Master of Dragons (48 page)

After that,
everything had gone wrong. Evelina had planned to retrieve the goblet that she
had given to Lady Izabelle and rinse it out before anyone had a chance to
examine it. The startling and unexpected turn of events of that day had so
rattled her that she forgot about the goblet until it was too late. When she
went to find it, the goblet was gone.

One of the Queen’s
knights, with great presence of mind, had picked up the goblet from the floor
and secreted it inside a chest in his room. He had later presented it to the
king, who gave it to the royal physician, who performed his tests and stated
that, in his expert opinion, the wine had been poisoned. Now, Evelina faced the
very real possibility of being hanged.

Yet, she kept her
head high as she listened to the prosecuting lawyer recount the evidence before
the king.

“Your Majesty, you
have heard three witnesses here swear under oath that they saw Mistress Evelina
pour the wine from the pitcher into three goblets—one which she gave to Her
Majesty, one which she kept for herself, and one which she gave to the Lady
Izabelle,” the lawyer related, his tone stern and cold.

“According to
these men, no one touched the goblets other than Mistress Evelina. You have
heard the testimony of the herbalist who has identified Mistress Evelina as the
purchaser of the poison a few days prior to the murder, using this ring”—the
lawyer held up a ruby—”to pay for it. The ring has been identified as belonging
to one of Her Majesty’s ladies-in-waiting. In addition, we have recovered
several other valuables that had gone missing in the young woman’s room.”

Evelina remained
defiant, a faint smile of disdain on her lips. Her attitude appeared to
exasperate the King. Edward’s expression hardened.

The lawyer held up
an object.

“We also found
there a half-filled vial containing more poison secreted beneath her mattress.”

That was foolish,
Evelina admitted. She should have thrown it out. The dream of feeding it to Axe-Face
had been too dear to let go. The lawyer was still talking. Evelina stifled a
yawn.

The lawyer called
for Gunderson to take the stand.

The elderly
retainer limped forward.

“Tell us, Master
Gunderson, what you discovered about Mistress Evelina’s background.”

“She is the
daughter of a petty thief and pickpocket known as Ramone, last seen leaving the
city of Fairefield in company with a troupe of ne’er-do-well actors under the
leadership of a scoundrel called Glimmershanks. This troupe and the young woman’s
father have since disappeared.”

Evelina clenched
her jaw and stood unmoving.

Gunderson sighed
and rubbed his chin. “There is no doubt, Your Majesty, that the prince’s . . .
er . . . half brother knows the truth about this young woman and how she
happened to be in Dragonkeep, but Ven refused to answer any of my questions,
saying only that he was at fault for what had happened to her and he would not
say anything against her.”

Evelina tapped her
foot, waiting impatiently for her chance to speak.

Gunderson bowed
and stepped back.

The lawyer
continued. “As to motive, Mistress Evelina was known to be jealous of the Lady
Izabelle, for her betrothal to Prince Marcus. Both this serving girl and the
cook have given witness to that.” The lawyer bowed and concluded.

“Mistress Evelina,”
King Edward spoke sternly, “you face death by hanging if this charge of murder
is found to be true and we find the evidence against you overwhelming. Do you
have anything to say in your own defense?”

“I do, Your
Majesty,” said Evelina. “I did
not
poison the Lady Izabelle.”

Before the king
could say a word, she added coolly, “I poisoned the dragon.

“I knew all along
that the so-called lady was a dragon, Your Majesty,” Evelina continued. “I
learned about such monsters when I was held prisoner in Dragonkeep. I know I
should have told someone, but I feared no one would believe me. So I concluded
I had to deal with her myself. It was the least I could do, seeing that you had
all been so kind to me, Your Majesty.”

A tear slid down
her cheek.

“I saved your
lives,” Evelina said with a catch in her voice. “I saved your kingdom, Your
Majesty. And for that I must die! But first,” she added, raising her head with
a flash in her eye, “I’ll tell what I know from the scaffold. I’ll proclaim the
truth about your son!”

“Our people
already know the truth about Prince Marcus, Mistress,” said Edward. “We have no
secrets from them, now, and neither does our son. And we find it difficult to
believe your story that you penetrated the dragon’s disguise. However”—his
mouth twitched—”we can’t prove it.”

He was silent a
moment, regarding her grimly, and, despite herself, her heart beat fast.

At last he said, “You
will not hang, Mistress Evelina.”

She felt her knees
go weak with relief, and true tears flooded her eyes. She had not realized,
until that moment, how frightened she was.

“But we cannot in
good conscience unleash you upon an unsuspecting public. Therefore we have
decided that you will be escorted, under guard, to the Abbey of the blessed
Saint Elizabeth, there to spend the rest of your days in prayer and penitence.”

Evelina’s jaw
dropped. “A nun!” she repeated, shocked. “I’m to become a nun!”

“If God will have
you,” said Edward dryly. “Which we much doubt. Whether you take the veil or not
is entirely up to you, Mistress. You will be a prisoner in the Abbey,
well-guarded, day and night, by the Abbess, who is, we understand, a woman of
extremely strong character. You will remain there under penalty of death. If
you should escape—and we must tell you that the Abbey is located in mountainous
terrain and is, further, extremely isolated—you will be hunted down, and the
sentence of death will be immediately carried out. Do you understand?”

“I would rather be
hanged!” Evelina cried.

“That is, of
course, your choice, Mistress,” said the king gravely, and thus ended the
trial.

In the end,
Evelina did not choose to be hanged. She was Ramone’s daughter, and so long as
there is life there is hope. The more she thought about it, the better this
sounded. She had no doubt but that she would be able to seduce her guards and
that one or more of them would help her escape. She had her charms and the
golden necklace that she had stolen from the dragon, which she’d managed to
squirrel away so that not even Axe-Face had discovered it.

Unfortunately for
Evelina, she had to revise her plans almost immediately. Her guards turned out
to be women—the warrior women of Seth. Having learned that Evelina had poisoned
one woman affianced to Prince Marcus, the warriors were more than glad to take
on the task of escorting this dangerous female to her prison. Evelina was not
above attempting to seduce one of the women, but that proved a failure. None of
them so much as glanced at her the entire journey.

Hope dimmed still
further when she found out that when the king said the Abbey was isolated, he
meant
isolated.
She and her guards traveled for weeks on end through
thick forests, with nary a town or village in sight. Wolves and bears and
wildcats prowled the woods at night. Evelina counted ten snakes crossing her
path. She thought of trying to make this journey on her own, roaming the vast
wilderness defenseless, with no food, and her heart sank.

They arrived at
the Abbey in a snowstorm. Evelina was frozen clear through. Her toes and
fingers had gone numb. It hurt her to walk, and she was forced to hobble her
way over the frozen ground. The Abbey was an enormous building made of stone
quarried from the mountain. It was surrounded by a high wall, penetrated by
only a single gate, that was barred from the inside. The bar was so heavy that
four of the stoutest sisters were required to lift it, and it was only opened
when someone needed to enter.

The warrior woman
escorted Evelina safely inside, then left her to her fate. Evelina, clutching a
little sack containing her belongings, including the golden locket, stood
shivering in the courtyard.

The sisters took
Evelina to a windowless cell with a mattress in it and nothing else. She was
told that this was her room. The cell was nearly as cold as outdoors, and
Evelina resigned herself to freezing to death. She lay in bed, huddled beneath
a thin blanket, and wished she’d opted for hanging. One of the sisters
appeared. She took Evelina to a warming room, where there was a fire. The
sisters gave her food and drink, plain but filling, and undergarments over
which went robes made of heavy black cloth.

I must look
like a crow in this black garb,
Evelina thought dismally.

Then she realized
that there were no men about to see her, so it really didn’t matter what she looked
like. She snuggled gratefully into the habit that was, at least, warm.

The sisters took
her, at last, to see the Abbess.

The Abbess was in
her late forties, stout, well-educated, strong-willed, and determined.

Standing before
the woman, her hands folded in her sleeves, her eyes lowered, Evelina pretended
to listen as the sonorous voice of the Abbess laid down the law and handed out
the rules that were, from now on, to define Evelina’s life. All the while
Evelina was casting oblique glances from beneath her eyelashes around the room.

The quarters of
the Abbess were simply furnished, but appeared sumptuous compared to those of
the other nuns. A fire burned on the hearth, making the room cozy. The bed had
a mattress of goose down, not of straw. There were chairs and a writing desk,
and the Abbess had her own secretary to handle her correspondence, for—Evelina
would come to learn—the Abbess was a power in the church in this part of the
world.

Evelina had been
doing some hard thinking. The sisters, though they might labor and toil in the
fields and around the Abbey, appeared to be healthy and well-fed. Having gone
to bed hungry more than once in her life, Evelina appreciated the value of
always having enough to eat. Inside the Abbey, she was safe and protected. She
had her own room. True, there were drawbacks-one of them being a great deal of
time that she would have to spend on her knees in prayer, the other that there
were no men. But prayers were easily said, and as for men, what had they ever
brought her but trouble?

Looking at the
Abbess, Evelina saw herself in that chair, basking by the fire, eating all the
food she wanted, ruler of her own small kingdom.

And so when the
Abbess concluded by asking Evelina what she thought of where she now found
herself, Evelina sank down onto her knees and clasped her hands together.

“I thank God,
Reverend Mother,” she said piously, “that He has brought me home.”

Peeping up from
beneath a curtain of golden curls, Evelina saw the Abbess was touched and
impressed. Inwardly, the novice looked to the future and smiled.