Trusted (27 page)

“Excellent. You’re right. Give him tonight to dwell on it. Tomorrow we will pull him out of the cell and get him to talk. I fear time is not on our side.”

“I agree. Well, can I get something decent to eat before I go back?”

Garrick laughed and said to the guard. “Feed the man well.”

Then he left.

Gersa was fuming. How dare he banish her from court? Her! The first lady of the realm! Far and away better than that cow he married.

“Father! You must do something! Now is the time to strike!” she cried when her father entered the room.

“Hush! I’ve had enough of your mouth for one night! You’ve embarrassed me thoroughly! I’ll not hear another word from you!”

“I’ve embarrassed you? You embarrass me! Letting that man treat me thus when you know you are the better man and I am the better woman! When are you going to grow a spine and be rid of him once and for all?!”

Her father rushed up on her, backhanding her across the mouth so hard she fell against the couch.

“You will watch how you speak to me! I am your father and your better!” he roared at her. “What are you but a whining, sniveling woman? You are no better than the queen, questioning a man in front of others!” He indicated the cowering servants. “I will strike when I am ready to strike and not a moment sooner. The king sends Jesso to the Umam. I will send message to Veddig ahead of him and have Jesso captured and killed. Without Jesso the king will crumble to dust. The spirit will be drained from him. He will not have the energy to fight both me and the Umam. Besides, Jesso commands nearly an eighth of the Order. Without him as head of those men they will fall to disorganization. Jesso has no male heirs. There will be none to take the reins save the king himself, and how loyal will Jesso’s men be to the man who had their lord killed?”

Gersa sat up on her knees and turned her spinning head toward her father.

“Well you better act quickly,” she said, licking blood from her lips where it had showed. “The cow who acts as queen is pregnant with the king's heir.”

Tyron went still and glared at his daughter. “How do you know this?”

“Hycinth. I have befriended the little twit. She told me so herself in an unguarded moment.”

“That’s what you call befriending? Belittling her in public?”

“I will make it up to her on the morrow. She is so eager to be accepted by the higher ladies of the court that she will do and say anything.”

“Including lie about the queen being pregnant,” Tyron scoffed.

“It would make no sense to make such a thing up,” Gersa said. “No. She is pregnant. And once she gives birth all your plans will be for naught.”

“Then she must never give birth. We will try something different this time. Instead of killing her with an outside assassin, maybe we can use one on the inside. How sure are you that you can get Hycinth to forgive your cruelty?”

“Very sure,” Gersa said. “All it will take is a few words of apology and acceptance. A compliment on her hair or dress. She is easy to fool.”

“Then you must get her to give a gift to the queen.”

“What kind of gift?”

“Leave that to me,” Tyron said.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The next day, Hycinth was watching the snow fall in the early morning light. The ground was thoroughly coated and everything looked soft and white. Hycinth felt a touch on her shoulder and she turned to see Gersa smiling at her.

“Gersa! You should not be here,” Hycinth said, looking left and right.

“I know. I will go soon. I simply wanted to say how sorry I am that I was so nasty to you last night. I was in a foul mood. Forgive me.”

“Of course I forgive you,” Hycinth said with a smile. “But I do not think the king will be so forgiving, so you must go.”

“Not before I give you this.” She handed Hycinth a box of four perfect chocolate truffles.

“Oh they look beautiful! Too beautiful to eat!” Hycinth said. “Thank you.”

“Oh but do eat them,” Gersa said. “And…share them with the queen. When she has tried one, tell her they are from me and I give her my apology through them. Maybe if she is well pleased she will speak to the king on my behalf.”

“Perhaps she will. Perhaps we should give the entire box to her. I will tell her right away.”

“Wait until after she has tried one. I fear that to tell her beforehand will sour the taste and intent of the gift. Once she has the pleasure of the chocolate on her tongue, then you may tell her who it is from.”

“Of course. That makes perfect sense. I will bring it to her right away.”

“Thank you. It may be that I will be welcomed back to court. Please tell her I will try to earn her forgiveness any way I can.”

“I will certainly do that. I will go right away.”

Hycinth hurried away.

Sarea awoke to realize it was late in the morning. She sat up quickly. She had intended to be with Garrick when he had sent Jesso on his way. Why had he not awakened her? She should have been there with him.

They had made up last night, forgiving each other through kisses and caresses. She felt closer to him now that they had quarreled and made up. It showed her that things did not have to be perfect all of the time. He would still come back to her, even after he had turned away in displeasure. It helped that he had been immediately contrite. She knew he had not meant to snap at her. She knew his heavy heart had weighed his tongue with bitter words.

She stirred from bed, her feet touching the icy cold floor. The fire had died down and no one had tended it. This did not surprise her because the king’s bedroom had become a place where no servant was allowed without express permission. To best avoid anyone walking in on the king and queen when they were in intimate relations. Something that had happened once…and only once.

She reached for a robe and put on her slippers before heading through the adjoining door to her bedroom. Her maid Fere was there and Hycinth was waiting for her.

“Good morning dozy girl. Did the king wear you out apologizing last night?” Hycinth asked.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Sarea said primly. Then she smiled. “Yes he did. He was very contrite.”

“And so should you have been as well, for he was not all in the wrong.”

“No he was not. And I made my apologies as well.”

“It seems there is a great deal of apologizing happening today. Gersa came to me and apologized for her behavior.”

This truly shocked Sarea. “Did she? And you believed her sincere?”

“I did. I think she regrets her mood. And…it looked as though she was ill used again,” Hycinth confided. “I think her father the culprit.”

“Perhaps he was the first time as well. He is known to have temper. I fear the repercussions of last night’s actions my husband took.”

“Well, perhaps all can be made better with apologies! I feel certain Gersa is apologetic to you as well.”

Sarea laughed. “There you are wrong. Gersa will never lower herself to apologize to the likes of me.”

“She may yet surprise you. Would you be willing to forgive her?”

“That is a tricky question. I suppose it would depend.”

“On?”

“Her sincerity for one.  It would take much for me to believe she will mend her ways. There is much bitter fruit in that girl’s garden.”

“Well, perhaps it is just her outer skin that is bitter, and the flesh inside is sweeter. She is abused by her father and takes it out on others. It explains a great deal about her behavior,” Hycinth said.

“I suppose it does. Now come. I must dress and find my husband. I wish to see how he if faring now that he has sent Jesso on his way.”

“As you dress I have a treat for you,” Hycinth said, taking the box of chocolates from the table and giving them to her.

“Oh Hycinth! They’re beautiful!” Each truffle was decorated differently, one was even dusted in gold. “Chocolate comes very dear,” Sarea said doubtfully. “Are you certain you can afford such a costly gift?”

“I am certain. They are for you and you should enjoy them. Try one.”

“But I have not broken my fast,” Sarea said with a laugh.

“So break it with a chocolate. Please. I am most eager for you to try one.”

“Very well,” Sarea said. She opened the box and picked up the truffle dusted with gold. She lifted it to her lips and opened her mouth.

“My queen, no!”

The serving girl came out of nowhere and smacked Sarea’s hand, dashing the chocolate and the box it came in to the ground.

“How dare you strike the queen!” Hycinth said in outrage, grabbing the girl by the arm and giving her a shake.

“How dare you feed the queen poison!” the serving girl spat back.

“Poison!” Sarea said. “Hycinth would not serve me poison!” Sarea said, looking at Hycinth who had gone a deathly shade of paper white. Sarea finally recognized the serving girl as the one she had insinuated into Gersa’s household.

“Perhaps not knowingly,” the serving girl said, “but ask her yourself where the gift comes from!”

“Hycinth?” Sarea asked.

“I-I-I…well, it was a-an a-apology. Gersa said that—“

“Gersa!” Sarea ejected, cutting Hycinth off. “These are from Gersa?” Sarea bent and picked up the box of chocolates, picking up the gold dusted one. “What makes you say they are poisoned,” Sarea asked the serving girl.

“Because I was there when her father handed her the box. He said, ‘Feed these to the queen and her bastard will rot inside her belly.’”

Sarea paled and felt suddenly lightheaded. She dropped the chocolates from nerveless fingers and fumbled behind herself for a place to sit. Fere quickly came up behind her and guided her into her chair.

“They know I’m with child? How could they possibly know that? The only ones who know are myself the king and Jesso!”

“And Lady Hycinth,” the serving girl reminded her.

Sarea looked to Hycinth who was so pale her lips were nearly white. “Hycinth?”

“It…it just slipped out. We were talking and I said something about the king’s worries about an heir soon being over and Gersa asked me what I meant and she was being so kind and encouraging when…i-it just slipped out. Sarea, I’m so sorry! It just slipped out!”

“And the chocolates?” she pressed.

“Gersa said they were an apology for her behavior the night before. I-I never would have willingly given you something if I’d thought for even a moment--! I-I-I’m just a stupid, stupid girl!” Hycinth said before she burst into tears.

Sarea ignored her friend’s tears. She was too angry with her at the moment for what her stupidity had almost cost Sarea and the king.

“Come,” Sarea said to the serving girl. “We must find the king and have him confront Tyron and his daughter! You will be witness to these things. Quickly, Fere, I need a dress!”

Garrick was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room watching Didio pace inside the four walls. Xan was sitting next to him and Garrick was biding his time. Finally, when the assassin’s pacing had reached a near frenzy he said, “I will spare your life if you give me the name of the man who hired you to kill the queen.”

Didio suddenly stopped pacing. He did not look at the king for a long moment then said, “How will you know I speak the truth? I might lie to save my own skin.”

“Because if you lie and it is found out I will strip that skin from your body like a huntsman and use your pelt to warm my bed.”

Didio swallowed at the graphic remark.

“There is a man who would be king,” Didio said. When the king didn’t react to the news he grew nervous. “He has the power and the position. His blood is as close to royal as a nobleman can get without being king himself.”

“And who is this man who would be king?”

The assassin swallowed again.

“The king’s Trusted. Jesso.”

“He lies!” Xan said, exploding out of his chair. “I’ll rip out your lying tongue!”

“Of course he lies,” Garrick said calmly, putting a hand on Xan’s arm and guiding him back down into the chair.

“I knew you would not believe me!” the assassin said anxiously. “But it is the truth! Jesso hired me to kill the queen. Then I was to kill the king and he was to be heir and have the entire kingdom!”

“This makes little sense,” Garrick said, his tone still calm. “Why kill the queen and not just the king? The queen would be of little consequence once the king was dead. A queen cannot inherit a throne.”

“It was feared she already carried your heir. Once you wed that would make the heir legitimate.”

“Again, this makes no sense. If Jesso was intent on my throne he merely needed to kill me. If indeed there were an heir, Jesso would be regent in the child’s name until it reached maturity. He could act as regent, give the people time to get used to his rule, then kill the heir at any given time.”

The assassin looked furtively around the room, as if looking for an escape.

“Also, if Jesso wanted to rule in my name, why would he let me send him on a suicide mission to the Umam court?”

“The Umam are in on it with him! Don’t you see? They have been attacking your southlands to weaken your position, to foment unrest with your people. To frighten them. Then Jesso would kill the king and take over his throne and let the Umam have the whole of the red forest and the southlands as part of a peace treaty.”

“That, my friend, would be a small act of insanity. Firstly, the Umam do not strike accords with the Vena. They despise us. They would not stop at our southlands; they would not be satisfied until they had overrun the entire city. Secondly, the southlands are the prime supplier of our crops and agriculture. Giving them away would basically starve the entire city. The city would fall within a single growing season.”

“It does not have to make sense! He is a madman!”

“You know, I’ve been saying that for yana,” Garrick said dryly. “He is quite touched…for being my friend to begin with requires a bit of insanity.”

Xan chuckled.

“So tell me the true plan…now that you have wasted my time with this fiction. For you see, I think I know who is really behind this. Who is just mad enough to think something like this might actually work to his benefit. Whose greed for power knows no bounds. All I need is for you to say his name and be willing to point the finger. Only then can I justify taking him into custody and only then can I risk civil unrest in my country. For I know the minute you say his name and the minute I take him into custody, his daughter will rally his troops within the Order and try to rise up against me. But without him to head those troops an uprising will have little staying power because no one wants to follow a woman.”

“How did you know it was Lord Tyron?” the assassin said with a sigh.

Garrick sat up sharply. “I didn’t for certain. Until just now. Thank you for the truth in this matter. Now tell me, is Tyron in league with the Umam as you just accused Jesso of being?”

“He is. The Umam want a war. They want control of the red forest and they want the farmlands to the south. Their soil has turned sick, they can’t grow anything. They are starving. They need the southlands to farm and support themselves. Tyron thinks the city will survive just fine with the cattlelands and the mines to the north. He doesn’t believe we’ll need the farmlands when we can trade what gets produced in the mines.”

“The mines don’t produce enough to support the city on their own. Tyron’s a fool. He blusters and preens but he doesn’t know the first thing about the economics of this city. My wife understands more than he does about it,” Garrick said. “He thinks to gain power through sheer might? Well he’d have to go through me and all the Trusted first.”

“He doesn’t plan to kill you. Not until you fill his daughter’s belly first with your heir, linking Tyron to the throne by blood.”

“I’d like to see how he’s going to accomplish that when the sight of the girl can make a man wither,” Xan said with a shudder.

“I don’t know how. I just know that’s his plan. To kidnap and control you until you produce an heir with his daughter.”

“Again, he’d have to go through all of the Trusted first,” Garrick said with a concentrated frown.

“I’m not the only assassin he’s hired. I’m surprised he hasn’t started already.”