The Marus Manuscripts (43 page)

“So where is all this leading to?” the king asked impatiently. “I have a game of golf to play this afternoon.”

“I’m pleased to say that I have diminished the threat to you by the members of the Old Faith. I believe we have captured most of the ringleaders and destroyed their meeting places.”

“Then the crisis is over,” the king said as if concluding the discussion.

“Not quite,” Lord Hector replied. “I’m calling on all law-abiding and peaceful people in the nation to engage in one final purge to rid the kingdom of this infestation—as a celebration of your return from your honeymoon.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning that this coming Saturday, all good Palatians and Marutians who are loyal to Your Majesty will drive the Old Faith out once and for all. Then I will empty the dungeons and jails of the traitors and execute them, according to Your Majesty’s pleasure.”

“Yes, I noticed the new scaffolds you were building,” the king said in a doubtful tone. “Are you sure the Marutians are behind this idea of yours? I wouldn’t want them to get upset and revolt or anything like that.”

“The Marutians are as tired of the Old Faith as we are, Your Majesty. They welcome our efforts to get rid of it. Like us, they wish to turn their faces toward the bright sun of your new and enlightened ideas.”

The king rubbed his hands together as if to end the meeting. “Good. Well done. Let me know how it all turns out.”

That’s that,
Maddy thought with a sense of defeat.
The king has approved the purge.

Lord Hector cleared his throat before the king could get to his feet. “There is one other matter, sire.”

“What?” the king asked, annoyed.

“One of your palace guards . . .”

“A guard? What about him?”

“Well, I have tried repeatedly and in a reasonable manner to get him to sign the oath of allegiance to Your Majesty. And now,” Lord Hector said with a chuckle, “he insists on appealing to you rather than signing the oath.”

“Appeal to me?”

“Apparently it’s his right as a palace guard to appeal directly to the king,” Lord Hector replied, then added offhandedly, “It’s one of those Marutian laws I want to change as soon as we can.”

“I see. Well, what about it?”

“I have evidence—not cold, hard evidence, mind you, but evidence nonetheless—that this particular guard won’t sign because he is a fanatic of the Old Faith.”

“Why are you telling me about this?” The king now stood up. “Why haven’t you locked him up and interrogated him?”

“As I said, he appealed to you, and I can’t touch him without your permission.”

“Then consider his appeal heard and denied. I can’t be bothered with this nonsense.” Without saying anything else, the king stepped down from the throne and left the room.

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Lord Hector said to the empty room.

Maddy wasted no time rushing back to Annison’s chambers. After emerging in the bedroom, she burst in on Annison in a side
room that served as a reception room. Annison was listening intently to Tabby.

Tabby glowered at Maddy, displeased by the rudeness of the interruption.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Maddy said breathlessly, “but I have news.”

“Leave us, Tabby,” Annison commanded.

“But Your Highness—”

Annison gave Tabby an uncharacteristically stern look. Tabby stood up, bowed, and left the room, nearly slamming the door behind her.

Maddy reported what she’d seen and heard in the king’s reception room. Annison’s eyes went wide, and she reached out to take Maddy’s hand. “You have to run and warn Simet,” she urged. “Tell him to escape and hide until it’s safe again. Go, dear girl,
go
!
”

Maddy left in a flash and hurried down the many hallways of the palace. She had no fear of becoming lost now; she was getting to know her way around pretty well. She got to Simet’s small office just as he was coming out.

“Simet!” she said with a gasp.

He was surprised to see her. “Hello, child,” he greeted. “Your timing is perfect. I am about to seek an audience with the king to discuss my appeal—and to tell him all the terrible things his chancellor has been doing.”

“Lord Hector . . . has beaten you to it,” Maddy said in heaving tones. “The king has given him permission for the purge . . .
and
to arrest you. Annison wants you to escape. You have to hurry!”

Simet looked bewildered, as if Maddy had suddenly walked up and hit him in the face with a rock. “This can’t be,” he said in a half whisper, then cried out, “Where is justice? Where is the Unseen One?”

“He’s only in your imagination,” Lord Hector said as he approached from the end of the hall. “It’s where He’s always been. But thank you for confirming what I always suspected, that you’re one of the fanatics of the Old Faith.”

“Run, Simet!” Maddy implored. “Run!”

But it was too late. Lord Hector’s guards swarmed around them like bees and grabbed Simet by both arms.

One of them, the man with the high forehead, punched Simet in the mouth. “That’s for making my job so difficult,” he spat.

Simet shook his head as if shaking off the blow, but a trickle of blood slipped from his lip.

Maddy gave the man a hard kick in his shin.

He winced and then suddenly laughed at her. “You’re a feisty one,” he observed. “I’ve enjoyed watching you.”

Lord Hector stepped in between Maddy and the man. “Take Simet to my
special
interrogation room in the dungeon,” he commanded.

Simet said nothing as the guards took him away.

Lord Hector grabbed Maddy roughly by the arm. “I warned you to choose your side carefully,” he said coldly.

Maddy looked at him defiantly. “I am on the
queen’s
side,” she challenged. “Are you going to arrest me, too?”

Lord Hector grunted and let go of her. “You’d be advised to stay very close to the queen, then. And stay clear of anything to do with Simet. He’s as good as dead.”

W
hat are we to do?” Annison asked over and over as she paced from one end of her bedroom to another.

Maddy watched her go back and forth. “Can’t you talk to the king like Simet said?” she asked. “You’re his wife, after all.”

Annison shook her head. “It isn’t that easy. According to Palatian law, the queen can only be summoned by the king. She can never approach him on her own initiative.”

“What happens if you break their law?”

“He could divorce me or, worse, have me arrested and put to death.”

“That sounds like a stupid law.”

Annison agreed and then worried aloud, “He warned me when we returned that he would be very busy this week. I don’t think he planned to see me again until next week sometime—
after
Hector’s purge. And after Simet has been murdered.”

“What if you bumped into him by accident?” Maddy suggested. “What if you just happened to be somewhere that
he
happened to be?”

Annison considered the idea for a moment, then commented, “I don’t know of any Palatian laws against that.”

“Then you could talk to the king and make him understand.”

“But that’s another question,” Annison said thoughtfully. Tired of pacing, she sat down in a chair. “What can I say to make him understand? He doesn’t believe women should be involved in affairs
of state to begin with. Worse, if I appeal to him on behalf of the Old Faith, he’ll wonder why I’m doing it. That would leave me with only one choice: to tell him the truth.”

“The truth?” Maddy asked. “The
whole
truth?”

“Yes. I’ll have to confess that I myself am a believer and that Simet has been like a father to me.”

“What do you think he’ll do if you say all that?”

“I don’t know.” Annison contemplated the consequences. “He might very well feel betrayed and allow Lord Hector to kill me along with all the others.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t do it. Maybe there’s another way.”

“What other way, Maddy? You’ve been sent here by the Unseen One to be my helper. Now
help
me. Tell me of another way to save my people, and I’ll do it. Otherwise, don’t distract me from what I know, and you know, I must do.”

Properly chastised, Maddy fell silent. Her mind went back to when she’d first arrived in Marus with her fairy-tale hopes and storybook dreams and hadn’t understood Annison’s commitment to duty. Then it was the duty of marrying a man she didn’t love. Now Maddy realized that marrying the king was only a small thing to do. Her real duty for the Unseen One meant that she might have to give her life to save the people she loved.

Annison gazed at Maddy as if she knew her thoughts. “You see now, don’t you?” she quizzed. “What good is our faith in anything if we’re not willing to sacrifice ourselves to it completely—even die for it?”

Maddy nodded and made up her mind. If Annison were going to sacrifice, she would sacrifice, too.

Annison looked at the clock on the mantel. “If the king is golfing this afternoon, he’ll return to his chambers around five o’clock. That gives me a few hours to prepare. Come help me get dressed.”

Maddy looked at her questioningly.

“If I’m going to bump into the king, I want to look presentable,” she explained with a smile.

As she dressed, Annison discussed her options with Maddy. Annison decided that her panic about Simet and Hector’s purge mustn’t rule her thinking. If she had to appeal to the king, she needed to do so in a subtle and intelligent manner.

“I must learn from Lord Hector,” she told Maddy. “I must have a plan even more clever than his own. Then I must speak to the king as Lord Hector does.”

“You mean lie?” Maddy asked.

“Of course not!” Annison replied. “But there are more ways to appeal to the king than simply throwing oneself at his feet or confronting him with our cause. We must get him in the right frame of mind to consider other notions before we make our case.”

Maddy was impressed with Annison’s calm and collected manner. Maddy, on the other hand, was a bundle of nerves. All the subtlety and cleverness in the world wouldn’t make a difference if the king rejected Annison and her faith.

Annison went to her desk and pulled out a small red book. She sat down and began to write in it. After a moment, she seemed self-conscious about Maddy’s standing nearby and dismissed her. Maddy waited in the other room, wondering what Annison was up to.

It was close to 4:30 when Annison came out of her room. “Tabby has learned from one of the king’s servants that he’ll return from his golf game through one of the entrances in the east garden,” she told Maddy. “I’ll make it a point to be strolling in that garden when he arrives.”

“I’ll go with you,” Maddy said.

“No, you won’t,” Annison stated firmly. “This is dangerous. If it all goes wrong, you must leave the palace immediately. One way or another, you must find your way home.”

Maddy was distressed. “Home? How am I supposed to go home? I don’t know how I got here in the first place!”

“Then we’ll hope and pray that the Unseen One will send you back if our plans are undone.”

“But I want to go with you,” Maddy pouted.

“No. You wait here.” Annison clutched the small red book against her chest. She then adjusted her shawl, gathered up her dress, and strolled casually out of the room. For a fraction of a second, it was easy to think she was merely a woman going for a walk in a garden—and not to her possible doom.

Maddy lasted all of five minutes in the room alone. Then her eye caught an umbrella leaning against the wall, and she decided Annison would need it to shield her from the sun or protect her from the rain, if it happened to fall. It seemed like a good excuse either way, so she grabbed it and headed for the east garden.

It was a beautiful summer’s day, and the sun poured golden rays down to highlight the lush greens, blues, purples, yellows, and reds of the garden. Maddy looked around for Annison but couldn’t see her. Suddenly a hand was on her arm.

“What are you doing here?” Annison asked as Maddy turned to face her.

Maddy smiled up at her and said feebly, “I brought you this umbrella.”

Annison wagged a finger at her. “You’ve disobeyed me,” she stated. “Now go back to my chambers.”

Maddy opened her mouth to argue, but the sound of an approaching coach stopped her. It was the king’s coach, coming up a gravel path that traveled along one side of the garden. The driver
drew the horses to a halt only feet away from where Annison and Maddy stood. The door swung open and the king stepped out.

“Hello, my dear,” he said pleasantly as soon as he saw the queen. “What a nice surprise!”

Annison bowed to him and nudged Maddy to do the same. “Thank you, my king,” Annison replied. “I’ve been enjoying the garden.”

“May I walk with you for a moment?” the king asked, blushing a little like a schoolboy.

“I would be honored.”

The king took the queen’s arm in his, and they strolled toward the large fountain that stood at the center of the garden. Maddy followed at a discreet distance, but she could hear what they were saying.

The king initially dominated the conversation with talk about his golf game. Then, when it was clear they had exhausted that topic, Annison said, “My lord, I know you’re terribly busy now that we’ve returned. But I would like to ask a favor . . .”

“A favor, my queen? Name it and it’s yours, even up to half my kingdom,” he said playfully.

“I would be grateful if you and Lord Hector would come to lunch in my chambers tomorrow.”

“We would be delighted!” the king replied, then added sourly, “But do I have to bring Hector? He’s been getting on my nerves lately.”

“As your queen, I think it would be wise for me to be in good standing with your chancellor. Don’t you think?”

“You are diplomatic as well as beautiful!” the king exclaimed. He kissed her hand. “I am to meet Hector in a few moments and will present your invitation.”

“Thank you, sire. It will be a modest meal, but I treasure any time we have together.”

The king blushed again, then stroked his growing beard with the back of his hand. “You are a joy to me, Annison. I will see you at lunchtime tomorrow.”

“Until then,” Annison said, and she handed him the book she was carrying. It was covered in red velvet and had a small gold clasp along the front. It was the one Maddy had seen her writing in earlier. “This is a small gift from me in the meantime. It’s a story I wrote for you. But you mustn’t read it until later.”

“I’m intrigued,” the king said and took the book gratefully. He kissed Annison’s hand again. “Thank you.” With only a passing glance toward Maddy, he walked to the back door of the palace, whistling a jaunty tune.

Once the king was out of earshot, Annison took Maddy aside. “You must be quick now,” she instructed. “I want you to go back down the passage to hear what’s said between the king and Lord Hector. Hurry now!”

Maddy found most of the conversation between the king and Lord Hector boring. They discussed more financial details, legislation about Palatians living in Marutian homes, the positioning of troops, and a series of meetings the king was to have with local businessmen. The king hardly seemed interested.

Then, when the meeting was drawing to a close, the king said, “My Lord Hector, I hope you don’t have any plans for lunch tomorrow.”

“I don’t, sire,” Lord Hector replied. “Why do you ask?”

“The queen has invited us to lunch in her chambers.”

“Us? The two of us?”

“Yes. She asked for you specifically.”

“Well, I’m honored, Your Majesty. I wouldn’t miss it.”

“And so you shouldn’t.”

The king left the reception room by way of a back door, and Maddy nearly closed the peephole to return to Annison. But Lord Hector did a curious thing. He suddenly marched up to the throne and sat down on it, slinging his leg over one of the chair arms.

“Well, well,” he said aloud.

The man with the high forehead came forward from the door. Maddy wasn’t sure if he’d been there the whole time and she just hadn’t noticed him, or if he’d only just entered. “You look rather pleased with yourself,” he observed.

“Why shouldn’t I be, Reginald?” Lord Hector responded. “Things are looking up.”

“Are you talking about the purge or the king’s golf score?”

“I’m talking about being invited to the queen’s chambers for lunch tomorrow. What do you make of it?”

Reginald shrugged. “I’m not sure I make anything of it.”

“But why invite
me
when she could have the king all to herself?”

“A very good question. I suppose you think you have an answer?”

“I do. I believe it’s a gesture on her part to win my friendship. I think she’s a very shrewd woman, and she knows where the real power in this kingdom rests. With me. She also knows that now is a very good time to win my favor.”

“You read a lot into a simple invitation.”

“In the business of politics, one has to. Nothing is as it seems. No one is kind unless they will gain from it. No one is nasty unless there’s an advantage. That’s how the game is played.”

“But she’s only the queen,” Reginald said. “She has no real power.”

“It’s true,” Lord Hector conceded. “But she’s a beautiful woman. And I believe she has the king’s heart.” Hector sat up, abruptly changing the subject. “Tell me how Simet is holding up. Has he
given you any worthwhile information? It would be gratifying to me if he would blab the names of all the other leaders of the Old Faith.”