Page 128 (1/2)

Bernard watched her with calreen eyes for several seconds before he said, "What were you holding back?"

"Whatback, love?" Aed "Know you too well, I suppose" He tilted his head, frowning, then nodded slowly "You talked a lot about the vord's next attack Kept their focus on it So it's going to happen later" He furrowed his brow in thought "Invidia's going to betray us at the hive"

"Yes," Amara said quietly "She is"

Bernard inhaled slowly "What are we going to do about it?"

The rooht, felt positively cavernous without the presence of the High Lords there She bowed her head and closed her eyes and tried not to think too hard about what she had to do "We," she whispered, "are going to let her"

Chapter 44

Tavi awakened s in a tub of ater, his head and shoulders supported on an inclined board He was naked His toes poked out of the water at the far end of the tub He lifted his head, which was an effort There was an angry red puckering of his skin over his belly, to the left of his navel, where the vord Queen's weapon had stabbed hiry veins of red spread out from the injury

Tavi looked blearily around him A healer's tent One of the ones that hadn't been destroyed, obviously Furylamps lit it So he'd been unconscious for hours, but not many of them Unless it had been more than a day

He hated being unconscious It always interrupted everything he had planned

He turned his head to the left, and found the tub beside hih that was mostly bruises beneath the skin of his shoulders, neck, face, head There seemed very little of his friend that was not bruised, in fact And his nose had been broken - again His eyes were closed, but he was breathing

Tavi leaned up a little and eyed the next tub over Crassus occupied it, in the sa Tribune stirred, though he looked like he felt even worse than Tavi did

"Crassus," Tavi rasped

Though he blinked his eyes open, the young man was still clearly in pain He looked at Tavi and lifted his chin very slightly in acknowledgment

"Crassus," Tavi croaked His throat felt dry It hurt to talk "Report"

"I hurt," Crassus said, his voice slurring and weak He closed his eyes again "End of report"

Tavi tried to get the younghim He sank back tiredly into the tub

"He's very tired," said a quiet voice "It's better if you let him rest, Your Majesty The attack on the headquarters tent was defeated and most of the attackers slain We lost twenty-two, all of theuards stationed around the co quietly on a camp stool near the tent's entrance She looked terrible, her eyes sunken, her cheeks bloodless The collar on her throat threw back the subdued light of the laleaht was not cold

"Your Highness," he corrected her gently "I'm not the First Lord yet"

The slave sht man You put your life at hazard for the sake of a slave who once tried to murder you Thank you Your Majesty"