The Queen

by Suzanna Lynn

  “It’s not canceled, not really,” Valasca said. “Merely postponed. We can hold an official coronation once this nasty business with Mirstone ends.”

  If it ends. Luana feared for the fate of her son should Grasmere fail. “So we just continue calling him the baby until then? I mean no disrespect, but the Battle of Embers raged for nearly twenty years. I think continuing to call him my baby as a grown man would hurt his pride.”

  “Oh my dear!” The Queen laughed loudly, her shoulders shaking as she tried to keep her composure. “I believe you’re right! I’m sure the battle will be over swiftly though. You needn’t worry.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Luana said. “Our main focus should be the people, and all this food will go a long way in providing for them.”

  “Yes. We will store the food for winter,” Valasca said. “Provisions that cannot be stored will be fed to the families as they come to the castle.”

  “When are they bringing the families in?” Luana asked, looking at the numerous maids and stewards carrying items out of the hall.

  “They have begun already,” the Queen said. She placed a hand on Luana’s shoulder. “You’re thinking of your family, aren’t you, dearest?”

  Luana blushed. “I know I’m not allowed to…”

  Baylin’s mother laughed. “Luana, haven’t you learned you’re changing all the rules? Of course we will make special arrangements for your family.”

  My family? My family lied to me. Are they really even my family anymore? Luana thought about finding out she was elven, and how her parents never even hinted she was different. Except for Baylin, no one in the Kingdom knows I am elven. What will happen when they discover the truth?

  “Are you feeling well, my dear?” Valasca asked, brow furrowed.

  “I’m sorry, yes,” Luana replied. “It would mean a great deal to see my family again.”

  Luana noticed many of the servants who had been staring at her had gone back to their work—all but a maid standing a few steps away. Luana recognized her as one of the maids who was often seen working with Master Keon. The young girl stared at Luana, her gaze falling on the baby.

  She acted timid, almost embarrassed by her curiosity when Luana’s gaze met hers. “Apologies, milady.” The maid went back to gathering up some plates off the table.

  “Oh, please don’t apol—” Luana took a step, reaching her hand out and touching the girl on the arm.

  As her fingers brushed the young maid, Luana felt as though the room was beginning to slowly spin. She swayed.

  Valasca took the baby from Luana’s arms and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Dearest, what is it?”

  “I’m… I’m not sure. I just felt…” Luana swayed again and reached out, gripping the maid’s arm to steady herself.

  As her hand tightened, she felt as though she was being pulled through a tight, dark tunnel. She began to see the girl’s thoughts and memories.

  She was in a room, looking out the window down to the road. There were Grasmere men outside on horseback. A few of the men were sitting down for a game of dice.

  She started when a knock came on the door. She opened it to see Lord Cadman standing there in front of her. He wore black, boiled-leather trousers and tunic, with a dark cape falling down his back.

  “You came!” she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him and crushing his mouth with her own. He lifted her, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind him while they kissed.

  “You doubted me?” he asked, taking off his muddy cape and throwing it over an old chair.

  “I worried you wouldn’t be able to get away,” she said. “There are so many guards.”

  “Oh, but every man has a price,” Cadman said, pulling the girl tight into his arms. “Plus, I pleaded with them that I wanted to feel the touch of warm flesh against mine one last time before this war began. I believe that is something any man can understand.”

  “Oh, you’re a devil, aren’t you!” she giggled, pretending to pull away from him.

  “My dear, sweet Johanna,” said Lord Cadman, kissing her gently on the lips. “You are doing so well for me.”

  “Oh Cadman,” Johanna giggled, running her finger down his chest. “I did just as you asked. I put three drops in each time Master Keon has me mix the King’s evening calming tea.”

  “You were so clever to think of the tea,” Cadman cooed. “I was having such a hard time figuring out how to get it through his royal tasters.”

  “You know I’d do anything for you,” she murmured against his lips, pulling on the laces of his trousers to loosen them.

  “Well, I need you to do a little more for me, my dear,” Cadman said, pulling out a vial of blue liquid. The vial bore a triangular mark; in its center a dragon’s head engulfed in flame.

  She took the vial and looked at its blue color in the candlelight. “Is this something new?”

  “Yes, just a little bit of magic to push things along,” he said, taking the vial from her hand and placing it on a nearby table. “You need to start giving this to the King, just two drops a day should do it. And it is time you started thinking about how you are going to remove that wretched bed wife and her bastard. You will leave Baylin to me.”

  “But why must I do it?” Johanna whined. “I don’t feel right about killing a baby. Couldn’t you do it?”

  “I leave for Mirstone tonight to finish preparations with King Gideon,” Cadman said. “We have almost achieved our goal.”

  “And then we can be together?” Johanna asked. “You’ll make me your Queen?”

  “Of course, my dear,” he replied, placing a kiss softly on her lips and trailing down her neck.

  She pulled hard at the laces of his pants, making them slide down his thighs. “Me? A Queen?”

  “You will get everything you deserve,” he replied, lifting her and pressing her up against the wall. She lifted her skirt so she could wrap her legs around his waist.

  Luana felt the suddenness of nausea come over her. She quickly released her grip on the handmaid.

  “Luana, what is it?” asked Queen Valasca. “Should we fetch Master Keon?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Luana said, regaining her senses. She turned her hard gaze on Johanna. “You’re in league with Lord Cadman. You’re poisoning the King!”

  Everyone in the Great Hall turned, shocked by the commotion.

  “Milady, I don’t know what you mean,” the girl pleaded. She turned and looked at the Queen. “Your Grace, I would never! Please, you must believe me!”

  Valasca leaned in close to Luana. “Dearest, what do you mean? What makes you think she’s in league with Cadman?”

  “I saw it,” she murmured. “You must trust me. She has been poisoning the King’s nightly tea. The tea Master Keon gives him.”

  Johanna’s eyes grew wide as she sucked in a breath. Her eyes flashed from Luana to the Queen, then back. She turned on her heel and ran for the door.

  “Guards!” called the Queen. “Seize that girl!”

  Johanna let out a scream when she saw two guards running toward her. She turned, heading for a side door. Another guard came through the door and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to the ground.

  “No!” she screamed. “I didn’t do it! I swear I didn’t!”

  The guards gathered up the girl from the ground. She continued to kick and scream when they dragged her out of the room.

  Valasca looked at Luana. “How did you know?”

  How do I explain my gifts? Luana was certain she thought the Queen would think she was raving mad. “I just—”

  The Queen turned to the nursemaid, gently sliding the baby into the woman’s arms. “Please take the baby back upstairs.” She turned back to Luana. “You are going to explain to me what is going on right now.”

  The Queen led Luana out of the Great Hall into a quiet hallway. “Now will you please explain how you knew about that girl’s treachery?”

  “I… it’s… I have…” Luana was flust
ered. How do I explain something like this? Her mind flashed to the vision again and remembered the blue vial. “Dragon’s Fire!”

  “You have Dragon’s Fire?” Valasca repeated. “I don’t understand.”

  “I must go see Master Keon!” Luana cried. “She was using Dragon’s Fire to slowly poison the King. I must get to Master Keon so we can reverse what damage we can!”

  Chapter Twelve

  Luana was still not familiar with the layout of the castle. Even though Baylin did his best to show her the main corridors and stairways, she found it was easy to get herself turned around.

  She knew every moment was precious and her stomach turned into knots as she searched the winding halls. She finally came across a young steward coming down a hall.

  “You, boy!” she called. “I must get to Master Keon immediately.”

  The young man pointed up the hall, toward where Luana had just come from. “If you go up there and take—”

  “I’ve just been from there,” Luana moaned. “I keep getting lost and there is not time to explain. Just know that it is a matter of saving the King! Please, you must get me to him.”

  “The King?” the steward gasped. “By the gods, yes, of course I will take you.”

  As the young man guided her quickly through the winding passages and up stairways, she realized how turned around she had become. Building into the mountain had turned the castle into a labyrinth.

  They finally arrived in an area that felt familiar to Luana. The long hall that led to a single door held paintings that she was sure she had seen when walking to visit the King and Queen when she first discovered she was with child.

  The steward stopped at the door. “You will find Master Keon inside His Grace’s bedchamber. Be cautious, the King is very ill.” He turned and hurried down the hall.

  I suppose I should knock. She lifted her fist to the door but stopped herself. This is ridiculous. This is the King’s life we’re talking about. She grabbed the handle and pushed the door open. “Master Keon?”

  She stepped into the room and noticed there were two guards placed on each of the two windows in the room, as well as four on the door.

  “What is it?” the old physician asked, looking up from his table. “You!” He hastily hobbled across the room. “Get out before he sees you! You are not permitted here.”

  A guard grabbed her arm, stopping her from entering any farther into the room.

  “But I have come to help,” Luana pleaded.

  He took her by the hand and began leading her from the room. “You know I greatly appreciate your herbs, but this is not the time nor the pl—”

  “No!” She pushed his hand away, but the guard still held her tight by the arm. “The King is being poisoned!”

  Master Keon barked in laughter. “That’s nonsense.”

  King Ashmur stirred in his bed, moaning as he rolled on his side.

  The physician waved the guard off of Luana and guided her by the elbow toward the door and whispered, “No one could poison the King. What do you think the royal tasters are there for?”

  “What’s this?” mumbled King Ashmur from the bed. “Who goes there?”

  Luana felt as though her stomach was full of snakes, writhing around on each other. She turned slowly to face him. “It’s Luana, Your Grace. I… I’m here to help you.”

  “What is she doing here?” asked the King in a gravelly tone. “It is forbidden!” He began to cough.

  “You’re very right, Your Grace,” Master Keon said, moving Luana closer to the door. “She was just leaving.”

  I’m here to save his life and he still sees me as a worthless bed wife. Luana felt the heat rise to her face. “I will not leave until you hear me out.”

  “You dare speak…” The King gasped for breath.

  “Please, my dear,” Master Keon pleaded. “Can’t you see you are doing him more harm than good by being here?”

  “He is being poisoned, Master Keon,” Luana cried. “A housemaid has been slipping it into the evening tea you administer.”

  The old physician froze, his eyes staring off at the wall while he thought about what she had said. “It’s the only thing the tasters do not check.”

  “Exactly,” Luana agreed. “Lord Cadman—”

  “My brother would never—” The King coughed again.

  Luana’s anger flared. “Please forgive me, Your Grace, but he would and he has! The young maid confirmed it.” She turned back to the physician. “I cannot tell you what she was originally using, but since Lord Cadman came a few days ago, she has been using Dragon’s Fire.”

  “Dragon’s Fire?” Master Keon’s eyebrows rose, his eyes wide with terror. “A vial of that could kill a healthy man. But it can’t possibly be, it’s only ever been written about. A myth.”

  “It is,” she said, running to his worktable and pulling a book on poisons. “She has been administering only two drops a night.” She flipped through the pages of the book until she came upon a page with a drawing of a blue dragon. The beast’s mouth was shown open wide with fire spewing from its throat as blue dripping poison fell from its long, vicious, yellow fangs.

  “Dragon Fire,” Luana read aloud. “This deadly poison is created using the liquid fire that sweats from a dragon’s fangs as it spits fire. The practice of harvesting Dragon Fire means almost certain death.”

  “Exactly right,” mumbled Master Keon. “Do you even understand what it takes to get a vial of that wretched liquid? Dragon Fire evaporates within minutes of falling from the fangs unless mixed with the oil of an herb like crushed dandelion root to keep it stable. Who would be brave enough, no, insane enough to get that close? Lord Cadman may be insane, but he’s a coward.”

  “Master Keon, please,” Luana pleaded. “You must trust me in this. He had the girl use Dragon Fire. If we don’t try to counter the effects immediately, the King will die!”

  King Ashmur said, catching his breath, “Master Keon, why have you not had her escorted back to her chamber?”

  “Why can you not see I’m here to help you?” Luana spat.

  “Luana!” Keon yelled. “I demand you control your temper. He is your King!”

  “Remove her now!” Ashmur ordered.

  The guards rushed, grabbing hold of Luana, causing her to drop the book on the stone ground.

  “No!” Luana screamed, struggling against their iron grip. “I’m trying to save you!”

  “Your Grace, with all due respect,” the old physician said nervously, “she is a credit to us. She is highly skilled in healing.”

  “And you would put my life in her unexperienced hands?” The King struggled to sit up in the bed, his eyes pinched shut, brow furrowed, as he fought against the pain.

  “Yes, Your Grace,” he said. “I believe I would.”

  “Your Grace, please,” Luana pleaded. “I understand I am a bed wife and nothing to give any consideration to, but you must know that I love Baylin and I am devoted to the Kingdom. I want to help. I can help.”

  Exhaustion finally took the strength of the King. He feebly laid back in the bed with a sigh. “It would seem you hold my life in your hands, my girl.”

  The guards relaxed their grip on Luana and she shrugged free of them. She exhaled a deep breath she didn’t know she had been holding. She began frantically pulling books down from the shelves, trying to find the one that would lead her in the right direction on how to counter the poison.

  “Luana,” Keon said, facing her from the other side of his worktable. “We have no way to make an antidote. Without some actual Dragon Fire, we are hopeless.”

  “It would actually require the exact Dragon Fire,” Luana said, reading text below the picture of the dragon. “It must be from the same source.”

  The old physician looked over at the King, who had already fallen back into slumber. “What would you have me do?”

  “First, someone should search the maid Johanna’s room,” Luana said, pulling out a mortar and pestle. “If the god
s are with us, we will find the vial and be able to make an antidote.”

  Master Keon looked over his shoulder to one of the guards. The guard nodded and hurried out of the room.

  “Without the vial, we will have to make due. Let’s try and draw out what poison we can,” Luana said, grabbing a book of herbs and searching the pages. “We can make a mixture of wood ash with—”

  “Wood ash?” Keon interrupted. “You would force His Grace to eat ash?”

  “If he wants to live? Yes,” Luana said, her gaze serious and unmoving. “Now, as I was saying, if we make a mixture of wood ash, egg whites and water along with the echino flower—”

  “Echino?” the physician questioned. “I have never heard of this flower.”

  “It’s a purple flower with a black or dark brown spiny center,” Luana said, grabbing a small handful of crumbling, charred wood from the nearby hearth and dropping it into the large stone mortar on the table. She pushed the pestle down, grinding it into a black dust. “I believe some call it a conehead flower?”

  “Yes,” Master Keon said, writing instructions down on a small scrap of parchment. “You there!” he called to one of the guards. “Get the contents of this list to me within the hour. We haven’t a moment to lose.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Baylin sat in the war room, drawing up strategies on a map of Grasmere.

  A young steward came in carrying a tray of bread, cheese and wine. “Your Grace, the Queen asked that I bring you something to eat.”

  “Ah, yes,” Baylin said. “Just sit it down here.” Mother is constantly fretting over me, even now that I’m a grown man.

  The steward turned to leave but hesitated. “Your Grace?”

  “Yes?”

  “Is it true that your bed wife actually saved His Grace, the King?” the young man asked with a nervous smile.

  “Yes, she did.” The Prince returned the smile.

  “I heard she was the one to create the antidote!” The steward blushed at the display of his excitement. “Apologies, Your Grace.”

  “No need to apologize,” Baylin said. “It was an impressive show of bravery and intelligence. Luana and Master Keon managed to reverse the poison with herbs until they were able to create an antidote from a vial found in the maid’s chamber.”