The only change he'd gotten Grand King Deandre to make for the ball he'd arranged was to allow Coulta to attend.

"He's afraid you'll scare people away from me," he grumbled to Coulta on their way to the Great Hall. "So he would rather you protect me from a distance."

Coulta nodded. "I understand."

"Please find me from time to time. I hate these parties." He felt ridiculous wearing a flowing blue silk shirt and decorative tan breeches with blue stitching down the outsides of the legs. He'd shaved and left his wavy chestnut hair down, making it difficult to see the sapphire earrings he was wearing, per Yvona's request. His shoes were practically mirrors and he wore rings on each hand.

He envied Coulta. He had been given nicer clothes for the night; a black silk shirt and black breeches with silver cording along the outer seams. He'd even gotten new boots that were perfectly polished. He had his hair pulled back in a tight tail and didn't wear any jewelry. He was even permitted to carry his sword, though he had been given a new belt that was of polished leather matching his boots.

"You should enter first," Wildas said when they got to the Hall.

Coulta nodded and went inside. Wildas sighed heavily and followed a few moments later. All his parents were already there, and Deandre dragged him over to meet several potential spouses who Wildas quickly determined had no potential for him.

It was a long time before he could escape the clutches of the suitors and find a spot on the balcony to relax. He was scanning the crowd for Coulta when someone suddenly came to stand beside him. Expecting Coulta, he turned and smiled, only to realize it was another man. His smile faltered. Ashnil was the youngest son of a duke, and he'd been after Wildas's hand for years. He was dressed impeccably as always, this time in black pants and a shimmering green shirt that seemed to accentuate his movements. Wildas thought it made him look like a snake. He wore gold earrings and a few gems glittered on his fingers. His black hair was pulled partially back from his green eyes.

"It's a good party," Ashnil commented in his silky-smooth voice, handing Wildas a cup of wine.

Wildas took the cup with a nod. "Thank you."

"You still haven't made any choices yet?" Ashnil asked, standing at the railing next to Wildas with his own wine.

"No," Wildas replied and took a sip from his cup before adding, "but I have a few in mind."

"Oh? Who are you considering?"

Wildas took another sip. "I'd rather not share names just yet."

"Surely my name is under consideration? Or is that one night forgotten?"

Each time he saw Ashnil he was reminded how he'd been utterly taken advantage of then, which was why he was wary every time Ashnil handed him a cup of wine.

"I'll let you know," he said pointedly.

When Wildas didn't respond anymore Ashnil finally gave him a nod. "Find me when you've finished your wine."

Wildas stayed silent until the balcony was empty again. With a sigh he sat down on the bench against the wall, glaring at the half-finished wine that was already affecting him. He should have tried to build up his tolerance again.

"Shall I bring him back for you?"

Coulta's voice startled him so badly that he almost spilled the wine. He appeared seemingly from nowhere to stand near the bench, giving Wildas a strange look.

"No." He held the wine cup up to Coulta. "Just give this to my brother and tell him that if anyone tries to bring me spiked wine, they should be thrown in the dungeon."

Coulta gave him a curious look, but took the cup and walked away. Wildas sighed heavily and leaned his head back against the cool wall. 

*****

Coulta hadn't liked the way that young man acted toward Wildas, and he wasn't sure why. Something warned him against the stranger, but surely Wildas was capable of putting off would-be lovers.

Coulta took the wine cup to Rohan, who was standing guard near the elevated table where his parents sat eating. "Wildas wanted me to give this to you. He says anyone who brings him spiked wine should be thrown in the dungeon. I don't think he was serious, I just have to do as he asks."

Rohan laughed as he took the cup and set it down on a nearby table. "I saw Duke Bracin's son up there with him. That brat has been trying to court him for years."

"What is spiked wine?"

Rohan snorted. "Nothing Wildas wants with all these potential spouses around. It contains an aphrodisiac. Makes for long nights. It's common at celebrations here because of the marriage tradition."

"So they try to get Wildas to marry them by seducing him?" Coulta questioned.

"Some of them."

Coulta looked around the Hall at the guests, many of whom were dancing with each other to the musicians. "I don't like the one who gave him that wine."

"Ashnil? He's quite harmless. I don't think my brother needs you protecting his honor. He's capable of choosing lovers if he wants."

Coulta shook his head. "It's not that."

"Just be careful," Rohan said, leaning closer. "You're the only friend Wildas has. He doesn't need our father trying to get rid of you because you're chasing away all his potential spouses."

"I'm not going to chase anyone away unless they mean harm," Coulta assured him.

"You probably don't like Ashnil because of what he did to Wildas years ago." Rohan leaned even closer. "Wildas had just reached marriageable age–fifteen. Ashnil got him drunk off that wine. At least the bastard had the decency to find me and tell me where he left my brother. Wildas refused to tell anyone with the authority to ban Ashnil from any party like this, especially the Grand King. He's too ashamed of himself and blames himself for letting it happen. That's why I say he's capable of choosing his own lovers, because he learned from that."

Coulta tried not to show it, but the anger that shot through him was hard to hold back. "You don't worry about him trying to seduce your brother, even after that?"

Rohan shrugged. "As far as I know, he's yet to get any sort of reaction out of Wildas since then, but he won't give up. Maybe you can somehow sense that he had harmful intentions before, so you dislike him."

Angry as he was at Ashnil's past transgressions, he still felt that he was dangerous, and it was about more than the past. Coulta watched him, trying to decide what it was about him that was keeping his attention. At one point, toward the end of the night, he found him in the shadows on the balcony.

Ashnil was kneeling beside a pillar, wearing a dark gray cloak. Coulta hid himself from view with magic just a single pace from where the man was kneeling, and saw him pull a what seemed to be a very small crossbow from beneath his cloak.

Ashnil pulled out a single dart and a small glass vial of dark liquid. He uncapped the vial and dipped the tip of the dart inside. Coulta moved carefully around him and watched him load the dart into the crossbow. Ashnil raised the weapon onto the railing of the balcony and took aim.

At the Grand King.

Coulta didn't know how the mechanism on the weapon worked, so he simply used his magic to hold the dart in place when Ashnil fired. He wished he could see the look on his face when the dart stayed where it was, covered in black mist. Ashnil pulled the weapon back and looked it over, swearing.

Coulta reached forward and grabbed it, avoiding the poisoned tip. "Thank you," he said as he made himself visible.

Ashnil started to stand and Coulta knocked him unconscious with some help from his magic. Looking below, he spotted Rohan. Holding the weapon out of sight, he nudged Rohan with a bit of magic.

Rohan glanced up in confusion.

"Come up here," he hissed, motioning with his hand.

No one seemed to care about Rohan shoving people as he made his way quickly to the stairs, except for Second King Shelton, who watched Rohan until he was up the stairs.

When Rohan saw Ashnil laying behind Coulta even the shadows couldn't hide his annoyed expression. "After what I said you still –"

Rohan's rant died when Coulta showed him the weapon. "He had this aimed at the Grand King."

"What is that?" Rohan reached for it.

"The tip is poisoned," Coulta warned, handing it over.

Rohan turned the weapon around in his hands for a moment, careful of the tip of the dart, which Coulta made sure remained in place. "I've never seen anything like this," he muttered, then handed it back to Coulta. "Hold on to it and him. I'll send Guardsmen to take him away. He's not dead, is he?"

Coulta shook his head. "I thought you'd like to talk to him."

Rohan nodded. "Good."

Coulta watched Rohan move along the balcony toward the nearest staircase. He stopped to talk quietly to the first two Guardsmen he found, two of the several who were standing guard. The two men saluted him, then made their way up the stairs. Rohan then moved to where his parents were seated and leaned down between both kings. Coulta saw both of them look up directly where he stood. He couldn't read the look on the Grand King's face, but Shelton gave him a hint of a smile.

Coulta bowed his head, then turned to the two Guardsmen as Wildas appeared. Coulta had just begun to wonder where he was, though he knew through the curse that he wasn't in any danger.

"What happened?" Wildas demanded.

"Your admirer planned to make you a king tonight. Don't touch the point." Coulta handed the weapon to him and helped one of the Guardsmen roll Ashnil over to bind his hands.

Wildas examined the weapon, just like his brother had. "What is this?"

"Some sort of weapon," Coulta answered as he hauled Ashnil to his feet and handed him off to the Guardsmen. "That's all I know."

The Guardsmen took Ashnil through a doorway a short distance down the balcony, taking him from the party without raising any alarm among the guests. Below, he heard the party go quiet.

"I regret that it is time we retired for the night," Grand King Deandre announced. "Please, stay as long as you wish. Surely Prince Wildas will remain much longer into the night than we shall."

Coulta watched him step away from the table they'd been sitting at, followed closely by Shelton, who was talking quietly to Rohan. Yvona was close behind them. Rohan left them at the door and returned to where Coulta and Wildas were both still waiting on the balcony.

"I really would rather not be here longer into the night," Wildas grumbled to Coulta.

"Neither would I," Coulta agreed.

Wildas looked up at his brother when he joined them.

"We need to send word to Duke Bracin before we can question Ashnil," Rohan said with a sigh. "That's the 'political' thing to do. I'll be taking that to the weapons master," he added, pointing to the strange little crossbow. "We'll see what he can make of it. None of our parents have heard of such a thing, either."

Wildas handed it carefully to him. "Am I really expected to stay here?"

Rohan nodded. "Unfortunately. You can keep Coulta nearby if you want to. I think he's finally proven to Father that he's worth having around." He gave Coulta a smile and a nod.

Coulta returned the nod.

"I have to take this somewhere safe," Rohan added, motioning to the weapon. "I'll be back to send these guests away later."

"Thank you."

Rohan gave them both a nod and left.

"How did you know Ashnil was up here?" Wildas asked.

"I kept watching him all night because he gave me a dangerous feeling. Rohan tried to tell me he was harmless."

Wildas sighed and sat down on a bench, motioning for Coulta to sit with him. "I always just thought he was an annoying bastard."

Coulta cleared his throat and admitted, "Rohan told me what he did. He seemed to think that was why I felt I didn't like him."

"Too bad I didn't have you around when I was fifteen."

Coulta stared into the shadows "That was when Varin started using me as a killer. I was thirteen."

"Is it still hard to think of the first one?" Wildas asked, though his voice was gentle.

"Of course it is. I remember all of them. Each one is distinct." He fought the lump in his throat. "The first was one of his mistresses, who had given birth to a daughter days before. I had to kill her in her sleep. She was young, probably not much older than I was. She woke while I was trying to fight the command. But I couldn't, and I had to see her terror when I killed her. If that wasn't enough, I had to kill the baby."

The horror at that first assignment came flooding back to him. Killing them. Dropping the knife. Stumbling from the room. Varin in the hallway.

Laughter.

Falling to his knees in the hall. Sobbing. Vomiting what little he'd eaten that day.

Even more laughter.

Teeya had hovered over him for days like an attentive mother, until Varin's commands forced him into the guise of a killer once again.

And the secret hope he had always carried, that, even if this person he was bound to never appeared, that one day he would be able to somehow be the agent of Varin's own demise.

"Coulta?"

He looked up at Wildas, who was watching him with concern. "It's the past I must live with."

Wildas reached out to him, hesitated, then brushed the tears from Coulta's cheeks. "All I do is cause you pain. I'm sorry."

Coulta shook his head, ashamed of his tears. "No. The curse causes me pain."

"How is your hand?" Wildas asked.

"Completely healed." He'd noticed the last of the bruising had faded that morning and the skin was whole again.

"How? It's only been a few days!"

Coulta shrugged. "I've always healed rather fast. Maybe the curse needs well to use me."

Wildas didn't seem to know how to respond to that, because he didn't say anything for quite a while, until he asked, "Would you want to go riding outside the city tomorrow?"

Coulta nodded. "It sounds much better than staying here all day."

Rohan returned then, covering a yawn. "I thought you'd still be here."

"No one seemed to be looking for me, and I'm not in a social mood."

"Neither am I. I say it's late enough to call an end to the gathering. I'll see you in the morning. Have Coulta take you to your room." He started to move away, then turned back to them and added, looking at Coulta, "I posted Guardsmen in the hallway outside his room. You should wait for him to shut the door before you walk away. It's the proper way to go about things like that."

"Appearances," Wildas grumbled. "Everything is always about appearances."

"Do you need to make an announcement like your father did?" Coulta asked as Rohan walked away.

"No." Wildas stood. "Rohan can speak for me."

Coulta followed Wildas through a side door and into a dark corridor. He walked with a hand on his sword hilt to be prepared. It was a while before they were in familiar passageways.

They stopped walking when they were at the door to Wildas's room. There were a couple Guardsmen standing at various points along the hallway, but otherwise the hall was as unremarkable as usual.

Wildas turned to him. "Thank you."

Coulta was surprised. "What for?"

"Stopping Ashnil, along with everything else."

"I was just keeping my vow."

A sad look crossed Wildas's face. "Thank you, nonetheless. I will see you tomorrow."

Coulta gave him a bow. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Wildas said again, almost in a whisper, and slipped inside the room.