Part 22 (1/2)

Susan was further surprised by the remark. Edward had never shown anything but unswerving loyalty to Ryan. The remark was not so much a criticism as an observation, but still, Susan had never heard him speak against her in any way. She had a sudden insight.

”You care for her a great deal, don't you?”

Edward's stiffness did not diminish in any way, but a fierce light burned in his eyes. ”Ryan is my King. I live to serve her.”

Susan was a little taken aback at the fierceness of his reply, but she nodded. She was struck by the incongruous t.i.tle. ”Queen” would have seemed more appropriate for Ryan's s.e.x, yet somehow less appropriate for Ryan.

Jason seemed to have processed Ryan's androgyny with little difficulty. ”I want her to be my King, too.”

Edward looked down at the boy, and for the first time gazed at him with something akin to approval. ”I think Ryan would commend you as a subject.” Jason smiled happily, then pushed himself off Susan's lap to run and find his puppy. Edward turned back to Susan. ”Although your presence here is problematic.”

Susan bristled. ”Problematic? Remember, we are not here by choice. It was Ryan's decision to bring us here.”

Edward's face remained impa.s.sive. ”And a wise decision it was. At least your presence here guarantees she will no longer place herself in danger trying to protect you.”

Susan could not disguise her sarcasm. ”I find it difficult to believe that Ryan is in danger from anything.”

Edward glanced out the window toward the toppled oak tree. Several gardeners were already removing the debris. ”Perhaps endangered is not the appropriate expression. You have placed her at a strategic disadvantage.”

Susan was angry. ”What do you mean by that?”

Edward turned to her and his reproach was evident. ”You set a chain of events in motion when you published your work. Ryan has no equals; she has no weaknesses. You,” he said emphatically, ”are now her weakness.”

Susan stood up. ”I don't have to listen to this.”

But Edward stood up as well, firmly grasping her elbow. ”Listen to me, Dr. Ryerson.”

The urgency in his voice made Susan pause.

”I encouraged Ryan to kill you, but she would not because she felt sympathy for your son. Now I believe she holds a certain fondness for you. That does not change the fact that you are a liability to her.”

Susan pulled her arm away. She stood up to her full height, although she was still considerably shorter than he was.

”My son and I are ready to leave anytime you wish to disobey your *master',” she said cuttingly.

She turned on her heel and stormed from the room. Edward watched her retreating back, his face impa.s.sive.

Ryan knocked on Susan's door several hours later. Susan let her in, noting something odd about Ryan's appearance. She finally realized what it was. Ryan looked tired.

”Is Jason all right?” Ryan asked.

Susan motioned for her to come in. ”Yes,” she said, ”in fact, he's ready to swear his undying loyalty to you.”

Ryan smiled, running her hand through her hair. The gesture was so uncharacteristic, it made Ryan look even younger than the 19 years she had claimed at one time.

”I understand you and Edward exchanged words.”

”Ah yes,” Susan said. She sat down. ”He feels that we are a *liability' of sorts.”

Ryan sat down as well. ”That does not surprise me. That's the lawyer in him talking.”

Susan was surprised. ”Edward is a lawyer?”

Ryan nodded. ”Oh yes, Edward is many things to me. But he's primarily my attorney. He runs my business affairs and my estate. He is quite excellent, and knows more about the law than any person on this planet.”

Susan digested this information and Ryan continued. ”I used to be a lawyer.”

This seemed to be some sort of private joke to Ryan.

”What do you mean by that?” Susan asked.

”When I was young, it was very common to challenge witnesses by battle. You could literally accuse someone of lying, and if you beat them in combat, then they were lying. On the other hand, if you lost, then you were lying. Truth had very little to do with it.” Ryan was thoughtful. ”The legal system really hasn't changed that much.”

”And how were you involved in this?”

Ryan leaned over and picked up an elaborate letter opener from the table between them. She hefted the weight of it in her hand.

”It was quite lucrative to freelance as a *champion of truth,' if you will. All of justice became a fight between mercenaries. Those who could hire the best mercenaries, those were the ones justice favored.” Ryan replaced the letter opener. ”Like I said, things haven't changed that much.”

Ryan glanced around the room. She saw a rosary lying on the nightstand. ”You're not catholic, are you?”

”Yes,” Susan admitted, ”actually I am, though not practicing. I had a strict religious upbringing that I rebelled against when I married. My husband was Protestant.”

Ryan stood up. ”You could have been killed for that years ago,” she said, walking to the nightstand. She picked up the rosary, fingering the beads in her hand. ”I met a pope once,” she murmured.

This was more than enough to attract Susan's attention and her next words even more so.

”And I killed his son.”

Susan was too uncertain at her words to be shocked. ”How could the pope have a son? Don't they take vows of celibacy?”

Ryan turned to Susan and her eyes were dark with devilish laughter and perhaps a little scorn. ”You don't know much about the history of the catholic church, do you?”

Susan tried to hide her defensiveness. ”Well, it's not that. It's just that it's hard for me to think of the Pope as having a son.”

Ryan clicked the beads together in her hand. ”Well, this particular Pope had at least two sons, and a daughter, and probably many more that he didn't know about. In all my very long life, he was one of the most perverse individuals I ever met, as were his children.”

Susan was in disbelief, but curious all the same. ”Why did you kill his son?”

Ryan replaced the rosary, thoughtful once more. ”Cesare was a vicious and evil-tempered man, which in itself was not unusual. It was rumored he killed his own brother out of jealousy over his sister.”

Susan was shocked. ”They were lovers?”

”Oh yes. Unfortunately, his sister took a particular liking to me, an infatuation that continued for several years. Cesare finally attempted to ambush me in a back-alley fight, and I ended up killing him.”

Ryan did not appear too upset by this ending and in fact, recounted it almost as if it were a fond memory. ”Poor Cesare,” she said without the slightest bit of sympathy.