Merewyn squeezed his hand, glad to have an ally, even if there was little he could do to help her. She longed to keep him by her side, but she knew she could not keep him from his duty. “I will be fine,” she said. “Please go and find out what happened to Lady Hildred.” And then perhaps he could tell her how to avoid the same fate.
“Are you sure you want us to discover the truth?” Edgar asked.
“As sure as I am that I’ve discovered the most loathsome man in the kingdom.”
Edgar sneered through a half-hearted bow and stomped away.
Broderick gave her hand one last pat. “Be well. And Lady Haley, please take care of her majesty.” Then he marched off in Edgar’s wake.
Merewyn stood next to Haley, trembling, uncertain what came next.
“My lady, please, let me do something for you,” Haley blurted out. “I cannot stand to see you like this.”
“I desire nothing. There is no help for the distress of such a night.” Her tone was flat and lifeless, because she hadn’t the energy to pretend for Haley.
Haley glanced around like a rabbit afraid of the slightest noise. “A glass of water at least, my lady. Or I could run and fetch you medicine.”
Deciding it would be simpler to acquiesce than argue, Merewyn sent Haley off to retrieve whatever she believed would help. But without Haley, now what was she supposed to do? She realized how alone and exposed she was in the hall. No one else stood within ten feet of her. Returning to her seat, however, was quite impossible. Hildred’s blood still coated the floor and the table. There was far more of it than Merewyn would have imagined a person could cough up in under a minute. A minute. It truly had been that fast. What a horrific way to die.
Still, Merewyn could not remain standing alone in this corner. But what were her options? She could not very well approach some random group of guests she either did not know or knew too well once upon a time.
For the second time that night, Ethelred rescued her.
“Merewyn, we need to talk,” he said, but there was nothing accusatory in his tone. Instead, his voice was soft, and what else, precisely, did she hear there? Not quite love, but compassion? Remorse? Fear?
Whatever it was, she had to find a way to exploit any positive feeling he had for her. Hildred had been murdered, and a sick suspicion told Merewyn she would be next. This man she had hated for so long might now be her salvation. She needed out of the Bocburg and back under her husband’s direct protection, because he was the only person in the world who could protect her from her son.
Chapter 30
ETHELRED TOOK MEREWYN by the hand, and it reminded her of the first fumbling efforts he had made when courting her. He hobbled like an old man, though, as he guided her to the window behind them. He saw her seated and then placed himself only inches away.
The sudden intimacy startled her. Why would he approach her this way, here in this hall with hundreds of other people? Here, still in sight of the high table, where servants were coming now to mop up Hildred’s blood.
“Knee gives me no end of trouble these days.” He rubbed the offending joint. “Makes events like this painful, and not just figuratively anymore.”
He smiled at his own joke, and she tried to match his light tone. “Tonight has been more trying than most. You should ask Maxen to take on more of the load at formal events.” They stopped and watched Maxen chatting with Vadik, and she felt sick in her soul. Seeing them conspire together felt like a mace to the head. How had her darling boy grown into a man who wanted to kill her?
“I want you to come back to Formacaster,” Ethelred said.
Merewyn continued to follow her child’s every frown and whisper. He and Vadik were joined by that mining boy and Kaur. Merewyn would have given anything to know what they said. Perhaps it was morbid, but she was genuinely curious how they intended to murder her, now that their first plan had gone so badly awry.
Then Ethelred’s words finally penetrated. “I’m sorry, Ethelred. Could you repeat that?”
He smiled an almost genuine smile. “I want you to come back to Formacaster. Tonight has shown me, I don’t know what exactly, but I think Maxen and I should spend time with you while we can.”
It was everything she had long wanted, everything she had dreamed he would say. But now she knew better. Now she knew that no one was a greater threat to her than her own child.
“Maxen has missed out on something irreplaceable not having his mother as a regular part of his life.” Ethelred swallowed deliberately, clenching and unclenching his jaw several times. “He’s going to be married. You should be at his wedding.”
This was all backwards. Many times, as she paced endlessly around her tower room, she had imagined Maxen coming to tell her he was getting married. Then she would plot how she could use this information to manipulate Ethelred into releasing her so she could attend the wedding. But now it was Ethelred who was informing her. It was Ethelred who had decided, even without being asked, to end her imprisonment.
“So,” she said, once she had let his words sink in, “it has already been decided he will marry this Rosheen he told me about.”
“Yes.” Ethelred beamed. “She’s a wonderful girl. Very sweet temperament.”
That meant little to Merewyn. Ethelred had always been easily pleased. Particularly where women were concerned. “I know nothing about her,” she said. “I had been hoping Maxen would bring her here for my approval.”
Not that any of this mattered now. Maxen was trying to kill her. Was that why he’d left the girl back in Formacaster? Because she was too sweet and naïve to help him in this horrible plan to kill his own mother?
Ethelred, hobbled old man, blushed. “She’s so devoted to him. And he loves her.”
“Yes, all well and good, but who is this girl’s family? What wealth and property will she bring to the crown?” She spoke the words as if she cared, still trying to pretend that she wanted the best for her beloved son. And who knew? Perhaps part of her still did.
Ethelred looked unusually confused, even by his standards, and he was a man who was easily confused. “What do you mean, who is her family and what land does she have?”
“Precisely what I said. Holy Finster, stop looking at me like that. Women are still expected to come with dowries, and heirs to the throne should marry within their station. That much has not changed, has it?”
“What has Maxen told you besides that her name is Rosheen?”
“Nothing. Rosheen Jones: she is a sweet, kind, and intelligent girl. And he loves her. That’s all I know. What had you expected him to tell me?”
Ethelred sighed and looked away, obviously uncomfortable. “Rosheen is one of her middle names. She does not use her given name nor her father’s family name, as it has certain...connotations to some people.”
And Merewyn felt the pieces sliding into position. The old-fashioned name, Maxen’s reluctance to tell her anything about Rosheen, and his failure to mention they were to be wed. “What is her given name and who is her father?”
“Maxen is marrying Averill Howard.”
Merewyn said nothing in return, for truth be told, what could she possibly say?
Ethelred carried on. “I have formally stated I hold no suspicion against her for the treachery of her father, and that the estate I took from him seventeen years ago when he was...well, it shall be returned to her. That is her dowry.”
Merewyn still sat speechless, barely able to comprehend the words Ethelred spoke.
“She really is a lovely girl,” he continued. He was starting to look worried, as if he knew how she was taking it. “Very like her mother, and I know how fond you were of her.”
Merewyn’s contemptuous scowl said all she felt was necessary about her feelings for Tegan Howard.
The way Ethelred flinched, she knew he understood her. “We are given so little time before we go forever into Earstien’s eternal Light,” he said, glancing toward the high table. “What do you think Hildred would have given t
o see all her children married to people they loved?”
“I believe....” Merewyn put out her hands, pressing hard into the cushion on either side, fighting to steady herself. “I believe I would like to be alone now.”
“As you wish,” he said quietly. “I will come see you in your apartments to discuss the details of your move to Formacaster. I hope to leave soon. Well, sometime after Hildred’s funeral, I suppose.”
He left, but she could not look up. She simply repeated the pertinent facts over and over in her mind. Averill Howard. Her son was marrying Averill Howard. Daughter of General Howard, who died with Fransis, and Tegan Howard, who swore vengeance against Merewyn at her husband’s trial.
So many things made sense now. That name: “Rosheen Jones.” Merewyn remembered now that the girl had gone to live with the Earl of Clogwyn, Devon Jones, after her mother drank herself to death. And Merewyn recalled Robertson’s mysterious threat, as well: “If only certain people knew what you convinced General Howard to do.” He had been referring to Howard’s daughter.
Did Rosheen already know? Was she marrying Maxen in revenge for her parents? Was she actually the one who had put the idea into Maxen’s head that he should kill his mother? Of course she had. Tegan would have taught her daughter to hate Merewyn, and she would have told the girl everything. “Rosheen” wouldn’t have even needed to hear Robertson’s information.
“My lady, are you well?” Haley whispered, sinking into the cushion beside her. The girl held out a mug of water, which Merewyn took even though she very much wished it were wine.
After a drink of the inadequate beverage, Merewyn answered, “I’m fine.”
“My lady, I do not believe you. I knew I should have gone for medicine, but I did not want to leave you for so long.”
“It is your place to always believe your mistress.” Merewyn finished the water and handed the mug back to Haley. “Get me some wine, and then begin packing. We are going to Formacaster.”
“His majesty is setting you free?”
She laughed, unsure what Ethelred thought he was doing or if she would live long enough for it to matter. For now, she explained, “His majesty is taking me to Formacaster, because my son is getting married. I do not know if that constitutes freedom.”
Haley hesitated and Merewyn was about to order her away for the wine she so desperately needed when Haley blurted out, “I overheard Prince Vadik talking to Prince Maxen about that hillichmagnar woman. She apparently told Prince Vadik that she had ‘just the thing for any problem.’”
“Yes? What of it?”
“Just before I came over here, that fellow, Mr. Kaur, handed Vadik something from Lady Daryna. It was a vial.”
Merewyn was on the verge of demanding Haley get to the relevant bit, when she realized that the girl already had. Turning back toward Maxen, she caught a glimpse of Vadik with a small, glass vial in one hand. He was explaining something, gesturing with the vial. Anik Kaur jumped in, here and there, to add a few words. Once Maxen nodded to show his understanding, Vadik passed him the vial, and Maxen slipped it into his pocket.
“That could be anything,” Merewyn whispered. “Probably something harmless, I’m sure.”
“Perhaps, my lady, but given everything we heard about Prince Vadik, and what happened to Lady Hildred—”
“Go away, Haley. Have wine brought to me and then go to your room.”
“I didn’t mean to anger you, my lady. I worry for your safety.”
“Be gone.”
Alone again, Merewyn didn’t know if she was going to vomit or weep. She would likely never leave the Bocburg. A murderer haunted the castle that night, a murderer who would never stop, not as long as she lived. And that murderer was her son. To be sure, there were many people in Vadik’s cabal, but Maxen was the only true murderer, because he was the one who had broken her heart.
As if thinking of Maxen summoned him, he parted from Vadik and headed toward her, skirting the groups still discussing the grisly death they had witnessed. As he neared, she forced down her pain and nausea, determined she would show no sign to him that she knew what he had done, what he intended.
“Hello, mother. May I sit?”
“Of course, darling.”
“I wanted you to know that I think I’ve convinced Vadik and his mother not to leave Leornian tonight, but I don’t think they will stay long after. This is all so tragic. Lady Hildred was always nice to me, even if she could be overbearing at times.”
“Yes. She was ‘the wind and the snow combined’ as I once heard her described.” She paused, remembering that it was Fransis who had said so. They had always joked mercilessly about Hildred. Was she with Fransis now?
Merewyn bit her teeth together to keep her jaw from quivering. This couldn’t really be happening. She had to test Maxen! She had to test her theory. She might still be proven wrong, and oh, Earstien! How much would she love to be proven wrong.
“I do have some good news,” she made herself say. “Your father says I can come back to Formacaster with him when he leaves.”
If Maxen loved her, wanted her to live, he would not be able to hide his jubilation at this news no matter how tragic the night. If he didn’t want her dead, he would embrace her and say how happy he was.
There was a pause, and he leaned back to study her. “Really?”
“Really. He wants me at court to be with you. He says life is too short to spend apart.”
“That’s...that’s great.” He gave her a hearty smile. “Of course that’s wonderful.” A kiss on the cheek. “I’m so happy for you. It just took me a second because I’ve spent all night talking to Vadik about his plan to take you and I to Loshadnarod, and—”
“You and me, darling,” she whispered, fighting not to cry.
“Sure, but anyway, I’ve been trying to convince them not to leave until you could go with them, and here father decided to....” He chuckled and kissed her cheek. “But of course, this is better.”
He could not deceive her. He had hesitated as though she had ruined something for him. His enthusiasm for her freedom came too late and too unnaturally. Clearly, it would have been easier to kill her in Loshadnarod with the help of his new friend, far from the prying eyes of court. And yet, she did not doubt the Howard girl would have an alternative plan for dealing with her once she arrived in Formacaster. Assuming she lived out this night.
“So, where are you staying tonight? Do you have to go back to your tower?”
He didn’t need the vial in his pocket—he was killing her already.
“The castle is full of guests and I need to pack, so, yes.”
“Then I will come and see you there. Father is right—we should spend time with family. And I have a present for you to make up for being such an asshole earlier.”
“Language, darling.”
Maxen kissed her cheek again, then rejoined his co-conspirators. She could not fathom how her life had come to this. Fransis dying, she had always believed, would mark the nadir of her existence. But Fransis had died so she could help Maxen to become a better ruler than his father. She had failed at everything and Fransis’s sacrifice had been for nothing. She wished more than anything that she could apologize to him.
She had barely shifted to rise, to return to her tower to find wine and respite, when Edgar planted himself on the bench. Settling back in, she snapped, “Not now, Edgar. Aren’t you supposed to be looking for a murderer?”
She went a bit numb when she realized she spoke of her son.
“But I am looking,” Edgar answered. “I know what Ethelred just told you, and I suppose you think we’re all going to be one happy, loving family from now on: you and Ethelred, me and my daughter. And our joyous newlyweds: dear Averill and your beloved boy, Maxen.”
“Please stop.”
“But I think I should tell you a few things before you get too excited about your future. There are things you should know, whether or not I find proof that you killed Hildred.”
&
nbsp; “I’ve no desire to hear anything you have to say.”
He sneered. “Your desires ruin and end lives, so I will be watching your every move. Ethelred thinks he can trust you, because...I don’t know why. Maxen’s future, I guess, not that you’ll be any help to the poor boy. I don’t trust you. I never trusted you. Why Ethelred condoned your affair is something I’ll never understand. I don’t know why he thought a woman who would deceive him in one way wouldn’t deceive him in others. It’s one of life’s great mysteries.”
“Do you have some point? I would like to retire, and if you’ve nothing better to detain me with than your decades-old bitterness, I’ll be going now.”
The glint in his eye told her he, in fact, had some point, which she feared would prove dispiritingly sharp.
“Didn’t you ever wonder how I knew General Howard had troops at the Summer Palace the night of the Finstertide feast? Didn’t you wonder how I knew your precious Fransis had planned it all?”
She eyed him warily. This was painful, but it was ancient history. Did he think the mere reminder of Fransis would prick her? She remembered him every day without Edgar’s prompting.
“Hiding sixteen hundred horse is a tricky affair,” she said. “His cavalry was spotted and reported. And you didn’t know Fransis had planned anything. He confessed of his own free will.”
Edgar shook his head, his smirk positively cutting. “Yes, he confessed, because he knew we already had him. Maxen told me everything.”
“Pardon?”
“You and Fransis wanted Maxen to go to the Summer Palace to be safe. But the poor boy didn’t want to go, so he complained to me. He didn’t like General Howard, whom he called ‘the man Uncle Fransis has guarding the palace.’ Maxen thought he was a big boy and didn’t need guarding. It took me awhile to figure out what he meant, but then I went in search of General Howard with two dozen Royal Guards. I found him taking a leak in the Trahern. And he gave me everything I needed in order to arrest dear, old ‘Uncle Fransis.’ Have I ever mentioned how much I hated Maxen calling that man ‘Uncle’?”
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