“Minda, wife of Orwen Miller these dozen years.”
“Are you from this village?”
“No, my husband is a wool merchant in a town some ways distant. He has conveyed me here.”
“Minda... Well. I will speak to the chancellor.” She raised her eyes to the soldiers standing behind the woman. “Gentlemen... Minda will wait on the porch. I’m sure the chancellor will be along soon.”
The door closed, the women swooped at her, and Princess Scylla gave herself up to their skillful ministrations, while Sorrell watched their every move.
After a while, the lady’s maid who was brushing the princess’s hair began tentatively, “...Minda...”
Scylla raised her eyebrows and waited.
“...Minda... was dismissed by our dear queen for theft!”
“Oh? Well, I shall ask her to explain in due time. Carry on... in silence! Or leave!” She indicated her hair and closed her eyes.
The morning routine was carried out in blessed silence, although when Scylla opened her eyes, each of the three lady’s maids wore a pout. She could not bring herself to be pleasant to them.
Breakfast was brought in by Bart Smith, who winked at her as he entered... with tea, eggs, fresh scones spread with butter and an apple crisp. She dismissed the women from the smithy and watched Sorrell eat breakfast. She herself nibbled at a few bites.
“Where is Chancellor Mako?” she asked Bart Smith when he returned with more tea.
He gave her a shrug. “Don’t know, likely ordering up the day... soldiers, supplies, all that.”
“Are we to travel to the castle today?” asked Sorrell after he left.
“I suspect so. We may have to sit in a wagon with those women all day...!”
Sorrell rolled her eyes. “I will not leave your side, Princess, but you are unreasonable in your demands...!”
They shared a laugh but soon stopped.
“Do you know if the king and the others have been buried?” asked Scylla. Is my father the king really dead? her mind asked silently. How could that be? What would her life be without his protection?
“I heard they lay in state for a day at the castle and then were buried. The weather is still too warm to keep ... a dead body... above ground for long.”
“What about the traitors – Darwyn and his men?”
“Burned in a pyre, they say. Two others were caught in the forest and executed. With several still on the loose, the soldiers said.”
“That was yesterday?”
Sorrell nodded. “As we traveled here.”
“What will today bring?” Scylla sighed. “I wish I had not gone to the hunting compound! I will never return! Among all else, I still have a headache, along with this bump on my head – and my ankle is badly sprained. Traveling will be a trial. Your hip will not thank you either.”
“My hip rarely thanks me,” Sorrell said sardonically. “Of such is the misery of our lives.”
“At least we are alive. Should we be thankful?”
“Thankful for what?” The door to the other room swung open, and Chancellor Mako entered. He gave the princess a half bow and nodded to Sorrell.
Neither answered his question.
“Chancellor.” The princess looked him up and down. He looked rested, so she presumed he had slept well enough somewhere. “There is a woman outside. She says she was with my mother the queen but then dismissed by the new queen. Her husband is a wool merchant, and she offers to aid my household while it is in upheaval.”
“Oh?”
“Is she one of the two that you did not completely trust yesterday?”
He said, “Possibly. Yesterday was no time to work out who was trustworthy. Who is she?”
“An older, well-dressed person. She says her name is Minda, wife of Orwen Miller, a wool merchant.”
He was thinking. “I believe I recall the housekeeper Minda having left the court... years ago. And of course I know Orwen Miller, he is Rellant’s largest wool merchant, and a crony of your father’s.”
“I do not remember her. The late queen’s women have told me she was dismissed for theft.”
“I can’t recall what the circumstances were, but I do not recall seeing her at any state dinner. What are you thinking?”
“Well... I liked her.”
Mako studied her. “Well... I am shocked. You don’t like anyone.”
Sorrell snickered.
The princess rolled her eyes. “It is plain to see. You, not being a princess, have no idea what goes on in the queen’s court. In that court, I mean!”
He almost recoiled. “Nor do I wish to!”
“So... how am I to organize my... household? As queen, I mean. I do not like those women and I won’t be continuously pecked by them.”
“Pecked?” he said, cautiously.
“Picture chickens pecking another hen to death!” she said impatiently. “You have no idea! I cannot run away!”
“Hmmm...! No, as queen, you can’t.”
“So bring her in. You will see from her manner that she may suit. She does have an excellent manner.”
He looked unconvinced. Sorrell got up and went to the door, where she beckoned the woman Minda inside.
Minda, now wrapped in a rather fine cloak against the morning’s damp chill, met Chancellor Mako’s eyes with a firm gaze.
Not one to tiptoe around an issue, he said, “Princess Scylla requires someone to help her in setting up her household. She feels you may suit. However... she’s been told you left Queen Maris’s court under an accusation of theft.”
She nodded once, grimly. “One cannot fight against whispers!”
“You deny it?”
“I most certainly do! I am loyal to King Tobin... the late King Tobin, that is... Such treachery is hard to comprehend!” She shook her head, still in disbelief, then went on. “... Princess Scylla’s mother Queen Clerryn was happy with my service, but the second queen had her own ladies. I was sent away.” She paused.
“Queen Maris saw some handiwork I had made privately for my upcoming wedding and said it was not mine to remove from the court. So it remained and I was removed. I’m not entirely sure I would call it ‘theft’, but if so, I was not the thief!”
“Hmmm...” said Mako. “A gray area, certainly.”
Minda’s eyes went to Scylla’s face regretfully. “I hoped... I did hope the ladies would care for the Princess as her mother would have wanted her cared for.”
The princess gave her a cynical nod in acknowledgment. But that had been a vain hope.
Minda’s expression firmed up once more. “Your Majesty may be happy to carry on with the late queen’s household as it is, but if you find you are not, my husband has agreed that he may spare me for a while. I expect there will be some upheaval.”
“There may be,” Mako agreed. “Will you wait a few more moments on the porch?”
Minda went back outside. The princess said, “That is exactly what Queen Maris would do, taking her handiwork, I mean. Particularly if she knew it was for her wedding. I wonder what she did with it.”
“What do you think of Minda, Sorrell?” Mako asked.
Her delicate eyebrows went up in surprise, but she answered without too much of a delay. “Well, the princess is right about her manner. I wonder about the ladies still at the court. Those at the hunting lodge with the queen died with her. Some direction will be needed.” Her mouth clamped shut. And I will not provide the direction, said her expression.
Scylla pushed up her lower lip and knit her brows. An idea came to her and her features smoothed out into blandness. “I am not 100 percent well,” she said. “Managing that household will be left to you, Chancellor, at least for several weeks.”
“Several weeks!” he responded promptly. “Are you that unwell, Princess?”
“Absolutely. Remember, yesterday I almost died.”
“It was because you were dehydrated and your temperature had dropped so low. Has not the physician pronounced you well?”
“Fairly well... I have a lingering headache and my ankle is badly damaged.” She laid her head against the chair back.
She distrusted the sympathetic gaze he was bending upon her.
“Furthermore, if Minda does not come along to manage the household for some weeks, I will crawl to the top of the castle wall and throw myself off!”
He shook his head sadly. “You seem somewhat distraught. Should the physician bring his leeches when he comes to bind your ankle?”
She glared at him. “Do not, Mako! Do not! And I will have Minda at the court.”
“I bow to you, Princess!” He went out to the porch. A few moments later he returned. “Minda will accompany us to the court today. Her husband Orwen – who, as I have said, I know quite well – will transport her. Sorrell, report to me immediately if anything seems unsatisfactory.”
Sorrell nodded, then said, “Princess...”
“Yes?”
“... the proclamation...” She tipped her head towards Mako.
“Oh yes!” Scylla sat up again in the chair. “We do not leave this place until your chancellorship is on record and signed.”
“Of course. It is being prepared and should be ready sometime soon.”
“Thank you, Chancellor.” She gave him what she hoped was a queenly nod. “You’ll need that when you get to the castle.”
“Let’s hope for a good day of smooth traveling,” he said. “I expect to get everyone moving within an hour or two.”
“Excellent. Well, you will need to go see to that.”
“Have you eaten, Princess?” He was looking at the plate of food beside her, which looked almost untouched.
“Of course,” said Scylla.
“The princess does not eat much,” Sorrell explained. “Queen Maris was tampering with her food...”
“Poisoning it,” Scylla interjected.
Sorrell continued, “... so her habit for the past several years is to eat only what I have prepared.”
A line had appeared between Mako’s brows.
“That cook... he is the late queen’s cook,” Sorrell pointed out.
“I see,” said Mako. “Hmmm. You do need to eat, Princess. You had no food for three days and you look...”
“... Troll-like?” Scylla offered.
“Like a feral child,” Sorrell supplied. “Starved.”
“Well, I will sort this out. Meanwhile... how well are you able to stand, Princess?”
She demonstrated by leaning forward and raising herself on one foot to stand for a few seconds, then sank back into the chair.
He nodded, his eyes narrowing and his gaze going inward. “There is plenty to see to. I will return when the proclamation is ready to sign. Save your strength for later, Princess.” With that ominous warning, he went out the door, spent a few moments in discussion with the soldiers outside, and was gone.
“I do wonder...” said the princess thoughtfully. “What handiwork did the queen take away from Minda?”
***
It was mid-morning, a bright day with a warm, light wind. Several wagons stood ready in the road and numerous horses were saddled and waiting, stamping their hooves and tossing their heads. Sorrell peered out the small window and described the scene to the princess.
“This is a small and poor village. The dwellings are not much more than shacks. And yet there are crowds of people out in the road,” she said dubiously. “I am not sure where they have all come from, or what they are planning to do.”
“Maybe I should have asked the ladies and the physician while they were here, instead of instructing them to be silent, and to leave.”
“It may have been a more prudent thing to do,” agreed Sorrell.
“I am afraid I will have to become more prudent,” the princess sighed. “Well, I did tell them I have a headache. And it was not a lie.” She stretched out her lower leg and raised her skirt hem to inspect the neat bandage the physician had applied. “Are they still on the porch?”
“Yes.”
“Perhaps the ladies should come back in and pack everything up now. Do you see the chancellor out there?”
“No...” After a moment she went to the door and beckoned in the late queen’s ladies. Two looked very unhappy and the third was sniffling, with tears trickling down reddened cheeks.
“What’s the matter?” asked Scylla.
“Our dear Queen Maris is dead,” came the sad reply. No one needed to add “...and we don’t like you.”
She nodded. “It will be some time before that terrible treachery will fade,” she agreed. Her sympathy, instead of improving the mood, caused all three to burst into sobs and wails.
Into this scene came Mako and Coltic, which caused the women to sob harder.
Mako asked the princess quietly, “Have you been berating the women?”
She rolled her eyes. “No, they are grieving for the royal family... the late queen in particular. You see before you a very unsatisfactory replacement.”
He nodded and waited a few moments. The sobs subsided and the women began to mop up.
“We all share the same grief. Very, very disturbing... very, very sad,” he said grimly. Coltic nodded in silent agreement. “Thank you for having made our new queen more comfortable. A couple of the soldiers will help you ladies carry everything out.”
They sniffed and turned to begin packing up all the royal baggage that they had brought.
Mako said, “Well, Princess, the company is about to set out. Seeing as the roads are very poor in this district, we feel you will prefer not to travel in one of the wagons.”
“Why is that?”
“The jolting will be dreadful. Is it not, ladies?” There were emphatic nods from around the room.
“How am I to travel, then?”
“We have a well-mannered, well-gaited mule for you.” He turned to Coltic, deflecting the indignant glare the princess turned on him. “I forgot to ask... have you found another suitable animal for Sorrell?”
“I believe so. Once we reach the main roads, Princess, you and your lady may find it more comfortable in one of the wagons.”
“We shall see,” said the princess, grimly accepting the inevitable. She looked up at Sorrell, who stood beside her chair, her pretty face blank of all expression. “I hope Sorrell will not find riding intolerable. Perhaps a sheepskin or two for cushioning?”
“Of course!” said Coltic promptly. “Only the best for the lady who saved the life of our kingdom’s Princess Scylla!”
“She did indeed.” Princess Scylla stopped, struck by an idea. “I will name her Lady Sorrell... of... the Forest. No...not that. I will name her Lady Sorrell of the Hunt. Can I do that, Chancellor?”
“If you wish.”
“I do wish. See to a proclamation, I suppose there will have to be one.”
Sorrell, one of several daughters of a village farmer, was staring at her in horror, as were the late queen’s ladies. All the ladies in service at the court had been very slighting towards Princess Scylla’s handmaid in the past. In fact, they had behaved poorly towards Scylla herself, having taken the queen as their example.
“Excellent! May I carry you out, Princess?”
The back door opened. Bart Smith peered into the room. He held up an object.
“Gimme a minute, Chancellor. Here’s a cane for the princess to lean on.”
He handed it to Mako, who turned it over in his hands. It was a slender piece of worked iron, with a delicate, curved handle. A vine with metal leaves had been wound decoratively along it.
“So this is what you’ve been hammering away on.”
“Give the top a twist, Chancellor!”
Mako turned the top and pulled. A slim blade slid out.
“Why... thank you, Bart Smith,” said Scylla, taken aback.
Mako and Coltic were admiring the princess’s new cane.
“Excellent work!” said Mako.
“Take note, Sorrell – if we are attacked, you will use this blade!�
�
“Yes, ma’am!” Sorrell responded, her eyes showing a rare gleam. Mako offered the metalwork to the princess. She waved it off to Sorrell, who took it and began to inspect the twisting top. The old blacksmith took her aside and demonstrated the cane and its workings.
“Lady Sorrell, familiarize yourself with the weapon. I will sleep better at night now,” said Coltic.
“I too. Nevertheless, Sorrell will carry it for now. Chancellor, please carry me to this... well-mannered and well-gaited mule.”
“At your service, Princess. Oh... here is the proclamation you wanted me to prepare. Lady Sorrell’s will have to wait until we reach the castle.”
He pulled out a rolled piece of parchment, an inkpot, and a pen. Scylla took the writ and unrolled it. She read aloud, “Whereas I, Scylla, Princess of this Kingdom and pending Queen, do have royal right to do so, I, Scylla, in sound mind and not under duress, proclaim as Chancellor of the Kingdom Mako Despritt, who thus takes on all trust, rights and responsibilities of the realm as my second in command... Perfect!” she exclaimed. “Now, I sign here, I suppose.” She dipped the pen in the inkpot that Coltic held at the ready, and signed in the appropriate spot with the support of a board across the arms of the chair. “Now, you sign, Mako. For witnesses, we shall have... Coltic, as the new captain of the Queen’s Guard, are you not? ... and perhaps the physician, if he is still outside.”
Mako signed the proclamation, as did Coltic with a flourish. The physician arrived some moments later, demanded a full explanation, read through the document thoroughly, and pointed out an error in the spelling of Mako’s name. “Please! This should be De Espritt,” he said with severity and wrote in a capital E above the existing e.
Finally, he signed his name in a painfully small and detailed hand.
“Done!” said Scylla. “Mako, do not lose that – you will need it!”
Coltic was at the door surveying the scene in the village roadway. “The princess’s mule has arrived.”
Mako tucked away the rolled document into an inner pocket and handed the inkpot and pen over to one of the ladies to transport back to the castle.
He picked up the princess, who was in mid-order to the late queen’s ladies. “Please find Lady Sorrell a traveling cloak suitable for her new station... I am sure there must be one among the baggage...” she was saying. “Oh, are we going?”
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