Nevertheless she was faithful to the risk she'd chosen. Dryly, she replied, "That is the wrong question, Myste. You should ask why the Prince and his forces are here. My reasons hinge on theirs."
Myste studied her intently. "I suspected as much. That is why I feared for Father. I thought the Alends might have come because he was dead. But I have no wish to offend you by leaping to erroneous conclusions.
"When I left Orison, Prince Kragen had been insulted in the hall of audiences. Yet the fact that he remained made me think that he had not given up for peace.
"Why is he here, attempting to pull the King from his Seat?"
"Because," Elega answered, bracing herself for Myste's reaction, "I persuaded him to do it."
In a sense, Myste didn't react at all; she simply went still, like an animal in hiding. The change was so unlike her, however, that it seemed as vehement as a shout. Where had she learned so much self-possession--and so much caution?
"I made his acquaintance after his audience with the King." Elega struggled to keep a defensive tone out of her voice. "He taught me to believe him when he said that Margonal's desire for peace was sincere. Yet Alend faced a dilemma he must resolve. Cadwal has no desire for peace--and the King's strength had become plainly inadequate to keep the Congery out of Festten's hands. Alend must take some action, so that the High King would not gain all Imagery for himself.
"First I required of the Prince some indication of his good faith. He replied with the promise that if Orison fell to him he would make the Perdon King of Mordant--that Alend would keep nothing for itself if the Congery was made safe from Cadwal.
"Then I persuaded him that a siege was his best hope."
"But, Elega," Myste protested, "that is untrue. Father is the only man who has ever taken Orison by storm. A siege may well last for seasons. And High King Festten surely will not allow seasons to pass before he comes to prevent the Alend Monarch from claiming the Congery."
"It is true," insisted Elega. Honesty, however, forced her to admit, "Or it was. Two things made it so. First, the curtain-wall is fragile at best--and no one could have foreseen that one of the Masters would conceive a way to defend it.
"And second--"
Involuntarily, she wavered. This lay at the heart of her ache for action, her desire to see the siege succeed. It was her doing: she had convinced Kragen to attempt it.
If he held her to blame for her failure, he gave no sign of it. Perhaps he had accepted the hazards of what he did, and felt no recrimination. Or perhaps he found a new hope in the reasons for his present inaction. In either case, she blamed herself enough for both of them. Sure of herself, determined to save her world, she had taken Mordant's fate in her own hands.
And she had dropped it.
"Second?" Myste prompted.
"Second," said Elega, more harshly than she intended, "I promised to deliver Orison to him with little or no bloodshed."
Myste sat completely still; not a muscle in her face shifted. Yet her eyes seemed to burn with outrage.
"How?"
Elega's knuckles tightened on her goblet. "By poisoning the reservoir. Not fatally, But enough to indispose the defense until the castle could be taken."
Without a flicker of expression, almost without moving her mouth, Myste said, "That should have sufficed. What went wrong?"
Deliberately, Elega permitted herself an obscenity which she knew Myste particularly disliked. Then she said, "Geraden and Terisa caught me. They were unable to stop me--or indeed capture me. But they warned the Castellan. No one was indisposed because no one drank the water. The defense holds--and I was forced to flee."
Unable to contain her self-disgust, she concluded, "Does that answer your questions? Can you make your decisions wisely now?"
Gradually, Myste leet herself move. Her gaze left Elega's face; she lifted her goblet and drained it. Automatically, far away in her thoughts, she poured more wine and drank again.
"Ah, Elega. How terrible that must be for you--to attempt the betrayal of your own home and family, and to fail."
"It is worse," retorted Elega fiercely, "to do nothing--to let every good thing in the world go to ruin because the man who created it cannot be bothered to defend it."
Still slowly, still peering into the distance, Myste nodded. "Perhaps. That is one of the decisions I must make.
"Please tell me. Why does the Prince 'do nothing'? Since the first day of the siege, he has taken no action I can see. To all appearances, he is simply waiting for High King Festten to come and destroy him."
Abruptly, as if a stunned part of her mind had just been kicked, Elega realized that Prince Kragen was overdue. Usually, he finished discussing the day with his father and came to her tent before this.
If he caught Myste here, he would have no real choice but to make her a prisoner. Her potential value as King Joyse's daughter was too great to be ignored. But Myste was also Elega's sister--and Elega wasn't sure yet what her own decision would be. The only thing she was sure of was that Myste wouldn't reveal any of her secrets as Prince Kragen's prisoner.
Muttering, "Wait here," Elega jumped up and hurried past the curtains into the back of the tent.
There she roused the Alend girl who served as her maid. "Hurry, child," she hissed. "Find the Prince. He may still be with his father, or on his way here. Beg him to forgive me. Tell him I feel unwell. Tell him I am half blind with headache--but it will pass if I am allowed to sleep.
"Go quickly."
She hustled the girl out into the night, paused to quiet the hammering of her heart, than returned to Myste.
Myste looked at her inquiringly. Elega explained what she had done--and was more relieved than she considered reasonable when she saw that Myste believed her. So Myste's new caution, her distrust, had its limits. Despite the things Elega had already done, Myste didn't expect her sister to betray her.
In the back of her mind, Elega began to wonder whose side she herself was on.
Myste sat completely still; not a muscle in her face shifted. Yet her eyes seemed to burn with outrage. In a way, this reaction of Myste is not surprising, given that she had worked to maintain a high opinion of her father, even though her father's treatment of Prince Kragen is a reason for her seeking the champion. And yet, in a way, this IS surprising, for we've never seen Myste with such barely-suppressed anger before.
In the back of her mind, Elega began to wonder whose side she herself was on. It's ironic that by deceiving the Prince here, Elega is actually serving him, by maintaining a situation with Myste that is likely to get more information out of Myste--which Elega can than pass on to the Prince.