Kalasin eyed the bed nervously, a hot flush beginning to spread over her cheeks. She found herself unable to look at Lagne and see what he made of the situation.

Which was why she was surprised when he brushed past her and began to arrange his cloak on the floor.

She decided to make light of it by playing on their long-running joke, and hopefully distract from the uncomfortably small bed in the process. "Don't you hang things up in Galla?"

He grinned at her, and pulled a pillow off the bed. "Of course we do, just not when we're intending to sleep on them."

She sank down onto the bed, mildly confused.

Lagne bit his lip, something she had never expected the usually composed King of Galla to do, then sat down beside her, taking her hands in his. "It's easier this way," he explained. "It's what he'd expect."

She nodded, glancing down at their hands. "I just hope it works."

"It will," he assured her. "The Goddess organised it, how can it go wrong?" He squeezed her hands slightly. "Don't worry. We'll be gone in a few hours. We'll be safe in a couple of hours. He'll never find us. We have the favour of the gods, remember? With the necklaces, he won't recognise either of us. Besides, he'll think we're dead. We'll get through it, you'll see. So stop worrying."

Perversely, the moment he finished speaking, worries fired up in her mind. He might guess that the bodies aren't us. He might not come. He might find us. She didn't voice any of these, however. "We'll find out in a few hours."

*

Numair's face was rapidly darkening and he took a step towards the trembling impostor. Evidently the tree stories were rapidly flashing through her mind and it was clear (to me, at least) that she wasn't eager to find out how true they were. On the contrary, I was particularly looking forward to a demonstration of the black-robe mage's power.

Her luck was in. Daine chose that moment to slump back against Numair. She looked utterly exhausted. My face twisted in sympathy for her. I wondered what my counterpart had actually done to her to make her like that. She seemed incapable of comprehending anything. With the black-robe temporarily distracted, the pretender slipped out of the door.

Alanna started after her, hand on her sword, but Lagne shook his head firmly. "Let her go," he instructed, sitting down next to me and pulling a box onto his lap. "She won't get far."

I peered over his shoulder, intrigued by the box. Perhaps it contained some sort of weapon, something that would make Ozorne cower in fear. "What's that?"

He flashed me a grin. "You'll have to wait and see, my lady."

I pulled a face at him, deciding that being a girl had not been good for him. "Fine."

He unclasped a catch on the side of the box, and out tumbled a series of chess pieces. I stared in disbelief.

"That's it?" I asked scornfully. "We're going to play chess?" I knew the Gallans had a strange idea of battle plans, but this was completely unexpected.

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "How very perceptive of you, my d-" He managed to catch himself just in time. "Lady," he finished calmly, as if he had intended to say that all along, setting the board out.

I picked up one of the pieces, examining it curiously. It certainly didn't look like the chess pieces I remembered. "It says 'Numair Salmalín' on it," I observed.

Numair's head snapped up at his name. Carefully, he led Daine over to where we were seated and crouched down in order to get a better look at the pieces. "Extraordinary," he murmured. "Quite… Where did you get these?"

"A goddess," Lagne replied, face and tone entirely serious, although I had my doubts. "The Graveyard Hag herself saw fit to pay me a visit."

Daine was poking at her own piece on the board. "Yes. Rats," she informed him solemnly, screwing up her nose and sniffing. "It smells of rats."

Lagne inclined his head, acknowledging her comment, before returning to the board. "These are out of action, but I don't suppose we'll need them with Tortall's legendary Lioness and black-robe mage." He shot the two a quick smile. "I shouldn't think we'd have too many problems once we, ah, get rid of Ozorne and reinstate Queen Thayet."

Alanna had turned ghostly white at the mention of a single monarch. I bowed my head slightly. Isis was mine. I would kill her for that, and for my brothers. Lagne wrapped an arm around my shoulders as casually as possible. I was grateful for the support he offered. "Princess Kalasin and I are on here as Josua and Arabella..." He trailed off, holding up the markers. "Oh. Well, I suppose that means we don't need to put the necklaces back on, then."

Numair received a sharp nudge from the impatient looking Daine. "I know, sweet," he murmured. "I'm not leaving Daine," he announced to the rest of us. "And I'm not letting her fight."

Lagne inhaled sharply. "Wonderful," he muttered, shifting their pieces out of the way. "Now, if we…" He trailed off, furrowing his brow. Suddenly, as if he hadn't realised it was still there before now, he withdrew his arm from my shoulder and hunched over the board. Belatedly I recognised it was set out in the same style as the first floor of the palace. "I suppose the best thing to do would be to throw caution to the winds and presume that there are guards down every corridor. The quickest route would be this way." He traced it with his finger. "Now, you two-" This evidently was supposed to mean Daine and Numair –"should leave here in case she sends somebody back. I trust you'll keep yourselves suitably hidden, until… Well, I guess you'll find out whether we've been successful or not."

Numair nodded absently, standing and then steering Daine to the door without a backwards glance, or a 'good luck'. I suppose he was preoccupied, or maybe the fate of Tortall didn't mean that much to him. I shook my head slightly, wanting to rid myself of such thoughts.

Lagne eyed Alanna apprehensively, perhaps unsure as to whether she had her own quest to fulfil, or whether she was content to pursue ours. The lady knight's eyes had reddened and her hand clenched the hilt of her sword, finding comfort in what she could. I tried to meet her eyes, to tell her that I didn't blame her, but I found myself unable to. "Sir Alanna, would you mind waiting outside? I wish to give something to my royal cousin." She nodded, transparently impatient to get started, and left the room.

I frowned, watching him pack away the chess set. "What did you want to give me?"

He hesitated, glanced at me, then away again. Abruptly he got to his feet and retrieved the two necklaces. "Here," he offered, though still he refused to look at me. "We might need them later."

I took mine from him, puzzled. He seemed almost ashamed. "This was it? This was what you had to give me?"

"No," Lagne admitted, crossing the space between us. I swallowed, finding my mouth as dry as a Carthaki desert. "This was," he said, slipping two fingers under my chin and tilting my head upwards. "In case I don't get to later," he whispered. His lips brushed mine.