The Lady Astronomer (20 page)

She heard her father’s bellow as she raced
down the corridor toward the stairs that led down to the kitchen and smiled in
glee. Those bad people sure were going to get in big trouble if her father was
that cross.

“Sweet heavens! The owl is gone?
Where? What? Guards!” The king struggled to get out of bed and the queen
tried to persuade him back into it.

“Stuff and nonsense woman! A wrong has
been done and damn me if I am not going to set it to rights! Where are my
bloody slippers, what what? And my kingly bedhat? And my robe, there’s my
darling, I am not cross at you, just at those who would take my benevolence for
granted.”

“I know, I know.” She shushed him
and held him to her. His heart was beating alarmingly fast.

“Where are those blasted guards? Oh,
for goodness sake, wife, come with me! We shall traverse the corridors of
culprits and criminals ourselves until we find Ms. H. I told the guards to
guard her, not to imprison her!”

“King, my dearest darling, come then
and we shall do it ourselves.”

The
guards
entered just as the royal couple made
their way from the room, a strange sight indeed, with the king dressed for bed
and the queen as regal as always.

The king turned his head as he left the
room and said coldly, ever so quietly, “Give me the key to the cell in
which Ms. H is being held, hurry up now.”

He glared as the guard who had taken
Lucretia to the dungeon and stood over her while she ate handed the key over.

“I shall have words with you later.
Guards! Keep watch over this man and do not let him out of your sight. You are
hereby dismissed from your post, traitor! God damn you to hell, and you had
better hope, for your sake, that Ms. H is in the best of health.”

*

The king grunted, weak from his days in
bed, as he inserted the key into the heavy padlock. But at last the mechanism clicked
and he opened the door to the cell.

Shocked at Lucretia’s terrible condition,
he knelt down and cradled her.

“How is she?” The queen came in
behind her husband. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the lady astronomer,
fevered, shivering and out cold.

“Oh, King. And there is no owl.” The
queen’s face crumpled.

“We must get her to bed, now.”

“Let us wait for a guard, my dear. You
are weak.”

“Stuff and nonsense.” He stood and
lifted Lucretia in his arms. “She’s light as a feather actually,
worryingly so. Queen, you must find a guard to arrest Lady K, Mr. E, and
Rapier. Fine fencing master that one, though a little oily I have always
thought, what what?”

“What about you?”

“I shall bring this little bird to my
sickroom. And get my physicians back, too, if you would.”

The queen’s heart swelled as she looked at
the retreating back of her husband, Lucretia tiny and pale in his arms. She
wiped a tear from her eye and went to do his bidding.

*

“How is she?”

“Ah, Queen, my dear.” The king
took his wife to one side. “The physicians say she is actually quite
alright physically, a little fevered from the cold, but no bites from creepy
crawlies of any kind. What’s this?”

A cat walked past the royal couple, jumped
up onto the bed with Lucretia, curled itself into her, and commenced purring
loudly.

“Leave the cat!” The king’s look
stopped the physician in his tracks as he made to move it. He stepped away from
the bed, feeling guilty even though he had no need to. Those looks were
legendary, and made one feel like a naughty child no matter what station one
held within the royal household.

“What news have you, my love?”
The king focused his attention on the queen.

“Lady K and Mr. E have been found, but
Rapier is still at large.”

“He will be taken, fear not.”

Lucretia whimpered from the bed. “Orion,”
she sobbed. “My boy, dead and cold, dead and cold. Killed. He did not hurt
the cat, they told me.”

The king ran to her side, but she was
asleep again as the tears trickled down her face.

He was rigid in his anger, shaking,

“Queen, Queen!”

She came to him. “Now, my love. It is
not you that did this vile thing.”

“They killed the owl?” He was
stricken.

“Oh, King.”

They embraced, and watched as Empress
jumped up on to the bed, joining the other cat.

“Oh, dear,” remarked the queen,
in an attempt to lighten the situation. “If that is a boy, we may have
less than royal kittens.”

“I should think that cat is much
attached to Ms. H, my dear, but he could have parental visits should such a
thing come to pass.”

The king stayed with Lucretia. As the
shadows lengthened and the night came in, the queen lit candles and dismissed
the physicians.

Princess Twelve lay on her mother’s lap,
and the queen rose to take her to her own bed. The little girl had felt the
need to check on Lucretia, and neither her father nor mother would stop her,
even if they had been able to.

The lady astronomer’s hand twitched, her
breathing lightened and she opened her eyes with a wince even though the light
in the chamber was softly glowing.

“Where am I?”

“Shh, my dear. You are safe and well.”

“Sire?” Lucretia made to sit up.

“Not yet, not yet. You must gather
your strength.”

“Orion is gone.”

“I know, and I am heartily sorry for
it. Sorry that you have been through what you have. Sorry that I was ill and
did not know. I did not order any of this you know.”

“Truly?”

“Truly. I may be an old codger at
times, with my Clockwork Court and my beloved cat, but I would not be where I
am if I did not believe in good old fashioned justice.”

“Oh.”

“Make it worse? Not being able to
blame your experience on a mad old despot? That’s it, a tiny smile is better
than none.”

“I had no idea being a courtier would
drive people to such things.”

“I did, I am afraid. But those who did
this shall be brought to book, and I shall have to overhaul exactly how my court
works. To root out any evil that lies at the heart of it. If they are content
to do this, I shudder to think of what else may be plotted and planned against myself and my family in shadowy
corridors and dark rooms. Not to make little of what has happened to you, my
dear. And your beloved owl.”

“Orion.” She cried and couldn’t
stop.

The king gathered her up and rocked her. “I
had hawks as a boy, and now as a man still do. I raised one, Heathen, from a
baby. Oh, I loved that bird.”

“What happened?” Lucretia gulped
and hiccupped through her tears, and the king pushed her hair back.

“He lived until a grand old age and
sired many birds, which I still own. I could not imagine how I would have felt
if he had been taken from me. Let me get you another eagle owl, please, a whole
parliament of them.”

“It’s not the same,” she bawled,
decorum out the window in her distress.

“I know it’s not, but you could call
them all Orion and number them as I do with my children.”

“Could you imagine? I don’t think
Leibniz would know what to do with himself.”

“Your lemur? We should send for him,
and your family. They will be most dreadfully angry and upset that such a thing
happened when you were my guest, even if I did practically kidnap you to get my
telescope completed.”

“You are being remarkably frank with
me, Your Majesty.”

“I like you, Ms. H, and hope that we
can be friends, even after all of the dreadful occurrences.”

“I…”

“You don’t have to answer now, my dear.
I know you are raw and hurting. Let us take things gently and then see, what
what.”

“I am tired, Majesty. I think I will
sleep. Did the cat ever come back? And I don’t suppose you have seen my
monoscope that was taken from me?”

“He found you here and slept with you.
And Empress. I, uhm, mean, that is to say. Oh, dear.”

“That is quite alright, Your Majesty.
I know what you mean.”

“And yes, your monoscope is here,
retrieved by none other than Princess Twelve through stealthy means. Most
unladylike, which we shall not discuss at this moment. She was your true rescuer,
brought the whole sorry story to light.”

“How can I ever thank her?”

“We shall think of a way. You rest now.”
The king patted her hand and left her side, a deep frown on his face at the
thought of the corruption that lay at the heart of the Clockwork Court.

*

“
Where am I?” Lucretia pushed herself up.

“You must lie still,” admonished
the physician. “You were carried from the king’s bed as you slept. You
cannot disrupt the king’s sleeping arrangements for too long, you know. He is
still recovering himself.”

“It was very kind.” She lifted
the blanket and saw she was wearing a nightgown with a royal crest on the
breast. “Who does this belong to?”

“One of the princesses. It was thought
best to destroy the clothes you were wearing for fear of possible prison
pollutants.”

“Ah. What of my monoscope?” She
had to write a letter home. Let everyone know she was all right.

He handed it to her. “I am afraid it
was damaged.”

Lucretia fastened the scope around her head,
relishing the feeling of having it on again. She focused two of the lenses, and
saw it was indeed broken. She looked out onto the world as if through muddied
waters split in two.

“My brother can fix it for me, but I
think I shall leave it on regardless. Would it be possible to have quill and
parchment brought?”

“I shall see what I can do, Ms. H, but
first, as your physician, I must recommend some more rest.”

“Arse.”

“Ahem! Indeed.”

“Ms. H!” Princess Twelve raced
into the room to see her friend.

“Princess Twelve, my lady,”
Lucretia bowed from the waist where she sat in bed. “I believe you have
been the knightette to my damsel in distress. Come closer.”

The little girl walked to her side and
Lucretia took her hand.

“Princess, you did a brave thing, and
I know that your mama and father are so proud of you. I am very proud of you
too, and thankful, and am honoured to have you as my friend. But now, and far
more importantly, I would like to do something for you in return.”

“Sweeties?”

“As many as you can eat.”

“Cake?”

“One bigger than your whole self.”

The princess giggled. “Some proper
Astronomy lessons and this time I promise not to eat the planets and stars?”

“Deal.”

“Could I get a monoscope like yours?”

“I shall ask my brother Al to make you
an exact copy.”

“Can I stay up all night?”

“Ah.”

“Well then, can I come and visit you
at your house and see the big telescope?”

“Of course you can. Is there anything
else?”

“Can I have a cuddle? I was very
worried about those bad people.”

Lucretia lifted the child up and settled
her on her lap.

“My father got that mean lady and her
friend, didn’t he, Ms. H?”

“Please, Princess Twelve. My name is
Lucretia. He got two of them, but the last bad man is yet to be caught.”

“And my name isn’t Twelve you know,”
the princess looked up at her solemnly.

“It’s not?” Lucretia acted
dumb-struck.

“No, silly lady! Children don’t have
numbers for names you know. My name is a bit boring, so I prefer Kitty, like a
cat.”

“Well then, Princess Kitty, it is a
pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Lucretia shook the child’s hand and
the little girl exploded with laughter at her formal manner before quietening.

“Ms. H, I mean Lucretia.” She
twined her fingers in the Astronomer’s.

“Yes, Princess Kitty?”

“I am very sad about your owl, Orion.”

Lucretia’s eyes filled with tears. “I
am, too.” And hearing her wavering voice, the little girl turned around
and squeezed her hard.

Their embrace was broken by the excited
calls of Leibniz, who jumped up onto the bed and in between them for a cuddle.

“Leibniz, oh, I have missed you!”

The lemur trembled in her arms.

“That’s a very nice monkey, he’s good
at cuddling.”

“Well, he’s a lemur, really, but it
doesn’t matter. And yes, he is a champion cuddler.”

Leibniz chattered his news, and as Lucretia
was wondering how he had gotten to the castle, in strode Freddie and Al, the king
trailing in their wake.