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.And who could that be? The only one he could imagine was Jon the traitorshe d brought back with her to the valley.A traitor and a queer.How could she do such a thing? Marry the man who betrayed her first husband and a man who couldn t possibly give herphysical pleasure! But why was she telling him this? Did she think she d be able to convince himto congratulate her on such a marriage?His lower lip trembled as he spoke. Yes, I can understand that. My mother, my aunt, my brother all are far away.He was the only one I had. He? Jon he s my cousin, although you probably didn t know that. That only made it worse.And he thought she loved him.Surely there had been love inher eyes when she spoke to him the night of her return.He d never felt her passion morestrongly.Why was all of this happening? Your cousin? It s a long story.My grandfather was Lyla s lover for a short time.They even made ajourney to Kar together.Later she gave birth to a daughter here in the valley, and that daughterhad a son.Who his father was we ll never know but the son is Jon.It was wonderful when Ifound out that we were actually of the same blood he s been like a brother to me. Orion had heard it was once the custom of royalty to marry members of their ownfamilies.Zoë had probably chosen Jon because he was the only such relative she could find.Buthow could she tell him all this as if it meant nothing to him? She couldn t have forgotten theirlife together.Weren t they already husband and wife in nearly every sense of the words? And now you re going to marry.? But only if you agree to it? He tore himself away and glared at her. I will never agree to it.I love you too much to ever agree to anything like that. But Orion, she asked, this time as confused as he was. If you love me why won t youagree to marry me? He looked at her sheepishly for a moment, and then stepped forward and held her tightlyin his arms. You are the only woman in the world I would marry, Zoë.The only woman in theworld. Just as she never knew what had passed through Jon s mind when she first brought up thesubject of her marriage with him, Zoë also never learned what Orion s initial supposition hadbeen.As she frequently complained, people were always careful about what they told theEmpress.***The wedding was duly announced, and it met with general approval among the people ofthe two valleys.From what Sem could tell, Linnea alone seemed to disapprove. It s not fair to Axor, she said.But Axor, who was now often at the cottage, didn t appear to mind or, if he did, he waswise enough not to say so.Like Axor, Naxa had recovered from her wound, but some of her old energy was gone.That winter, she would often sit by the fire while the others were working.Sem always asked herhow she was feeling and she always said much the same thing. I m fit as a fiddle, Son.But sometimes I just like to sit and think there s no harm indoing that you know.You can t be always working.We didn t get as far as Kar, but at leastwe ve seen Bridgetown, and that means I have a lot more to think about than I once did. Occasionally Ellen paid Sally and Linnea a visit, although Zoë usually kept her busy, forthe Empress had decided that it was important to have a female attendant with her at all timesand Ellen had been chosen for that role.Mvrak, too, lived in the Empress quarters, although shecontinued to spend much time with Dan, Klei and Saash, who, with Jon, were still living in oneof the vacant cabins in the Valley of Women another temporary arrangement, since it was stillunusual for men to stay overnight in the valley, except in times of emergency.Sensitive to thiscustom, Orion had moved his quarters to a tent outside the gate of the valley.The women hadtold him that it was unnecessary he could have remained in the more comfortable quarters he dused during the siege but Zoë saw they appreciated his consideration for their customs and waspleased to note this sign of his tactical sense.Still, no one seemed to object that the four menremained in the Valley of Women, despite the appearance that their temporary arrangement wasbecoming permanent.Making plans for her wedding, the Empress had originally intended to have the ceremonyconducted in the Valley of Women, since that was where she was living, and the Hall of theMothers would have been an appropriate place.Marriage among the Foresters was a simple affair a few words spoken in the midst of friends, followed by a party none of the vows andmumbo-jumbo she d undergone at the hands of the Chosen in Great Barton.She would see to itthat she caused everyone as little trouble as possible.But then she changed her mind.If thewedding were held at Bent Lake it would symbolize the rebirth of the city, and so that was whereit was scheduled to take place.While she wanted it to be as simple as possible, she also knewthat the marriage of an Empress was a public event and that shirking this element of the ritewould render it less significant to her subjects.And so she planned a version of the Forestermarriage rite with a few public elements added to ensure that they felt themselves duly included.The old houses along the lake that Alf had been so careful to preserve were now gone,and it had been decided to keep the lakefront as a park.West of the bridge, a tract of landbordering this park had been set aside for civic and imperial buildings.Here, Axor and Linneahad decided the Empress should build her new residence, along with a connected building foroffices, and a new town hall, with a large enclosed space for public meetings
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