"And if she did?" Marcello asked. "Everyone already knows she has a monstrous temper; and she's pregnant besides. She wouldn't need a reason, no one would be able to blame you."

She shook her head. "It's going to have to look like an accident, Marcello. It's going to have to be an accident. And e'en then, I'm not sure. He's insured himself. There's someone he's communicating with on the outside."

Marcello grimaced. "What would happen if Dierdre of Cabhon knew he was blackmailing you?"

"Believe me, I've contemplated tipping her off," she said bitterly. "That seems to be the best way out." She sighed. "Honestly? The worst part of this is that, aside from the blackmail, it's not a bad plan. I've e'en tried feigning that I've warmed to his side of things, but he doesn't trust me and I don't trust him."

"You have no reason to trust him," Marcello replied. "He's blackmailing you. He would have done better to try to win you honestly; you might have listened." He frowned again. "What about Pepita?" he asked. "Pepita won't give a damn if you slept with Dierdre."

"All I would have to say to Her Majesty is that there's fighting involved and she'd likely move mountains to stop it," she said sadly. "To be honest, love, most of this has been me trying to find a way to keep Cnoch-na-Niall's name clear. The fighting's not the issue. We'd win."

"But does that mean we should fight?" Marcello asked. "Keep our name clear...in terms of going after Cabhon, or in terms of you and Dierdre?"

"I could lose Cnoch-na-Niall. The gods alone know what Dierdre's mother might do to her." She shook her head. "No, it doesn't mean we should do it. If I'd wanted to rade on Cabhon I could have done as soon as Titania and Lady Eleanor were out of the way. But I don't."

"And I think it's better to try to make peace with the old guard than sweep them out in favor of the new," Marcello replied. "Especially since...who's to say they won't try to blackmail you again?"

"And there's the real trouble," she replied. "There is no assurance that we won't end up beholden to the bastard 'til one of us should die."