled in only a nominal fashion. Loyalty bound them to the Cobriana line, thousands of years of leaders who had treated them fairly. My family had never hidden while soldiers walked the field, or we never would have held our people's respect. They trusted their leaders to keep them safe. So the Cobriana stayed in power, and the civilization survived and thrived.

Loss of that loyalty, respect and trust would destroy the Cobriana. Loss of their royal line would destroy the serpiente. If the serpiente refused to acknowledge Danica's child as their monarch, no number of guards would be able to keep that child on the throne. I had walked this precarious balance before, when I had declared Danica my mate. If necessary, I would do it again.

"I don't think we can deal with this immediately." I looked at Danica as I spoke, searching her expression for agreement or argument. "Valene, the dancers have already welcomed Danica and our child. If they can circulate the knowledge that I will name Danica's child my heir, I can only hope it won't be as much of a shock when the announcement is made." Even as I spoke, I felt the cold knot of fear in my gut. Our child would be born in peace, but would she live in war? "Besides that, we'll have to wait until the protests are raised specifically."

"Not meaning to be troublesome," Ailbhe answered, "but how absurd is the idea that Salem could be Diente?" The white viper's words were answered by a roomful of glares, but he stood his ground. "What I mean to ask is, what is your ultimate goal? Salem will be raised without hatred for Danica's people. He'll have no hunger for war, and what's more, he'll have a civilization at peace to begin with. If peace is your goal, your sister's child will still make a fine Diente."

"And what of our child?" Danica spoke in her calm and detached court voice, which she used among serpents only when she was too angry or disgusted to maintain rationality any other way. My hand found hers, and she gripped it tightly.

"Your child may well be born as purely avian as you are. If it takes an avian mate, its children will probably show little of the Cobriana blood. Again, if your goal is just peace, the child could be raised avian  -  raised to be Tuuli Thea. Each court would have its heir, an heir raised without bloodlust and hatred. You would have peace." For a moment I could not speak. So long as I had breath in my body, I would see my child on the serpiente throne. Diente, Tuuli Thea  -  our child would be both.

"Are you mad?" The words escaped me as I locked eyes with Ailbhe. "How could you consider  -  "

"Zane." Danica interrupted me, placing a hand on my chest.

"You can't be thinking  -  "

"Would you rather set up our child for war from the instant it's born? If the serpiente reject our child for their throne, then you still have Salem as your heir. If my people reject it, there will be no Tuuli Thea after me."

I stepped back from her, horror seeping into my blood. My gaze flickered to the others in the room. Ailbhe's pale blue eyes would not meet mine. Rei's did, but then he looked away. Valene was watching Danica, her expression unreadable. My mate was the only one who would meet my gaze, her golden eyes pained.

"Out," I said, speaking to our audience. They looked at one another, hesitating. Valene first deferred, followed by Rei. Ailbhe lingered a moment longer, and I was not sure whether he did from guilt or compassion.

Then we were alone, and I took Danica's hands.

"Danica, do you know what you are asking of me? Giving up my child to the Keep, to be raised by strangers, to sleep in lonely silence, to be taught to be ashamed of what she feels and what she is...

and to be betrothed before she can even speak, before she can possibly understand love."

Danica closed her eyes for a moment, taking a breath. "I will never have a mate but you. I love you. And yes, I will have an heir. But you are talking about taking away my child."

"What else can we do?" she returned. "Zane, I was raised in the Keep; it is not as horrible as you think. And you would still see her  -  " She broke off, because she knew as well as I that the heir to the Tuuli Thea saw her parents only in formal situations. She shook her head. "Please... Zane, is there another way? Anything else that will keep our firstborn child from coming into the world only to see her land ripped apart by war?" Silence.

"It will be months before the child is born," I whispered, pleading not only with Danica, but with whatever powers might be. "We don't have to make this decision, not yet." Danica nodded, but still she said, "One queen cannot rule two worlds, even if she is of both."

Chapter 7

DANICA AND I WENT OUR SEPARATE WAYS that evening, each needing time to think. I dined with the remnants of my family: my sister Irene and her babe, Salem. My brother-in-law, Galen, had been bitten by a petulant five-year-old mamba that afternoon, and although the poison was not nearly as deadly as it would have been to a human, he had asked to be excused from dinner.

Irene had recounted the tale with a forcedly light tone, obviously trying to keep the mood up unless I decided to share what was on my mind.

Salem lay cradled against Irene's left arm in a shawl-like carrier made of bright silk and lined with fur. She negotiated the infant and her food easily, occasionally humming softly to him when he woke, and otherwise engaging in pleasant conversation.

"Would you want Salem to be Diente?" I asked abruptly as Irene turned back from one of her interludes with the laughing child.

She glanced at me for a moment, but kept most of her attention on Salem, who had just decided to shapeshift. Serpiente children were born able to take their serpent form, though they didn't have much control over it for the first several months and their poison did not develop for four or five years. Luckily my kind had a high tolerance for all natural venom, or childlike tantrums such as the one Galen accidentally stumbled into that morning could be deadly.

Another potential problem for Danica, I realized, before brushing the pessimistic thought aside. That was the least of our problems and could be dealt with easily enough. After Salem had calmed down, Irene answered, "I don't know. Though these last few months have been wonderful, I've seen what you have gone through as Arami and Diente. You and our brothers."