<em>I could hardly play the role of the blushing virgin robbed of her treasure if I had not made the request, grandsire.  If not from him, the city will speak of it in the day; Darius may trust his six, but one of them, at least, will have a taste for strong drink and easy words.</em><br/><br/>"Thank you, Abel, you are every loyal and true to your masters.  If it please you, since we left my maids behind, might you call upon your daughter Sophie to attend my needs for the next few days?  She has, as I recall, a gentle voice, and I needs must surround myself with voices and faces as gentle as possible, to recover the harm that has been done to me."  Aurora smiled, tenderly, as Abel almost fell over himself in his haste to assure her that Sophie would be at her beck and call.  A spy in the princess' own bedchamber?  How could he resist?  And if her memory of Sophie at their last meeting was not false, she would be a perfect plaything to offer to her grandsire, and a better alibi than she could wish for to conceal her trysts with Darius, and exploration of the forgotten bowels of the castle.<br/><br/>"The only other thing I would wish from you is to see my brother.  Is Amon about?"