Who wants to get rid of Lilian Earton so badly that they’ll try anything? How could a silly young woman with no interests outside of church and embroidery be a target for murder? Why on earth would anyone even know her name?
The whole situation reminded Lily of a subcutaneous abscess that filled with poison before you even noticed it was there.
Not on my watch! I’ll write to my mother-in-law and ask her to find out what she can about this Yerby. I’m not the kind of girl to sit around while someone tries to kill me!
***
Ali Akhmet din Tahirjian obeyed the Great Khangan’s request for a meeting as soon as he could. When he entered the richly decorated room of the palace where the ruler saw guests, he knelt down and prepared to go through the elaborate rituals for entering the presence of the exalted one.
“Come, Ali. Sit next to me,” the Great Khangan interrupted him.
Ali Akhmet obeyed. “How may I be of service, Your Majesty?”
The ruler’s eyes were sad and tired. “Tell me about Earton.”
The merchant had not expected such a question, and he wasn’t sure how much he should say. “It is a long distance from Altver, Your Majesty.”
“I hear there is a great medicus there. Is that so?”
Ali Akhmet looked down at his leg.
“What can you tell me about the Countess of Earton?” the Great Khangan leaned forward. “I hear that she worked a miracle on you.”
Ali Akhmet sighed. He looked over at his ruler--who was also his friend--and told the whole story. He recounted how he was gored and tossed by a bull at the fair in Altver, and how a strange woman set his bone and taught him how to care for his leg so that it would heal properly. He even pulled up one pants leg and showed the Great Khangan his scar. The ruler looked incredulous, so Ali Akhmet stood up and jumped on one leg and then on the other leg to show that both were equally sound.
The Great Khangan reached out to touch Ali’s leg. He had never heard of a woman healer who could do such work. He knew for certain that there were no such women in the Khanganate. He looked up at Ali Akhmet and saw that his eyes were shining.
“Would you take her as a wife?”
“Never!” Ali Akhmet was emphatic.
“Why not?”
Ali Akhmet thought for a moment before answering. “Because she is a woman with a man’s mind. I count her as one of my great friends, but it would be uncomfortable to have her in my house.”
The Great Khangan nodded. That was true enough. He interlaced his fingers in front of him and stared at his friend for a long time. Finally, he decided to be open about what was on his mind.
“She sent me a letter with instructions on how to heal my son. The treatment is going well. I would like to invite her to come here.”
Ali Akhmet shook his head. “She will not come.”
“Why not?”
“She would need her husband’s permission.”
That made sense to the ruler. “I will write to him, then.”
“I believe he is on a diplomatic mission with Prince Richard. They have gone to Wellster.”
“Why did she not go with her husband?”
“Your Majesty, it is not the custom in those lands for a woman to travel when she is with child.” Ali Akhmet did not mention that Lily had already had a miscarriage.
“I see. I will write to the earl when he returns. We will see what he says.” He gestured for Ali Akhmet to go.
***
On his way out of the palace, Ali Akhmet thought about Lilian Earton. He owed her his life, and he was more than willing to keep her secrets. He suspected that if Lily did come to the Khanganate, its ruler would do everything in his power to keep her there, like valuable treasure. And knowing the countess, he felt very sure that nothing good would come of forcing her to do that which she did not want to do.
Lilian Earton is an excellent friend, but she is a deadly enemy.
***
Unlike Ali Akhmet, the Great Khangan cared little for Lilian Earton’s plans and preferences. His thoughts were clear: he loved his son, and he wanted to save his life. If he couldn’t get the countess to come to the Khanganate right away, perhaps he should send his son to Earton.
Will he survive the trip?
It was a bad time of year for traveling, but part of the trip could be taken over land. The Great Khangan had already isolated his son from everyone but a chosen few, but somehow the poison continued to find the boy. He would improve for a few days on the countess’ treatment, but then he would start to throw up blood again. The ruler suspected that Lilian Earton might be the only person who could save his son.
If I send him, he will go with a handful of soldiers and a few of my most trusted servants to keep him safe.
In truth, the Great Khangan would have sent his son even farther than Earton to get a cure.
***
Lily found herself enjoying winter in Earton. The children played outside every day after their lessons and before their practical studies in the infirmary with Jaimie. The villages were peaceful, and no one was hungry.
A letter arrived from King Edward informing her that he wanted to see Jaimie in person before giving him title to the Donter estate. For the time being, the king informed her, she should continue to manage the estate in her own name.
***
Quite conspicuously, there was no word from her husband. Edward had dashed off an angry note informing the earl that he would have to try harder.
To the Earl of Earton,
I am astonished by your wife’s patience with you up to now. The letter you wrote her was unacceptable. Write again, this time more sensibly, and send it to me first. If I hear that you are misbehaving in Wellster, you will face a strict reckoning upon your return. Unlike the countess, I do not have unlimited patience.
Edward the Eighth, by the grace of Aldonai King of Ativerna
At the bottom of the letter, there was a scrawl in the king’s own handwriting (the rest of the letter had been dictated to a scribe):
Jess, think with your head before you become the first divorced earl in the kingdom. If your wife requests separation from you, I can only support her wishes.
The king’s note was torn to pieces by a man tired of hearing and thinking about his wife. Jess was not used to criticism, and it seemed to him that, lately, everyone who walked past him had advice on how he ought to be living his life.
Richard was particularly hard on his cousin. He told Jess he couldn’t understand why Jess continued to treat Adelaide with consideration when he ought to hand her some money and tell her to get lost. The truth was, Jess had tried that approach, but it was remarkably unsuccessful and ended with him dodging a vase aimed at his head.
As if the earl didn’t have enough trouble, he received a short letter from August Broklend. The first paragraph was all about their business affairs, which were going well, but in the second paragraph, the tone changed. August warned Jess that he would see Lily in the spring. If she had even the tiniest complaint about her husband, August would personally castrate his son-in-law and send him to a monastery, where he suspected the young man’s morals and character would be much improved.
His mood was made worse by the fact that Princess Anna told the ladies at court to keep their distance from the earl. He was reduced to visiting a nearby brothel several times, much to his cousin’s horror.
***
For her part, Anna acted on the orders of Altres Lort in his efforts for Adelaide Wells.
***
Richard also had a letter from the king. Edward tactfully reminded his son that Wellster was a good neighbor and that an alliance with Gardwig’s daughter would be advantageous for Ativerna. He was still free to choose as he wished, of course, but he could do worse than Princess Anna.
Richard might have been tempted to ignore the letter, but he had also received a portrait of Princess Lidia of Ivernea, which revealed her to be tall, skinny young woman whose expensive gown hung limply on he
r flat chest. To round out the impression, the look on her face indicated that she might bite if he touched her.
Anna started to look like the more attractive of the two. At the very least, he thought to himself, she is dim-witted enough that I won’t have a hard time controlling her.
He had yet to make up his mind when, one bitterly cold morning, Gardwig sent for him.
***
The king’s leg had been tormenting him for the past month, and his temper suffered for it. Only his wife and the jester were safe from his wrath; everyone else risked being screamed at, banished from the castle, or even sent to the dungeon. The members of Gardwig’s court had taken to walking quickly and quietly through the halls with their heads down.
Milia was expecting another child and could not keep her food down, but she felt she had to stay by her husband’s side for his own good and the good of the kingdom. So, she hid her suffering as best she could and stayed close to the king, who hoped to have yet another son before long.
Altres also stayed close to the king, but for entirely different reasons. He was afraid that certain dark forces in the kingdom might take Gardwig’s physical weakness as a sign that it was time to act.
***
Prince Richard knew the Lion of Wellster to be a frighteningly unpredictable ruler who still melted at the sight of his wife. In fact, he envied the man his marital happiness.
When Richard entered his room, Gardwig nodded at the seat next to him. “Sit down, young man.”
The prince bowed and obeyed.
Without moving, Gardwig looked over at a bottle on the table in front of them. “Will you pour us each a cup of that wine?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
“Good.” He turned to his wife. “My dear, please leave us and make sure that we are not bothered.”
Milia smiled, kissed her husband’s cheek and left.
When Richard handed the king his cup, he pointed at the door. “She doesn’t like for me to drink wine anymore. The healers have told her it is bad for me, and she believes them. Still, I suppose I am a lucky old man to have her.”
“Her Majesty is one of the most beautiful women in Wellster, I’m sure,” Richard ventured.
“Beauty is skin-deep, young man.” Gardwig paused to clear his throat. “Milia is a good woman. She has given me sons, and she loves me with her whole heart. What else could I wish for?”
Richard watched the older man’s face as he said this. Then he surprised himself. “I would wish for a love that is mutual.”
Gardwig smiled, and the peevish look left his face, making him look almost kind. “You want a lot, young man. Love is a terrible luxury that few kings can afford.”
The prince looked down and said nothing.
“Do you want to hear my story? Milia is my seventh wife. I had plenty of sorrow before her. Some of them committed adultery, and one of them even tried to poison me.” Gardwig chuckled. “But what I am telling you? Think of your own father.” The younger man’s face was pained, but Gardwig continued. “Do you even remember your mother?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“I do. She was a lovely woman, and very unhappy. Think what it means to lie in bed with a man and know that he would rather have someone else in your place.”
Richard stared at him. He had never considered his parents’ story from that angle. And he really didn’t remember his mother. This was the first he had ever heard about her being lovely. Suddenly he remembered words long forgotten.
He looked up at the king. “A cheap whore…” he whispered.
Gardwig leaned back in his chair. “Is that what she said about Jessamine?”
“Yes. Edmund told me that. I was too young to understand.”
“That’s life,” the king sighed and put his cup on the table. “Some people are happy, others are not.” He glanced at the prince, his eyes glittering. “Have you thought about Anna?”
“I have.”
“What did you decide? To go to Ivernea and look at her competitor?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Richard was open about his plans because Gardwig seemed to know all about them as if his decision was the most natural thing in the world.
The old man shifted his weight in his chair. “Your father loves you. I can’t say that I’d give a son of mine any choice in the matter.”
Richard smiled and was about to say something, but the king was not finished. “Now tell me, what do you think about my daughter?” he said quickly. “I know her breasts are more attractive than her brains, but what else have you found?”
Richard started to feel uncomfortable. “Your Majesty, I…”
“Don’t be afraid of angering me. I am speaking to you not as a king, but as one man to another. I hope you can see that.”
Richard did see, but he was still afraid of angering Gardwig.
The king broke the uncomfortable silence. “I was seventeen years old when I married the daughter of the Duke of Mederin. We had been engaged since we were children, and my father had just died, so I had no choice. Now imagine this: Tisia Mederin was almost fifteen years my senior, and she was already a widow.” He let that sink in before continuing. “So we were married.”
Richard sighed. He knew parts of this story.
“Tisia was one of the smartest people I have ever known. She sat me down on our wedding night and laid out for me what she knew about the alliances between several of the families around us. She was a friend to me, but she hated her father, who had sold her like a purebred horse. I promised to get rid of old Mederin, and she, in turn, promised to give me my freedom as soon as I cared to ask for it. We were partners.”
Richard had never heard these details before. He watched the king’s face with increasing interest.
“We never had children. Her previous husband had beaten her. One time, he beat her so badly that she lost the child she was carrying and almost died. She never admitted anything to me, but I suspect she poisoned him in revenge. Tisia was a strong woman, not the kind you can control. She could love powerfully, but she could also hate with a passion. Have you ever met a woman like that?”
Richard shook his head. “Aldonai has been merciful to me.”
Gardwig smiled. “Praise be to Aldonai.” He rubbed his knee with one hand and grimaced, but his thoughts were still in the distant past. “Tisia was a true friend to me. Once I got rid of her father, we agreed that she would stay with me until I found someone else. Of course, I found someone. I was just nineteen then and too foolish to know what I already had. Lucia was gorgeous. I suppose Anna looks a bit like her, but Lucia had something else, something stronger. When she walked into a room, all the men in the room suddenly remembered that they were men. Tisia saw that I felt it, too, and she told me it was time to part ways. She gave me a divorce, and I bought her an estate. She still lives there, by the way, and she couldn’t be happier.”
Richard raised his cup and drank a silent toast to Tisia. He was glad things had worked out well for her.
“I married Lucia,” Gardwig went on. “We were happy for a year. She gave birth to Anna, who was a tiny copy of her mother. And then…”
The prince was listening attentively.
“I had no idea she was unfaithful. Lucia was smart in her own way. She never had liaisons with any of the nobles at court.” Gardwig grimaced. “She sought out my grooms, my huntsmen, my servants. Anyone who would be afraid to talk. But one of the huntsmen saw something and told me.”
Gardwig picked up his cup again but did not drink. He was remembering. The huntsman had not actually come to him. He had gone to Altres. Gardwig’s adopted brother had convinced him to hide out and spy on Lucia during one of her trysts. That was when he caught her.
“Lucia swore she had never been unfaithful to me before, but when I found out how many men she had been with...” he looked over at Richard, “I had her executed.” The room got so quiet that Richard could hear a tree branch tapping against the window. He felt cold.
&
nbsp; Gardwig’s face darkened. “I have spent very little time with Anna, but I know that she is mine.”
Richard could think of nothing to say.
The old king laughed, “That’s right, young man. It’s best to keep your mouth shut. But you can believe me on this. Everyone in the Wellster line has a birthmark on the small of the back, right above the buttocks. It’s small, the size of a fingernail and shaped like a shield. Anna has it. I have it. My sons have it. You’ll forgive an old man for declining to show it to you.”
“You’re hardly an old man,” Richard said diplomatically.
“I am old, and I am tired. I need to know that there will be peace.”
Richard nodded. This was safer ground. “As do we. Ativerna has no desire for conflict.”
“Your father is a wise man,” Gardwig smiled. “He remembers that Wellster has always been a reliable ally against Avesterra and the witless Leonard…”
Richard knew all about his father’s foreign affairs. King Leonard of Avesterra was the most religious ruler in those parts, and his neighbors suspected that his policy was dictated by the church. Edward, on the other hand, was a deeply practical man who wanted his aldons to stay behind their alters and let more experienced men govern. Ativernan religious leaders grumbled at being denied power, but they avoided open quarrels.
He looked up at Gardwig. “My father says he would always rather deal with you than with the church.”
The old man put a hand on the prince’s shoulder. “And he’s right. I enjoy my dealings with him.” He paused for a moment. “I want to make you an offer, young man.”
Richard kept his face still and polite. “What kind of offer?”
“Go see Lidia. You need to be convinced that she isn’t the one for you. But after that, come back here. I know Anna is a foolish young woman, but she isn’t mean. You’ll be able to handle her. And later, if you find a woman for your heart, I won’t say anything to you about it…as long as you are discreet.”
Palace Intrigue Page 22