Erik’s mood had not improved by the time he arrived home. If the queen had summoned who Erik thought it was, then he was in for trouble ahead. The only woman he knew who had any meaningful connection to the university in Raine was Ileana Thallion. He had known her for nearly ten years before she’d left Tyrsiln six years ago, and they had been close during that time.

The sun was low on the horizon when Erik rode through the gate. The manor was ancient and reflected the fact that it had once been among the outlying farms until the city had grown up around it. The few windows facing the streets were narrow, barely more than arrow slits. The walls were stout and topped with what looked suspiciously like a parapet, and the gates, though standing open, were made of well-kept oak timbers reinforced with iron bands.

Erik dismounted in the courtyard. He sighed wearily when his horse bared his teeth at the approaching groom. “Go with him, Anfa,” he told the horse softly in Elvish.

Anfa looked at Erik questioningly, flicked his ears, and stomped one forehoof.

Erik sighed, roughed the big warhorse’s mane, and handed the reins off to the nervous groom. “Be careful with him,” he told the lad. “We’re both feeling a bit on edge right now. Wait until he calms down a bit to rub him down and unsaddle him, or he’s likely to bite you. He’ll calm down once he realizes we aren’t going anywhere.”

The groom nodded, looking uncertainly at the horse. “Yes, my lord,” he replied dubiously.

“Give him some water and feed, it’ll help,” Erik added.

“Yes, my lord,” the groom said, seeming surer of himself as he led the horse toward the stables.

Erik stalked toward the door. It opened before he reached it, and a tall, lean man in his late fifties stepped out. The man wore a silver-trimmed black tunic which was commonly worn by the serving men of the Vespin household, and his boots were polished enough for an inspection. His graying hair and beard were kept close-cropped and meticulously trimmed, and his blue eyes bore the squint and furrowed brow of men who spent much time reading in dimly lit places. He didn’t look like a serving man, though. His body was lean, his shoulders were broad, and he carried himself with the peculiar alertness of a trained warrior. He bowed elegantly as Erik neared. “Welcome back to Raine, my lord,” he greeted Erik.

“Thank you, Alwin,” Erik replied with a slight inclination of his head as he stepped into the entryway.

Alwin smiled. “It’s good to see you back in one piece,” the old man remarked gravely as he followed Erik back inside. “I just put warm water in the kettle and basin by the door.”

Erik nodded as he stepped over to a kettle and basin on a stand by the door. “How have things been here,” he asked Alwin while he began washing his hands and face.

“Some fears of the war in the passes caused an increase in the prices of wheat and certain other goods, my lord,” Alwin reported. “We anticipated it and overstocked before your departure. With news of your success, prices are beginning to return to normal. As per your request, we have enough on hand for the household to remain well-fed for six months, but most of the overstock remains.”

Erik nodded and dried his face. “How much do we need to make up our losses here,” he asked.

“None, my lord,” Alwin replied, “but I can sell the overstock. That should help to drive prices back down for everyone else, too.”

“How much do you think we could sell it for?”

“Fifty pfund, my lord.”

Erik grimaced and thought for a moment. “Give a tenth to the Hospital of Saint Margarite,” he told Alwin. “Sell the rest, and use it to pay off what I owe Gregor Autgar for his help. If there’s anything left, then use it to replenish the treasury in Drassen.”

Alwin bowed deeply. “As you command, my lord,” he said and motioned toward the short corridor opposite the entrance. “If you would come with me, my lord.”

Erik was surprised that Alwin left his report there and led the way across the foyer to the small, private garden around which the manor had originally been built. “A guest arrived while you were presenting yourself before her majesty, my lord,” Alwin said with a peculiar note of concern in his voice. “She’s waiting in your mother’s old garden.”

“What’s wrong, Alwin,” Erik asked the man directly.

“You’ll understand in a moment, my lord,” Alwin cautioned him and quietly opened the door.

Erik cast a glance at Alwin and stepped into the garden. The last pieces of the puzzle fell into place, confirming all of Erik’s suspicions as the old steward closed the door quietly, leaving him alone with the guest. He took a few steps into the garden and stopped.

A blonde, elven woman sat in a wicker chair with her back to Erik. She sat to the left of a small table, watching a bird perched on the oak tree which his mother had planted in the middle of the garden before he was born. His stomach lurched, and his throat caught. He stood watching her, and then took a few steps forward.

Neither of them spoke for a long moment. From where he stood, Erik could see that she was breathing deeply, as if she was afraid to turn around. Finally, she smoothed her skirts and spoke without turning. “Hello, Erik,” she said quietly, a voice that was richer than Erik remembered.

Erik remained silent for a short moment as the affection he had once felt for the woman before him fought with the pain her departure nearly six years before had caused. “Ileana,” he replied numbly.

Ileana stood and came around the chair toward Erik. Though she was older than him, he remembered her looking like a girl of sixteen when she left. He was immediately aware of how she’d grown, though she still looked to be ten years younger than him. She was tall for a woman, standing almost to his shoulders. She wore a simple green dress with a sweeping neckline, and she’d pinned the hem of the outer skirt to her hip with a brooch, revealing the lighter green chemise beneath. A trio of emeralds hung from an intricate necklace that fit closely around her slender neck, and a pair of small, cylindrical earrings hung from her delicately pointed ears. She walked with a carefully measured grace, and her slippered feet made no sound. Erik’s heart pounded in his chest as she crossed the distance between them. “It’s been a long time,” she said in a lilting accent, looking up at him.

Erik and Ileana considered each other. Her green eyes were as bright and curious as he remembered, but she carried herself more confidently. Ileana saw a quiet tension in Erik’s shoulders and a distant, haunted look in his eyes. His once serious face had turned grim, and there was a hardness to his features that she didn’t remember. Erik was left at a loss for words as he watched her, and he packed down the thoughts that came to him. Then, his jaw clenched, and he stepped past her to the table. He poured himself a glass of wine and stared quietly across the garden for a moment. “Why did you come back,” he asked her.

“I came because Anna is ill,” Ileana replied in a puzzled voice, and then sighed sadly. “And, I think it’s time that we made peace.”

Erik leaned his palms on the table. “You have the worst timing,” he said. Then he shook his head and turned to face Ileana. “Anna is dying.”

Ileana looked away. “I’m sorry, Erik,” she replied quietly. “I know how grave Anna’s condition is, and I know how all of this must seem to you. But, please, believe me when I tell you that not all hope is lost.”

Erik shook his head firmly.

“Erik, just give me a moment.”

Erik fixed Ileana in his steely gaze for a long moment, leaning against the table. He was glad that it was bolted to the flagstone patio surrounding the oak tree, since it was the only thing keeping him on his feet at the time.

“The university.”

“They’re refusing to help us.”

“Not quite,” Ileana corrected in a matter-of-fact tone that grated on Erik’s nerves. “They’re refusing to aid the Hunters. I have access that neither the Hunters nor even Patryk enjoy, though.”

Erik sighed, set his wineglass down, and set his palms at the edge of the table. “All right, I’ll bite,” he said. “What did you find?”

Ileana sighed. “Something like this has happened before,” she replied excitedly. “Shortly before your kingdom broke away from the old Heranian Empire, their emperor fell deathly ill. A cure was affected at the time. I think that there might be something in the old records at the university here that will lead to it.”

“That’s pretty thin,” Erik pointed out.

“I know, but a lot of research starts that way,” Ileana objected. “Besides, these aren’t exactly ordinary circumstances.”

Erik tilted his head to the side. “This is an act of desperation,” he observed. “You’re making sure that you’ve tried everything.”

Ileana shrugged. “That would be a roughly accurate assessment, yes,” she admitted.

“What if you’re wrong,” Erik asked.

Ileana frowned, and Erik immediately saw that she hadn’t even considered the possibility. That much hadn’t changed about her. She began pacing. “It’s a chance, Erik,” she replied, abruptly stopped pacing, and looked down at the ground. She paused for a long moment, and her voice trembled when she continued speaking. “It’s this or both of us will lose a dear friend.”

“What do you want from me?”

Ileana sighed. “I need somebody I can trust to watch my back,” she answered.

Erik eyed Ileana intently.

“It’s why I’m here now, Erik,” Ileana continued quietly. “I came to ask for your help. I’m not incapable of defending myself, but I can’t do that while I’m working.”

Erik shook his head sadly and turned away from Ileana.

Ileana glared at Erik’s back. “Erik, I,” she began, then shook her head. “Erik, I’m not leaving.”

Erik slammed his palms down on the table and turned to Ileana. His reply died on his lips.

Ileana stared at Erik quietly.

Erik got a rein on his temper, turned back to the table, and heaved a sigh. “Why did you come to me,” he demanded.

Erik didn’t see the serious look on Ileana’s face as she regarded him. “Because I still remember a young man who would put himself between a young girl and harm,” she replied.

Erik’s head came up suddenly. He hadn’t expected her to bring that up.

“And, because I see before me now a man who would still do the same, time after time, without even considering the cost.”

Erik turned slightly to look at Ileana over his shoulder.

Ileana blushed and turned away. “You know I’m going to do this, anyway,” she said.

Erik rounded on Ileana. “No, you won’t,” he roared. “If I have to tie you to a horse and send you back to Dunlain, I will!”

Ileana’s eyes flashed, and she stepped up to Erik. “I’m not a little girl anymore, Erik,” she told him.

“Believe me, I’ve noticed,” Erik replied dryly.

Ileana blushed, turned around, and tried without success to pull the neckline of her dress up. She turned and glared up at Erik. It was one more thing that had changed. Now, she was pretty when she was mad. “So, you’re just going to sit back and do nothing,” she replied acidly.

“No,” Erik growled.

“What would you do, then, Wolf of Vespin,” Ileana asked, her voice almost taunting. “March the Hunters into the university and force them to aid you at sword point?”

“If that’s what it takes to make them see reason, yes,” Erik replied through clenched teeth.

Ileana sighed in exasperation and shook her head. “No, I don’t think you would,” she snapped back. “Maybe this monster you’ve made yourself out to be to remind the unrulier lords to fear the Hunters would do it. But, I find it difficult to believe that you would do it when a less destructive path lies in front of you.”

Erik shook his head. “You know so little of me anymore, Ileana,” he said quietly. “You have no idea what I’ve had to do in the years since you left.”

Ileana shook her head. “I know a great deal, Erik,” she replied sadly. “If I thought for a moment that you’d become a monster, though, then I never would have sent Cainneach to the Hold.”

Erik leaned back against the table and crossed his arms. He stared down at his boots to collect his wits.

Ileana watched Erik with a serious look on her face.

Erik remembered what Estrid had said. She’d known that he would balk, and he knew that Ileana would be in danger the moment people caught wind of what she was doing. He breathed a sigh. “You can be difficult when you set your mind to it,” he told Ileana tiredly. “We can start the day after tomorrow. I need to be at the Baronial Court to keep them off your back, and then we’ll need to meet with the queen to formalize our arrangement. Then, we can begin.”

Ileana heaved a sigh. “Erik, I’d really like to get started,” she protested.

Erik shook his head. “We can’t afford to take shortcuts right now,” he explained patiently

“Fine,” Ileana conceded.

The two stood watching each other for a while.

“Ileana,” Erik said.

“Yes?”

“We probably have a month to do this, two at most. After that, even the dumbest of the lords and barons will smell blood. They’ll start to move. If that happens, you probably won’t have enough room to finish this anymore.”

“Probably not.”

“If this doesn’t work, and some of them find out what you were trying to do, you won’t be able to stay in Tyrsiln.”

“I know,” Ileana whispered.

“If the worst comes to pass, I’ll make sure you get back to Dunlain. Where are you staying now?”

Ileana blinked. “I’m staying at the Moiran embassy,” she replied. “Why?”

“That way I know where to find you,” Erik sighed.

Alwin entered the garden and cleared his throat. “We’ll be serving dinner soon, my lord,” the old steward announced. “Will her grace be joining us?”

“I can’t, I’m afraid,” Ileana sighed.

“Thank you, Alwin, could you give us a moment,” Erik replied.

Alwin inclined his head and left.

Erik and Ileana both started to speak at the same time. “Go ahead,” Erik said into the awkward silence that followed.

“I guess I should go,” Ileana sighed. “Will I see you soon?”

“I’m sure you’ll see more than enough of me,” Erik drawled as he recovered his wineglass. “We have a good six years of catching up to do.”

Ileana nodded and started to leave. She hesitated at the door and looked back at Erik with an impish grin. “I’m glad to see you’ve still got those legs of yours attached,” she said.

Erik almost choked on his wine.

Ileana laughed as she left.

Erik shook his head and made his way through side passages to his chambers. He ate dinner in the sitting room as he began going through reports. He barely had time to eat before there was a polite knock on the door. Erik heaved a sigh. “Enter,” he called.

Alwin stepped into the sitting room. “The Baroness vonEisenheim has come to call, my lord,” he announced as he crossed the table to collect the dishes from dinner. “She’s waiting in your mother’s garden.”

Erik grimaced. “I wonder what it’s about,” he grumbled as he stood.

“I would hazard a guess that she wishes to check on your condition after the Hold,” Alwin chuckled. “You were, after all, her page as a boy, and she did care for you after your parents died.”

Erik shrugged. “I’ll find out soon enough,” he sighed as he wrapped a plain belt around his waist. “That reminds me. Has Marie gotten back yet?”

“No, my lord.”

“Would you mind seeing if we can spare anyone to track her down? I’d really rather not have her running loose right now.”

Alwin chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do, but Marie can be difficult to find if she wishes,” he pointed out.

“Do what you can, but don’t waste too much on it.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Erik snapped his fingers and strode to his saddlebags. He removed a packet and held it out for Alwin. “Have a courier take this to the Stone,” he told the steward. “It’s my reports from the Hold.”

Alwin nodded as he took the packet. “I’ll have them sent out first thing in the morning,” he replied. “Do you need anything else, my lord?”

Erik shook his head as he strode to the door. “Not tonight, Alwin,” he replied and left.

Erik made his way back down to the garden and swung the door open. A knight wearing the quartered ermine and black of house vonEisenheim stood at the shoulder of a woman seated near the oak tree in the middle of the garden. He idly watched a servant that made her way around the garden lighting the lamps. The woman stood and turned as Erik entered. Elina vonEisenheim was the Baroness of the Steinküst. Though she was of a typical height for most women, she stood barely to Erik’s chest. She had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. She inclined her head, and Erik returned the gesture as he approached her. “Baroness vonEisenheim,” Erik greeted her. “What brings you out here?”

“I merely wished to check in on you, Lord Vespin” the baroness replied coolly. “I heard that you were back, that you’d seen the queen, and that you’d had a guest.”

Erik nodded. “I’m doing fine,” he replied. “Have you dined? Or, should I send for something to eat?”

“No, I’ve had dinner, thank you,” the baroness replied and watched the servant leave the garden. She turned to the knight with her. “Would you give me a moment with Lord Vespin, Sir Torsten?”

The knight bowed to Erik and the baroness, then strode from the garden. The baroness breathed a sigh of relief, and Erik shook his head. “I’m fine, Elina,” he assured the baroness.

Elina wrapped Erik in a chaste embrace, and he hesitated before returning the gesture. “I know you well enough to know that look, little wolf,” she disagreed as she stepped back and looked up at him with her hands on her hips. “You’re not fine.”

Erik pinched the bridge of his nose. “I saw Anna today,” he grumbled and motioned to the two chairs by the oak tree. “Ileana came by as well.”

Elina settled into her seat while Erik poured wine from a pitcher on the small table. “I take it that Princess Anna wasn’t having one of her better days,” she guessed as she took the glass Erik handed to her.

Erik nodded as he leaned against the table. “She was coughing up blood,” he sighed. “I know what that means.”

Elina stared into her wineglass. “I’m sorry, little wolf,” she said sadly. “I truly am. As for the rest, I take it you at least settled something with Ileana.”

Erik let out a short, bitter laugh. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “Maybe I’ll find out tomorrow or the next day.”

“Well, Ideslef sends her regards.”

“She always does. You might want to find her a husband, Elina. She needs someone to settle with, though, not someone who spends half his life on campaign.”

Elina shrugged. “I know, Erik,” she replied. “I promised her I’d tell you, so I told you.”

Erik nodded.

“So you saw the princess and Ileana in one day. Are you sure you’re all right?”

Erik shook his head. “No, I’m not all right,” he growled. “I need rest, and this is what I come back to Raine for instead of going home.”

Elina grimaced. “Queen Estrid wrote to tell me that she’d finally approved your inheritance,” she noted. “I’d thought that maybe she wanted to do it all in person, but I suppose something came up.”

“Something always comes up.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Like a meeting of the Baronial Court tomorrow.”

“Of course. Wilhelm and I will be there. He’ll want to see you, I’m sure. The Barons of Nordküst and Dunnmark are in the city, and Reinhard is on his way from the Westmark.”

“How is Wilhelm,” Erik asked.

“Melancholy,” Elina sighed.

“Kaia didn’t come with him?”

“No.”

Erik shook his head. “That gives us five high lords including me, at least,” he pointed out. “It’s a quorum…enough to hold serious meetings and get the Court talking about who they’d be willing to take orders from.”

Elina smiled. “Well, the queen can’t quite order the high lords around, but your point is well taken,” she chuckled. “Are you sure Princess Anna is that bad?”

Erik sighed sadly and stared down at his boots. “Yes,” he replied. “I think I know what she has. I’ve seen a man who was much stronger killed by it. It’s slow, and not very pleasant.”

“I know. There’s always a chance for recovery, though.”

“I wouldn’t hold out much for it. People who get to where she is don’t usually recover. Even if they do, it comes back after a while.”

“We need to have a serious discussion, then,” Elina sighed. “Five high lords gives us enough of a quorum to sit the lesser lords down, but we’ll need two more to set anything in stone.”

“Discussion is enough for now,” Erik replied.

“I wouldn’t sit on it too long. Did you get to discuss anything with Queen Estrid?”

Erik chuckled. “Queen Estrid suggested you,” he noted

Elina coughed as she choked on her wine. “Me,” she demanded. “Has her majesty gone mad!?”

“No, but she still asked what I thought about it.”

“What did you tell her?”

“That you can’t afford to be the kind of queen this country needs right now.”

“At least someone can see reason. I have to be the way I am if I want my son to have an allod left when he turns eighteen.”

Erik shrugged. “I know,” he agreed. “Which is pretty much the rest of what I told her. Your daughter is an option, though.”

Elina shook her head. “Absolutely out of the question,” she disagreed. “She’s totally unprepared to take a throne.”

“With you and a few others, she could make do, especially after I clean house around the Royal Council.”

Elina pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh dear,” she sighed. “Erik, you can’t just do things like that.”

“I’ll have to do it regardless,” Erik disagreed. “I have enough on the council to put everyone except the royal marshal, the royal sage, and the royal chamberlain in prison, at the very least. I might even have enough at this point to toss the royal seneschal into the river.”

Elina waved that away. “Be that as it may, I still disagree with your judgment,” she said flatly. “Tell me you at least thought of someone besides me and my daughter.”

“We did.”

“Good. You had me worried there for a moment.”

“How are things going on the Baronial Court?”

Elina sighed. “Irritating,” she admitted. “A few lesser lords have figured out how to use meetings to be disruptive. Barthold and I are practically running our allods from here now, and it isn’t much better for Ronald. They can’t move anything serious forward without at least five of us, but nor do we have enough to shut them up.”

Erik grimaced. “That sounds suspicious,” he pointed out.

“It is, especially with what’s going on around the Ravenswald and the Mittewald right now. We might be able to keep Wilhelm from getting trapped by it, but even that will require something we can get around. Like it or not, we’ve painted ourselves into a corner with our own rules.”

Erik snorted. “Well, I’ll be there tomorrow,” he pointed out.

“Good. Ronald knows he needs to return to Ostwick. I’ll see what I can do to get the Court to table further meetings until seven of us can be here.”

Erik dropped into the chair next to Elina. “How bad is it getting in the allods,” he asked.

“It’s bad enough that I’m starting to have trouble minding my part of the Queen’s Road. My vassals are doing what they can, but I’ve had to leave things up to my steward and captains.”

Erik shook his head.

“It’s worse for Barthold. He’s only getting reports from his allod coming upriver by Coswig, and we all know that those reports will all but stop in the coming months.”

“Who keeps calling these meetings?”

“There’s quite a few of them, but the worst offenders are the Lords of Branheim and Mitheim.”

Erik grimaced. “Branheim is in the Westmark,” he reminded Elina. “I take it that’s why Reinhard is on his way?”

“Yes. He’s going to rein the Lord of Branheim in. Dealing with one of the worst offenders should help bring the others to heel.”

“And, Mitheim,” Erik asked.

“Ronald’s done everything short of challenging the Lord of Mitheim,” Elina sighed, “but he doesn’t want to take it that far with one of his own vassals.”

Erik shook his head.

“It doesn’t help matters any that you had to practically empty your allod to hold back the Selarians. The Lord of Norburg has been able to be around, but we all know that getting blinded has made the Lord of Hofheim reluctant to travel.”

“Has anyone been able to figure out what they want?”

Elina set her empty wineglass aside and shook her head. “No,” she sighed.

Erik shook his head.

Elina stood and lightly kissed the top of Erik’s head. “I’ll see you tomorrow, little wolf,” she told him and left.