Plans were all well and good, but her correspondence with her husband did not give Lily a great deal of optimism. His letters were brief, and he often reminded her that he couldn’t wait to see her in person. That was worrying.
Lily was still concerned about the plot between Jess’ lover and her cousin. She knew that the king had quietly gotten rid of the cousin, and Hans had written to tell her that Adelaide would be married off to some peasant as soon as she returned from Wellster. What she had no way of knowing, however, was how Jess would react to the banishment of his mistress. She hoped he wasn’t an idiot. He had to know how bad it looked that the attempted murder of his wife was financed with his own money.
After much thought, Lily wrote to Hans and asked him to find and buy back the jewels that Alex had sold and to send them to her father. She had found some heavy jewelry left behind by the old countess, but she couldn’t find the sapphires and pearls that her father had given her upon her marriage. If Jess had taken them, she wanted them back.
The jewels, however, were the least of her worries. She still needed to find out about Baron Yerby and why he had hired Damis Reis to seduce her. It’s almost like he doesn’t want Jess to have an heir.
In her letter to Hans, she asked him to find out what he could about Yerby. The countess did not see the man as a threat—his actions were obviously aimed at her husband—but she would feel safer when she knew what he was up to.
Lily did a great deal of thinking about her husband’s family. She knew that illegitimate children could not inherit property and that a man was allowed to marry a maximum of four times in his lifetime. I’m Jess’ third wife, and so far Miranda is his only child. If something happens to him, who will take control of the estate?
She knew who the possible candidates were: herself, Jess’ sister and her husband, his mother, and a number of relatives on the side of his second wife, Magdalena. Since Miranda could not inherit the estate on her own, it would be held and managed by someone else until her second son could step into his inheritance as the new Earl of Earton. During those many long years, the guardian could use the proceeds from the estate however he or she saw fit. The guardian could also choose a husband for Miranda.
As she turned these matters over in her mind, it occurred to her that she and Jess would be in the capital at the same time and that certain parties might be concerned about the possibility of an heir resulting from their meeting no matter how unlikely such an event was in reality. Will they make an attempt on the earl? It’s entirely possible. She briefly wondered if she should warn him, but waved the thought away. If I can take care of myself, so can you, my dear!
What really frightened the countess was the thought that someone had sent Medicus Craybey to get rid of her, and had probably had him killed after he failed in his mission. She had continued to correspond with this shadow enemy through Karl Treloney, writing as if she were Fred Darcy. The previous week, she had received word that the money had arrived—a down payment on her death.
Of course, Lily had no intention of dying. Quite the opposite: she intended to nab the merchant and pick up her money the next time she was in Altver. Once she had Treloney in a room alone with a couple of Virmans, she would ask him her pressing questions. If it took hot irons to get answers, then so be it. If it’s a choice between my life and someone else’s, I’ll choose me every time…unless the other person is Miranda.
In sum, Lily figured she had three groups of enemies. She knew who two of the groups were, and one of them had already been dealt with. Who is in the third group? And what do they want?
She could only guess, so she continued sending letters signed “Fred” that claimed the countess was on her deathbed, right alongside little Miranda.
In addition to all of her other correspondence, Lily received a letter every two weeks from her mother-in-law, Alicia. The letters were filled with gossip and palace intrigue, and she responded with letters describing Mirrie’s health and the weather in Earton. Meanwhile, she began using the letters to draw up a map of the relationships and ties between the people at court.
Setting pen to homemade paper, she wrote out a list of people—the Earl of N., the Countess of M., Baron D.—and filled in everything she knew: husbands and wives, children, lovers, friends, enemies. Once you have paper, you can do anything!
***
Adelaide Wells was ill and had taken to her bed. A member of the delegation informed Richard immediately. Jess, who was sitting in his cousin’s room, frowned. “What’s she up to now?’
“I don’t know, but I suppose we should go see her.”
When they went in, they found Adelaide in bed. She was as pale as a sheet, with blue-tinged lips and hollow eyes.
“What has happened to you?” Richard asked politely. He noticed a heap of bloody rags peeking out from under the bed.
Adelaide sniffled. “I…lost…the baby.” She began to cry.
Richard sighed and turned to Jess. “This is your affair to deal with,” he said as he left the room.
Jerrison would have happily sent Adele to the devil, but he couldn’t. “How did it happen?”
“I was upset. The medicus says that that was the reason…” In fact, Adelaide had simply purchased a powdered herb to cause an increase in her menstrual bleeding.
***
Jess sighed. “Don’t cry. It’s for the best.”
That was where he went wrong.
“For the best?” the woman cried. “For the best?”
Jess realized he had made a tactical mistake, but it was too late to retreat. “The child was illegitimate.”
“It was your fault! You hated him and wanted him to die. My poor baby!” She fell back against her pillows and began to sob.
Jess’ heart was heavy. He knew he should say something to calm her, but he wanted nothing more than to turn and go. Just then, Adelaide’s servant came in and gave him the excuse he needed.
“You should leave, My Lord. It’s just upsetting her to have you here.”
He obeyed.
***
Adele cried for another ten minutes, just to be on the safe side, and then made herself comfortable in bed. There was no child—there never had been—but she had successfully made Jess feel guilty of doing something awful. Altres had been right.
The jester had told her that his people would be waiting for her when the delegation reached Ivernea. She would do everything they told her to do. Adelaide wanted to live, and she knew she couldn’t go back to Ativerna. If she managed to pull off his plan, the jester had promised to make sure she was well married to a nobleman in Wellster, somewhere in the hinterland. That was far from ideal, but it was her best chance. With Alex gone, she would have to grasp at straws. She would walk through fire, sleep with anyone, even eat a live frog.
She wanted to live…
***
Amir was slowly improving. The painful attacks had stopped, and the nausea had left him. He already felt much better.
Lily had questioned Sulan about the priest who gave him the cinnabar. In fact, she went a step further and had one of the other Khangans sketch a portrait of the priest based on Sulan’s description. His evidence and the portrait had been sent to the Great Khangan.
The ruler wrote back as soon as he could. They had found Sharadji. The priest’s pain tolerance was nothing to speak of, and the whole plot was soon revealed. Gizyar’s death and Amir’s illness had been plotted by none other than Batita, the Great Khangan’s second wife and the mother of Selim. When the illustrious ruler was seventeen, his father had given him five wives. Gizyar was the one he loved best, but once she became pregnant, he spent more time with Batita. Power-hungry Batita never forgave Gizyar for being the favorite wife, and she had her poisoned when Amir was just six years old.
Lily wondered why she hadn’t finished off Amir at the same time, and the prince explained. His grief-stricken father had sent him off to live with the family of one of the Guards of the Caravan Roads. There, he had liv
ed in complete safety and learned to love the beauty of the desert. Once he was older, however, he had to return to the palace. The malady struck not long after his return.
Both Batita and Selim were executed.
Even though Amir was doing better, Lily felt it was still too soon for him to return home. To keep his medicuses out of the way, she gave them her notes on the art of healing to read. Soon, she had five dedicated students instead of two. The Khangans were practical men: women were not generally known to possess great wisdom, but Lilian Earton had identified the poison and returned the prince from the edge of the grave. They knew only too well what would have happened to them—not to her—if the boy had died. Sulan studied harder than all the rest.
Whenever he found the Khangans alone, Pastor Vopler attempted to have little chats with them about Aldonai. They were polite but stood firm in their own faith. When she found out about these chats, Lily decided that she would have to take the pastor with her when she left for the capital. He was a little too active to be left alone on the estate. In fact, she had a three-foot-long list of people who couldn’t be left alone on the estate. My craftsmen, the Virmans, the Khangans, the Eveers, my soldiers, Lons, Martha…
Only Emma, the castle guards, and all but a few servants would be left behind. Lily expected that the estate would continue to run smoothly in her absence. There was plenty of food, and she would send for two more pastors to keep an eye on the villagers while she was gone. The peasants understood crop rotation and were prepared to start using the new system that spring. Her new livestock would soon start bringing forth their offspring. While she was prepared to send Emma money if necessary, she was confident that the estate could prosper on its own.
The only question left to decide was what to do with the village girls who helped with lace making. They were desperate to go to Lavery with the countess. Why not? I’m sure there will be plenty of work for them.
***
One cold winter evening, Emma brought her a letter from Hans. He had gotten a large sum of money from her father and bought back all the jewelry Alex had sold, which was made easier by the fact that the unfortunate schemer had described the jewels and the shops where he sold them. When August Broklend saw the treasure in Hans’ hands, he stormed and ranted for a good hour. One of the rings had been his gift to Lilian’s mother. It was a simple gold ring set with a single, round sapphire surrounded by tiny flecks of turquoise. It wasn’t an expensive piece, but it was the first ring he ever bought his wife, and he had given it to his daughter as a family heirloom.
Lily immediately wrote to her father, imploring him not to kill his son-in-law right away. She suspected that Jess would no longer be welcome at the boatyards.
August, for his part, tore up every letter Jess sent him without opening them. Once he felt he could control his anger, he went to see the king and laid the ring in front of His Majesty, recounting the story of its beginnings and how Jess’ mistress had used it to finance an attempt on his daughter’s life.
That was the last straw. Edward wrote to the Earl of Earton and informed him that if the countess so much as raised an eyebrow about his behavior, his next posting in the king’s service would be to somewhere so far away that Earton would look like the center of high society in comparison.
The letter he wrote to Lilian was very different. His Majesty expressed his confidence in her ability as a healer and his hope for Amir’s speedy recovery. Once the crisis had passed, she wrote back to inform him that the boy was on the mend, but that there was no way she could leave him that spring.
His Majesty wrote back to inquire if she could postpone her visit until the summer. Lily gave the matter a great deal of thought. If I wait until summer, I’ll have time to get more people on my side before Jess returns from Ivernea in the autumn. That puts me in a stronger bargaining position.
What terrified her more than anything was that Jess would do the one thing he had every right to do: remind everyone that he could do as he liked with his own wife, and then lock her up in the castle to start working on conceiving an heir.
She had too many people counting on her and too many ideas to let herself get shut up in the castle like someone’s property. Torius Avermal sent frequent pigeon mail from Altver. The local merchants were beating his door down, undeterred by the bad weather or the high prices. Everyone needed all the lace, earrings and mirrors they could get their hands on.
Twice, Leif risked his own ship to take cargo to the mouth of the Earta, but after the second trip, he said he would not make the voyage again until the weather improved.
Lily suspected he had only risked going because he wanted to try out his new spyglass.Upon his return, he told her that any Virman would sell his soul to buy such a useful item. They discussed various schemes for selling the spyglasses in Virma. In the end, they decided that the Virmans would accompany her to Altver, where they would part ways with Erik and his men, who would take a shipment of spyglasses to sell in Virma. Lily and her entourage, housed on six ships (Leif’s ship, the two slave ships and three Khangan ships) would proceed on to Lavery to present themselves at the court of Edward the Eighth.
Once the plan was devised, they began to draw up a list of what provisions to take with them. Food and other necessities could always be purchased in Altver, but Lily preferred to save as much of her cash as possible.
***
“Your Majesty,” Jerrison murmured as he bowed his head in front of the queen.
“My Lord, we have enjoyed seeing you here at court.” Especially the ladies in waiting, but I shall say nothing of that.
“Your Majesty, my stay here has given me sincere pleasure.”
“We have a favor to ask of you.”
“My life is in your hands, Majesty.”
“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.”
Palace Intrigue (Medieval Tale Book 3) Page 29