A/N: Dondo reacts to the Lady Pig incident.
"Damn her to the Bastard's hell; damn all of them to the Bastard's hell!"
"Calm yourself, brother." Martou dy Jironal rubbed his temples.
"I will not. I have been humiliated."
"You were…imprudent. It won't do for either of us to have the royesse against us because of your treatment of her handmaiden. We have other concerns than court intrigues."
"I don't need another lecture about propriety, brother," Dondo muttered savagely. Martou thought he could use just such a lecture, but his disappointed assignation with the Lady Betriz had him riled enough. "I'll have my revenge on that little bitch with or without your help."
"The story will be forgotten in a few days. I thought you had thicker skin."
"My skin is not the problem. She was being coy and alluring to bait me." Martou had seen none of this, but he let the matter go for the time being. "By the way, I want Cazaril's stuffed head for a trophy to add to my wall."
"One revenge at a time, perhaps?"
"They're all tied together. He already has the royesse and her handmaid poisoned against me. The way they hang off him is disgusting." Martou was disturbed by the manic glee that suddenly came into his brother's eyes. "But, you know, the servant whelps do whisper among themselves."
He was growing steadily more impatient. He had many more important plans than his brother's wounded pride, and the tractability of Royesse Iselle was essential to them. He didn't much care whether Dondo made himself silly with liquor every night or how many maidens he enjoyed, but he had the good of the whole realm and dy Jironal line to occupy his thoughts. "What of it?"
"A boy saw the marks on his back. There is really only one plausible conclusion to draw…"
"We both know very well whence those scars come." He would do almost anything to protect the reputation of his family, but Martou still occasionally felt pangs of guilt about his betrayal of Cazaril after Gotorget. He had no wish to follow Dondo's reasoning or become more enmeshed in his vendetta.
"Do we? I'm not certain. After all, I couldn't forgive myself if any harm that could have been prevented befell our dear royesse and her friend." There was a decidedly feral element in his brother's grin that Martou had always tried to ignore in the past.
"You'll go through with this no matter what I say, won't you?" Dondo's widening smirk was all the answer he needed. "As you wish. I'll contact dy Maroc; he owes me a favor." He was tempted to say that he would not help his brother after this, but he knew that would be a lie.
Dondo took leave of him with a slight bow, beaming and humming all the way.
