by K. C. May
Feanna glared at him. She wanted to tell him that was absurd, that their superstitions were stupid, but she’d already decided she wanted this honor for herself. To insult him and back out of the agreement wouldn’t give her the status over Gavin she wanted. There had to be some way around this ridiculous requirement. For now, she needed to assure Kaoque that she would be there.
“I see,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me, but I won’t dispute your customs. I’m sure ours make no sense to you.”
Kaoque smiled dimly in response. “That is true.”
“Remember, you aren’t supposed to know I’m at the palace, and so you must deny having seen me.”
Kaoque nodded. “In fact, I am displeased and offended that Edan Dawnpiper kept information about your presence from me.”
She pointed at him and shook her finger as she said, “That’s good. You can use that indignation as an excuse to return to Cyprindia.”
He smiled dimly. “It is the truth.”
“Even better. He’ll believe it. His deceit is obviously an indication that he’s not to be trusted. Do not, under any circumstances, tell him that you’ve given me a token of our mutual agreement. I’ll reveal it to my people when the time is right. Good night, gentlemen.”
Chapter 41
Feanna awoke to a knock at her door. The sun was up, and outside the open windows, birds were singing. Normally, she’d have been awake by now, but excitement had kept her up well into the mirknight the last two nights. She felt for the pendant around her neck and, finding it, she grinned, eager for the amusement and delicious chaos this day would bring. Flinging the covers aside, she sat up against the pillows and watched.
The lock clunked, and the door opened. From the sitting room came sounds of dishes clinking as Eriska set the tray on the small, round dining table. She leaned into the open doorway of the royal bedchamber. The expression on her face turned from her usual bright cheeriness to alarm. She scurried towards the bed to have a closer look, glanced around the room, and then slapped a hand to her mouth before running back into the sitting room.
“Ragetha? Ragetha!” Eriska shouted. When the guard entered, the handmaiden pointed at the servants’ door Feanna had purposely left standing open.
Ragetha started towards the door. “Tell Lord Edan. I’ll warn Jophet.” Eriska hurried out behind her.
Feanna put a hand over her mouth as she giggled, not wanting to make a sound that might draw their attention. They’d left her apartment door standing wide open.
She rose and pulled on a simple gown, one that laced in the front and didn’t require the farthingale. The smell of the roast duck, eggs with cheese, and fruit on the platter drew her attention. If she weren’t here, it might be difficult to get a meal, and so she sat and ate every bit of the food Eriska had brought, shoving one mouthful after another into her mouth the way her husband used to eat before he learned a manner or two. By the time she had finished and swished the food particles out of her teeth with water, footsteps ran up the hallway towards her room.
Edan burst in and looked about. He saw the open servants’ door, the unmade bed, the night gown lying in a heap on the floor, and the empty plates on the table, but it was clear that he didn’t see Feanna.
Eriska came in behind him, her bosom heaving from running through the palace. Her face, normally so bright, had a sheen to it from her exertion. She looked at the empty plates as well. “But—”
“She can’t have left long ago if she broke her fast,” Edan said. “How long ago did you bring the tray?”
“She was gone before I brought the food. I set the tray down, saw that she was gone, and called for Ragetha, then I left to find you.”
One of his eyebrows rose. “Did you check the passageway to see if she was hiding in there?”
“No, my lord. Considering how imprisoned Her Majesty felt, I didn’t think she would simply hide if she can get out of her room.”
Good for you, Eriska. The girl was young, but she was no dunce.
“Well, someone ate this food in the time it took you to leave it and come find me. Are you suggesting someone else came into the queen’s bedchamber and ate the meal intended for her?”
“What does it matter?” Jophet said as he strode in. “She’s not here now. The servants’ door was open when you entered?”
“Yes, my lord,” Eriska said.
“We’ll search the palace. I sent Ragetha to tell the guards at the bridge to keep their eyes open in case she tries to disguise herself as a servant and leave the island. I’ll rally the rest of the guards to help search. No one leaves until we find her.”
Feanna wagged her head as she mouthed in case she tries to disguise herself as a servant. As if he thought himself more clever than she. As if he was a step ahead of her. She was tempted to remove the pendant, waltz into the room, and ask what the problem was, just to see the looks on their faces, but they would lock her up again and find a better way to secure the servants’ passage.
Edan and the guards left, and Eriska started to pick up the tray and stopped, casting one final look around the room as if she sensed she wasn’t alone. “Is someone here?”
Feanna stood stock still and watched her.
Something drew the handmaiden’s gaze—not towards Feanna, but to something near the servants’ door. The air appeared to shift, and the ghostly form of a person appeared. Eriska whimpered and fled, screaming, “Lord Edan!”
Feanna moved towards the strange figure, entranced. It looked like a person with cat features and orange eyes. It seemed to see Feanna, as if it were unaffected by the misdirection spell. It bared its teeth in what might have been a smile and reached towards her. The air snapped back to normal. The creature was gone. What in the world was that?
Edan and Eriska ran back into the room. “It was right over there.” She pointed at where she’d seen the figure.
“Was it the same as last time?” Edan asked.
Last time? Feanna remembered her caravan stopping on the road while her guards inspected some apparitions. Had these ghosts followed her from Ambryce? She stepped back to give Edan room to inspect the area.
“No, this time it was a cat-person. Tall, with pointed ears. It didn’t seem mean like the one in the wash room.” She looked at him with wide eyes and a thumbnail between her teeth, nibbling frantically. “Do you think one of these beings has taken Queen Feanna?”
He shook his head firmly, but the look in his eyes wasn’t as confident. “So far, they only look at us. None have managed to touch anything or anyone in the real world. King Gavin will be home in a few days. I’m sure his magic will help us get to the bottom of these sightings. Let me know if you see another one.” He headed to the door.
“Yes, my lord.” Eriska picked up the tray and, with one last glance at the corner where the ghost had appeared, she left.
Feanna followed Edan at a safe distance, not wanting the sound of her footsteps on the marble floor to draw his attention. She kept close to the wood-paneled walls, stopping briefly to wait for a servant, Supreme Councilor, or guard to pass.
When she realized where Edan was going, she nearly laughed out loud.
Chapter 42
Edan’s first thought had been that Feanna had somehow been abducted by the Cyprindians. Kaoque’s mention earlier of the amulets he and Tokpah used to escape the notice of brigands on the road had set him ill at ease, and he wondered whether an entire Cyprindian force had snuck into the palace and spirited her away under the very noses of her own guards. After all, that was how the first war had started, according to the books in the library.
He went first to the guest apartment where they spent most of their time and beat on the door with his fist. “Emissary Kaoque, please open the door.”
He heard rustling and voices within, and the door swung open. Tokpah engulfed the open space, pole-arm in hand. Edan wondered if he slept with that thing. “Pomek Tia.”
“Good morning to you too,” Edan said with a sligh
t bow. “Is Emissary Kaoque available?”
“I am in the bath,” came Kaoque’s reply.
Edan pushed past Tokpah and, indeed, found Kaoque sitting naked in the tub. “I apologize for disturbing you before you’ve broken your fast.”
“I am in the bath,” Kaoque said again, this time in a voice shrill with disbelief and chagrin. He looked terribly uncomfortable, hunching his body and arranging his limbs to hide himself.
Tokpah moved to stand between Edan and Kaoque, glaring down at him with fury in his eyes, and spouted a flurry of foreign words. Edan took a reflexive and wary step backwards.
All his life, Edan had seen other men in the bath, and had himself had men converse with him in both official and private capacities while he bathed. It was as commonplace as meeting over a meal or while dressing. Of course, he would never have barged in on a woman in the bath, but between men, such things had never been a source of embarrassment. He’d taken that for granted and hadn’t taken his guest’s different culture into consideration.
Embarrassment flooded his face, not for having seen Kaoque in the bath, but for having disregarded the possibility that his guest would find his interruption offensive. He turned his back to Kaoque and Tokpah. “I beg your pardon. We don’t consider bathing a private affair. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I didn’t see... anything.” He hadn’t the least bit of curiosity about the man’s private parts. It hadn’t even occurred to him to try to glimpse beneath the water’s murky surface.
“The birth mark is very private,” Kaoque said. “Only one’s spouses ever see it.”
Edan wondered if he meant the dark symbol on Kaoque’s lower abdomen. “Again, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”
“Why have you imposed on my bath?”
“I’m looking for someone I seem to have misplaced. I hoped she would be here, talking to you.” Discreetness before dispute, especially now that he had unwittingly offended his guest.
The sound of water splashing was followed by rustling cloth. “Did you think I would be taking advantage of your serving women while staying as a guest on a diplomatic mission?”
“Oh, no,” Edan said quickly. He started to turn around, to talk face-to-face with his guest and show him he was sincere but stopped himself. “I know she was curious about you. I thought perhaps she’d have found her way here.”
“Who is this curious woman? One of your soldiers?”
He didn’t want to confess that the queen was in the palace, but he didn’t see any other option. “Queen Feanna. She’s been somewhat ill from her journey, and I didn’t want to risk exposing you to her, ah, sickness.”
The rustling sound stopped. A few moments of silence followed.
“The queen is here? You kept me from performing my duty?” Kaoque’s voice rose in both volume and pitch.
Edan saw movement out of the corner of his eye and chanced turning around to find Kaoque, now fully dressed, standing beside Tokpah. His expression was hard, his eyes alight with anger. “Emissary Kaoque, I beg forgiveness. The queen is unwell, but King Gavin is on his way home. He should be here in a few days.”
“This is unacceptable,” Kaoque spat. “I will see the queen immediately.”
Edan shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. As I’ve said, I don’t know exactly where she is. We’ll be searching the palace for her, and so I would appreciate it if you and Tokpah would remain in this guest chamber until we find her.”
“You propose to starve us too?”
“No, of course not. I’ll have a servant bring a tray of food here so that you can break your fast at your leisure. Please understand, this is a serious matter.”
Kaoque eyed him suspiciously. “Is a queen not permitted to roam free in the palace?”
“Yes, normally she is, but like I said, she’s been ill.”
“Well enough to escape your watchful eye. What is the nature of her illness?”
There was a very good chance Feanna would try to find her way here to see what Kaoque’s message was. It was up to Edan to see that she didn’t. “She was poisoned, and the poison has affected her mind. Every antidote we’ve tried has failed to reverse the damage. She’s gone quite mad, I’m afraid.”
Kaoque flinched, turning his head slightly to the left. “Yes, I see. We will depart tomorrow morning for Cyprindia. If I have not been allowed to deliver the Lord Ruler’s message by then, he will learn of this upon my return.”
“But won’t he declare war if he gets no response?” Edan asked.
Kaoque answered with silence.
Damn it. There was only one thing to do. He had to find Feanna. With a smile of forced confidence, he promised to find the queen and present her by that evening. “The palace isn’t so large. She can’t hide forever.”
He bid Kaoque and Tokpah good morning and left. He encountered Taria in the hallway and instructed her to stay with Kaoque and intercept Feanna should she seek him out. If Edan found Feanna first, he could persuade her to behave properly in exchange for something she wanted.
It occurred to him that Kaoque wouldn’t know the true Feanna from an imposter. Liera would substitute nicely. She wasn’t much shorter than Feanna, and though she was stockier and with redder hair, their guest wouldn’t know the difference. Liera knew Feanna well enough to play her convincingly to a stranger, but he’d already told Kaoque that Feanna was mad. Could Liera act the part? It was a shame he hadn’t thought of this subterfuge earlier, though it bothered him to be so deceitful. Given the circumstances, it was the best option he had. Should she succeed in convincing him, Edan would know the content of the message the Lord Ruler had for Gavin and could prepare for what was to come.
He found her in the family room, talking to Keturah. When he entered, they both looked up at him with the guilty faces of conspirators. Edan wondered if GJ had let the chickens out of the coop.
“Good morning, Lord Edan,” Liera said, smiling. “Keturah and I were having a chat about her papa.”
“That’s where you got your beautiful eyes,” Edan said to the girl. “Liera, I need a moment of your time, if I may intrude.”
She patted Keturah’s leg. “We’ll talk more later.” Keturah stood, curtsied to them both, and scampered away. “What’s going on? I see everyone running this way and that. Is Gavin home?”
“If only he were,” Edan said, taking a seat. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Feanna has managed to escape her room through the servants’ passages. Everyone is frantically searching for her.”
“Oh, dear. Should I gather the children?”
He nodded. “I don’t believe she would try to harm any of them, but she might say hurtful things.”
“My son is proof of that.”
Edan took a deep, steadying breath. “First, I have a favor to ask. Our Cyprindian visitors know she’s here, in the palace. I tried to explain that she fell ill, and that was why I can’t allow them an audience with her, but Kaoque was deeply offended.” Walking in on his bath hadn’t helped that situation any.
“Why can’t he understand that the queen isn’t up to conducting official business?”
“He seems to have an expectation that his presence here trumps all other matters, including the queen’s own well-being.” He shook his head dismissively. “It’s neither here nor there. Now that he knows she’s here, he insists on delivering his message to her.”
“To Feanna? You didn’t tell him about... you know. Her mental state?”
“I did, but still he insisted. His mission is to deliver the message and return home straight away. I suppose he has a point—her condition is our problem, not his. He has a duty to perform, and perhaps he doesn’t have the authority to make judgment calls regarding its execution. I tried to explain that Gavin will be home soon, but he plans to leave at tomorrow’s first light, whether he’s delivered his message or not. The problem is that if he fails, the Cyprindians might declare war, and we don’t even have an army yet.”
/> “And you have no idea where Feanna is? Do you think she made it past the guards and left the island?”
He told her about the food tray Eriska had left and how the meal had been eaten by the time he got there. He suspected Feanna had been nearby, hiding perhaps and watching them run around in a panic, trying to find her. “It had to have been her who ate the food. No one else would’ve had the nerve to do such a thing.”
“I’ll help you look for her,” Liera said. “She used to love the rear garden. I’ll start there.”
“Actually,” Edan said, “that’s not what I’ve come to ask. I want to introduce you to the Cyprindians as Queen Feanna.”
Her eyes flew open. “You can’t be serious!”
“You know her better than any of us. You know her mannerisms, her humor, everything about her. Dressed in a pretty gown with perhaps a few pieces of her jewelry, you could absolutely pass as Queen Feanna.”
She shook her head. “Oh, Edan, no. That would be treason!”
“Not when the queen has been stripped of her authority by the king himself. We’re only acting in the best interest of Thendylath. Taking steps to avert a war with our oldest and greatest enemy is worth a stern look and wagging finger from Gavin. I’ll take full responsibility for the scheme. You needn’t worry about bearing his wrath for this.” He reached over and took one of her hands. “All you have to do is walk in, let me introduce you, and say a few words of greeting. I’ll do most of the talking. You need only listen to the message, tell him you’ll take the matter under consideration, and discuss it with King Gavin when he returns.”
“What if he meets the real Feanna?”
“I’ve assigned Taria to stay with him, in case she finds her way to his room. Once he meets you as Queen Feanna and delivers his message, it won’t matter. He’ll go back to Cyprindia with his assignment fulfilled.”
She chewed her lip for a moment while her gaze held his own. “I only need to say a few words to him?”