Palace Intrigue

by Lina J. Potter

  “The favor is not that great, My Lord.”

  Jess looked up with perfect attention.

  “We have heard rumors concerning your wife.”

  “I am at a loss, Your Majesty.”

  “We hear she is very beautiful and talented.” Milia was repeating a text she had committed to memory, so she had time to enjoy the look on Jerrison’s face. “I would like to meet her and your daughter.”

  Jess could not hide his dismay. “Y-your Majesty?”

  “Yes. We would like to see you, your wife, and your daughter here at court in Wellster.”

  Jess remembered to bow. “What an honor, Your Majesty. I will certainly do as you wish.”

  “Yes, that is what we wish, My Lord.” Milia nodded and smiled to indicate that the interview was finished. Jess stepped aside to make way for the next person in line. Richard was there and put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Jess?”

  Jess’ eyes were round with shock. “Her Majesty wants me to come back to Wellster.”

  “A polite nothing,” was Richard’s opinion.

  “She wants me to come back and bring my wife and daughter.”

  “Whatever for?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Write to Father. He will know what this is about.”

  ***

  When he received the letter, Edward gave it much thought. What did Gardwig learn about Lilian Earton? He sent a spy to Earton; I wish she had had him hung, but I suppose she’s too softhearted.

  The king had no intention of letting the countess go to Wellster if his son did not end up marrying Gardwig’s daughter. The most convenient excuse would be that Lilian was pregnant, and he wrote a brief note to Jess suggesting that he make it so.

  ***

  To the Earl of Earton,

  Speak to your wife this autumn. If she is amenable, you should talk about children.

  At the bottom of the letter, after the king’s flowery signature, was a postscript:

  Jess, I forbid you to upset your wife. She is of great importance to the kingdom.

  ***

  Jerrison Earton put his head in his hands after reading this letter. He was no fool. He understood that pregnancy would be an incontrovertible reason to keep Lilian in Ativerna. She would carry the child, give birth to it, and then nurse it. With any luck, at least three years would go by before she was able to travel. Much could change in three years.

  All of a sudden, Lily is too important for my uncle to let her leave the kingdom. I don’t know why, and I don’t have anyone I can ask!

  He knew from his mother’s and sister’s letters that Lily had sent some very fine presents to both women and to others at court. They were delighted by her mirrors and her lace, all made in Earton.

  Earton was beginning to seem to its owner like an enchanted land where anything could happen. What frustrated him was that he had no real news directly from the estate and no way to find out quickly what was happening there.

  ***

  “Richard, do you think we have time to take a detour through Earton before going on to Ivernea?”

  “Of course not. Why?”

  “I’d like to see with my own eyes what is going on.”

  Richard stared at him. “We can’t do that, Jess.”

  “What if I just ride down there on my own. I could be back in a ten night if all goes well.”

  “You’d do better to sit still and avoid angering my father.”

  Jess’ eyes flashed. “I’ve already felt his wrath, and all because of that…woman,” he said, exerting great willpower to control his tongue.

  Richard watched Jess through narrowed eyes. He was tired of his cousin’s complaining. “What stopped you from running down there before we left? You had plenty of time to check on your household and throw out any thieves or murderers or whoever else was hiding down there. May I remind you that little Miranda came close to getting killed, and all you can think about is how your wife makes you look bad.”

  Jess sat down heavily. “I sent Miranda with guards. If someone wasn’t trying to murder that cow of mine, she would never have been in danger.”

  “No one ever tried to hurt her while she was Lilian Broklend.”

  “Are you saying all of this is my fault?”

  “Not all of it, but most of it, yes.”

  Jess leaped up and ran from the room, slamming the door behind him. Richard lay down and thought about what to do next. Spring was around the corner. Soon, it would be time to move on to Ivernea, and Jess was in no shape to continue as a diplomatic member of the delegation. He reflected that his cousin had never had his ears boxed. He doesn’t know how to deal with difficulties.

  He rubbed his eyes with one hand. After spring would come summer, and they would spend it in Ivernea. When the rains came again, he would turn for home and decide his own fate. Anna of Wellster was not to his liking. She was foolish and too flirtatious, and he knew that she would never look at him if he weren’t Prince of Ativerna.

  However, she did have her good points. She was young—almost half his age—and he could perhaps hope to change her in time. He also gave weight to Gardwig’s confession that he cared more for the union of the two kingdoms than for Anna’s feelings. As long as Richard had a lawful heir, he would be free to live as he pleased.

  He thought about King Bernard of Ivernea. Now there was a man who was unlikely to encourage his son-in-law to keep a mistress. Richard had heard that he adored his daughter, the baby of the family to six older brothers.

  When he thought about it, the prince tended to lean toward Anna. I have to marry someone, and at least she’s pretty to look at. All of a sudden, he wondered what Gardwig would think if his son-and-law dealt with Anna the way he had dealt with his own five wives. He smiled. He was not that man. If I marry Anna, I will have the freedom to find a woman I can truly love. I’ll wait to see what fate has in store for me.

  ***

  Sir, I have not been able to get to the child. The cow is almost finished. The medicus has no hope of saving her.

  ***

  I will pay extra for the child. Write when the cow is dead. You can get your money from Treloney.

  ***

  Altres frowned when informed of the conversation between the two guests from Ativerna. To his credit, his first thought was to write to the countess. He already thought highly of her and decided he could use her to hedge his own bets. An intelligent woman’s gratitude is a thing very much worth having…

  A few days prior, he had received a short note by pigeon from Rolf, who was still in Altver. He had gone drinking with some of Leif’s hotheaded Virmans, who had only been allowed to go on the trip because they needed to blow off steam, and one of them had told him about the Khangan prince and his rapidly improving health. This was all reported to the jester, along with the fact that the Khangan healers now followed Lilian and Tahir around like puppies.

  Rolf said he did not know what to make of what he had learned, but he reported it all. He even recalled a conversation he had had in a village not far from the Earton castle, where the peasants told him about the countess with the golden hands who had healed one of their own boys and treated all the wounded men after the battle with the slave traders. Altogether, it was an interesting picture. Rolf wondered if Lilian was like Saint Arlinda, who was said to have healed the sick by laying-on of hands.

  The jester, piecing together what he could from his sources, thought it highly likely that Lilian Earton had otherworldly talents that she kept hidden most of the time to avoid attracting unhealthy interest. With each passing day, he felt it was ever more imperative that the countess examine his sovereign lord and brother. Richard will choose Anna; I’m sure he will. That means a wedding in Ativerna, and Gardwig will have to go. I’ll get my hands on the countess once we’re there, no matter how I have to do it.

  His pen raced across the parchment that lay on his desk.

  My Lady, I hope you were not offended that I sent a man to
make inquiries. Rolf had only the most flattering things to say about you. As your admirer, I would like to invite you to pay a visit to Wellster. His Majesty would be very pleased to see you, and I would do everything within my power to ensure that your visit is a success for both parties. It goes without saying that we would obtain King Edward’s permission for your visit.

  His Majesty read the list of questions you sent regarding his health, but he prefers to provide the answers in person.

  Since I am already your great admirer, I feel I must also inform you about the earl’s behavior of late. I expect you are aware that his former mistress—the woman who attempted to have you murdered—is traveling with the prince’s delegation. I am sorry to say that your husband has learned no lessons from her unmasking, and continues to see yourself as the sole source of his troubles. He continues to be unfaithful. You would be within your rights to demand a formal separation at any time. Because of my position at court, I assure you that I can produce all of the women he has been involved with in Wellster.

  I am certainly interested in the glass, mirrors and other items made in Earton, but I am more concerned with people than with things. I would risk much to ensure friendly relations between two intelligent people.

  I remain ever favorably disposed,

  Altres Lort

  He would send the letter to Rolf to be forwarded. He needed the countess, even if she was not able to bolster Gardwig’s health. I hope she is able to read between the lines. It will be the worse for her if she cannot.

  ***

  It was mid-spring before the jester’s letter reached Lilian. It gave her a great deal to think about. The impression she came away with was extremely unpleasant. If this Earl of Lort is lying, then there’s hope that Jess is a reasonable man and I can reach an agreement with him. In that case, I will have no need of Gardwig’s schemer, and he probably knows that.

  If Lort was telling the truth, however, and Jess was furious with her, she would have to get out of Earton as soon as possible. Altres seemed to be hinting that the court of Wellster would always welcome her. I’ll have to discuss it with my father, but I would personally prefer a move to Virma.

  When she considered potential havens, she liked the idea that her father could continue as a shipbuilder in Virma. She could always find work as a healer. I could marry the head of one of their clans and open a school of healing. People will line up from Virma to the Khanganate.

  Wellster seemed a much less favorable choice, but she would keep her options open for as long as she could. I have to maintain civil relations with this Lort. So, she sat down to compose a polite letter in reply. When it was finished, she would typeset it and print it, just to give Lort something to think about.

  Looking back over the winter, Lily felt she had done well. She and all of her people had survived with plenty of supplies. She had survived several attempted murders. She knew some of the names of the people who wanted her dead, and she knew which strings to pull to find out the names of her other enemies. She had organized a very successful lace workshop. She was making progress with glass lenses. She was teaching courses for nurses, and the Virman women listened to her with rapt attention. She had made the first paper ever seen in that world, and she had helped her blacksmith make moveable type and print a few trial pages.

  However, Earton was no place to expand a printing business, and she needed to find apprentices for her craftsmen. It was time to go to the capital, where she could buy the chemicals she needed and where it didn’t take weeks to obtain the most basic supplies.

  Also, secrecy was still an issue. She needed a Security Committee of her own. Her father wrote that he had found three potential candidates for the role of chief spy, but that she would have to choose among them.

  There’s so much I still have to do…

  Lily resigned herself to the fact that she needed a day planner and started a new scroll for that purpose. It wasn’t as useful as a smartphone, but it would have to do. I wonder how long it will take for smartphones to appear in this world. I remember back when it was rare to see a cell phone of any kind, and just ten years later, it became strange to see a person without a cell phone. I don’t know if the technology is good for us or not, but I’ll do my best to introduce innovations that have a positive effect.

  The countess also spent a lot of time thinking about money. Some of the proceeds of her business interests were spent on the Earton estate, but she had asked Torius Avermal to invest the rest in various enterprises. Whether or not I stay married to the earl, I need to have my own capital that no one else knows about.

  Lily may not have harbored any fondness for the earl, but she was starting to hear the ticking of her biological clock. She wanted to have a family where everyone loved everyone else, and she wanted a husband who would kiss her when they were reunited at the end of the day. She adored Miranda, but she also wanted children of her own to raise. Sometimes she woke up in the night to find that her pillow was wet with tears. I can’t cry now; I can’t allow myself to feel anything for now.

  Lily sometimes sensed that there were men among the Virmans who found her attractive, but she was careful never to show any favor or allow anyone to get too close to her. It was tempting to find solace, at least for one night, on someone’s strong shoulder, to feel protected and cared for, but she always brushed such thoughts away.

  I have to keep moving forward. Sooner or later, I’ll find someone to be my safe harbor. But it’s all storms for me for now. But they can’t break me! Someday, I’ll be happy!

  ***

  In late spring, when the fields were green with new grass, Lily left her home in Earton, bound for Lavery with an entourage of seven ships. Three of the ships were captained by the Khangans, and one of them carried Prince Amir and Miranda. The girl and the prince were fast friends and spent the time on board playing backgammon, checkers, and chess. Tahir and three of the Khangan healers had accommodations on Amir’s ship so that they could continue to look after his health.

  These were followed by Erik’s ship, which was carrying a small but valuable cargo to Virma after stopping in Altver. Leif’s ship, carrying the rest of the Virmans, including women and children, came next, followed by the two slaving ships. After much thought, Lily had renamed these two the Vladimir and the Tatiana, after her parents. The Virmans thought these names sounded just fine. Lily had a small berth on the Tatiana, as did Pastor Vopler and his son. Lons, Leis, the Eveers, the blacksmith and the glassblower were sailing on the Vladimir, which also carried the tutors, the lace-makers, and Jaimie.

  Taris Brok remained behind to manage Earton and the temporarily orphaned Donter estate until August could find someone to take his place. Lily had started digging for more amber as soon as the weather had turned warm, and she didn’t trust anyone but Taris to oversee it while she was gone.

  Emma also remained behind to run the castle, which was guarded by the men Leis had trained over the winter.

  Lily had assigned the job of overseeing the villages to Jan Leig, Art Virdas, and Sherl Ferney. Jan was charged with storing up peat for the next winter. Art would be keeping an eye on the smokehouse, and Sherl would watch over the salt works. With two of her elders gone, she put responsibility for Riverton on Jan and Runstaf on Sherl. Art, who was the smartest of the group, was in charge of helping the peasants get started with three-field rotation, and also would keep watch over the castle’s livestock.

  Now that the peasants could pay for using the earl’s fields with their work instead of their produce, Lily hoped they would all have enough to eat. Just in case, she instructed Taris to issue milk and eggs to families in need.

  If all went well, the castle wall would be in perfect condition by the time the countess returned. She had no way of knowing how long she would remain in Earton, but she hoped the wall would serve Miranda well.

  ***

  Lily stood on the deck of the Tatiana and glumly watched the coastline slip by. She would have preferred to walk to
Lavery, but it would have taken too long and put her cargo at risk of theft. So, she would have to endure the seasickness that already rose in her throat. Lily gulped hard. Once they went around a bend in the river and she could no longer see her estate, she went below to her room and was violently ill. Faithful Martha stroked her hair. The old woman knew how her dear Lily hated being seasick.

  At least I’ll lose some weight, Lily thought despondently.

  Life on board was hard. Her room was tiny and smelly, and she could barely keep food down. Still, she reminded herself how much was at stake.

  I can stand it. I can stand anything. I am the Countess Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton, and I have many plans to accomplish.

  The Earta River carried her ship on to Altver.

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