Sobian’s reaction was guarded as she watched me over the rim of her cup. “Let’s just say I had been tracking him for some time and knew better than to believe what I saw.”
Her vague answer did nothing to improve my opinion of her. “How exactly does a river pirate know how to spot an assassin?”
“I left that profession many years ago. Now I earn my keep in many ways.”
Arthur arched an eyebrow. “So you are an honest woman now?”
Her amusement came out as a trilling laugh. “I would not say that, but I am no longer a criminal if that is what you mean.”
“What do you do?” I asked.
“I have been a warrior, a spy, and even an outlaw for a time.”
“And an assassin,” I added.
Sobian’s eyes grew wide, and she made to protest.
I held up a hand to silence her denial. “Don’t bother. I was trained by one of the best warriors on this isle and know you have to be aware of what to look for in order to spot someone as convincing as our criminal.”
Sobian was dumbstruck. She turned to Arthur. “I would never—”
“I know. Please forgive my wife’s rudeness.” He shot me a scathing look. “She does not know you as do I. In fact, I was thinking that we can use a woman of your skills.”
It was my turn to be incredulous. I set down my cup with more force than I intended. “We can?”
“Yes.” His tone brooked no argument. “Today has shown us our security is weak, and I cannot have that. Sobian, you have seen the law from both sides. You know its holes. I believe you can help me improve my ability to protect myself, my wife, and my people.”
Sobian took a long drink. “What exactly are you asking of me?”
“I would like you to lead my cadre of spies. You will learn everything you can of our friends and enemies.”
I cringed at the thought of having this woman around regularly. “Kay already acts as your second, and I have Lancelot as my champion. What more protection do we need?”
Arthur’s exasperation came out in a flare of temper. “Guinevere, you have a strategic mind. If you let go of your petty fear that I will give you up for Sobian—which will not happen, I assure you—you will be able to see the wisdom in my choice. Kay and Lancelot protect us daily, but someone needs to be in command. Until now, I have filled that role, but it is becoming clear I cannot handle that duty in addition to governing my country. Sobian has already proven her loyalty to us. Who better to employ?”
My cheeks reddened. I could not believe he would call me jealous in front of her, no matter what their history. “First of all, husband, I have no fear of this woman. If need be, I will prove that to you in the sparring ring. Second, will it not appear strange that a woman is suddenly in charge of our guard? I do not think your men will take kindly to taking orders from her.”
Arthur regarded me calmly, a challenge in his eyes. “Nor do I. That is why her true role will only be known to us and our champions. Sobian, you are well versed in subterfuge. Do you believe you could pretend to hold another role while acting in this one?”
Sobian looked back and forth between us, chewing the nail of her littlest finger as she weighed her options. “Of course.”
Arthur stood, motioning for us to do the same. He placed my hand in Sobian’s. “Meet your new lady’s maid.”
I coughed, choking on the ale I was swallowing. “Arthur, you must be joking.”
“Not at all. It is the perfect disguise. She will have every right to be near us.”
“I already have Octavia. What do you suggest I do, turn her out? And what will people say when Sobian is seen meeting with you in private?”
“Octavia will continue to fulfill the same duties she always has. She will simply appear to have more help.” He cast a flirtatious look in Sobian’s direction. “As for what people will say, kings have had dalliances with maids since time began. The more they believe that, the less likely they are to suspect the truth.”
I shoved Arthur with both hands, knowing the act wouldn’t budge him, but it made me feel better. “I am simply supposed to go along with this, is that right?”
Arthur said nothing.
I looked from one to the other, knowing I was trapped. Arthur’s plan was sound, but I did not like the idea of living in close company with a woman Arthur had obviously befriended in the past any more than I liked knowing people would think he was disloyal to me. Arguing with him would do no good. Perhaps I could tolerate the situation until I found a reason to have Sobian removed. “If you two will excuse me, I would like to lie down.”
I was halfway out of the room before Sobian came trailing after me. “Let me assist you, my lady,” she offered, amusement clear in her voice.
“I do not require your services,” I spat over my shoulder.
I made it to my room and slammed the door. Alone at last, I leaned against the door, struggling to catch my breath. Tears spilled over as the enormity of the day finally sank in. I slid down to the floor and ran my hands through my hair. How could my life have changed so much in only a few hours? I thought Arthur had grown to love me, but he had just accepted a former lover back into his confidence after only having been reunited with her for a few hours. What did that mean for my marriage?
I didn’t know how long I spent contemplating my situation, but just as quickly as the tears had come, I started laughing. I was being ridiculous. Arthur had had to learn to live with Aggrivane at court long ago. Granted he’d sent my former betrothed on missions away from Camelot as often as possible, but he had still learned how to cope with his presence. I was behaving like a child. Galen had been right the day we argued in the forest so many years before. I really was as bad as a fisherman’s wife. And worse, I had changed little with the passage of time. I stood, straightening my dress and mentally preparing myself to apologize to them both.
After a few deep breaths, I went back down to the meeting room, expecting to find Arthur and Sobian discussing the finer points of her new role. But to my surprise, the room was empty. Octavia came in, holding a tray to collect the ale pitcher and our used glasses.
“Do you know where Arthur went?”
She eyed me carefully. “He is in his room. Alone.” She emphasized the word, knowing I would wonder. “They told me about her new role. Are you in agreement that it is wise?”
“I will be,” I reassured her.
Octavia made a noise indicating she wasn’t so certain then busied herself cleaning up the table. That was when I saw the lone sheet of paper. Thinking it to be notes from Arthur and Sobian’s discussion, I bent over the table to get a better look.
My blood turned to ice. The letters were formed of patterns made by varying lengths of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines. It was written in Ogham, the ancient language of the Druids, so it could not have come from Arthur. He hadn’t studied with them long enough to have learned it. Plus, its message was not one a husband leaves his wife.
I ran to Arthur’s room, rubbing my hand over the goose-pimpled flesh of my arm. “You may wish to rethink your decision,” I said as I entered.
He looked up. “Why is that?”
I held the paper out to him. “This was left in the meeting room.” I shivered again.
He plucked the paper out of my hand and turned it in several directions, trying to figure out how to read it. “Ogham. That’s unusual. What does it say?”
I grabbed it back, irritated beyond decorum. After what had happened with the madman and Sobian, I didn’t think I could take much more.
“That’s the problem. I think it’s a threat. ‘My queen, you may close your eyes to the one you scorned, but that will not keep me away. I will breathe your last breath so that you will live on forever in me.’”
Arthur’s face darkened. “Only one man could claim such a thing.”
I lo
oked at him quizzically, brow furrowing. “How do you know Sobian isn’t party to this? It appeared right after she did in the very room she last occupied.”
Arthur sighed, clearly frustrated that I didn’t trust Sobian implicitly as he did. “Because this isn’t her way. As she said, if she wished you dead, you would be. She has no need for idle threats.”
“Who then?”
“Think about the message.” His tone took on a condescending air I did not care for. “Someone you once rejected? Who did you give up to marry me? You may not want to see it, but the answer is right in front of you.”
He didn’t have to say the name. Suddenly I knew exactly who he blamed. His menacing gaze was fixed on my former lover.
Guilty or not, Aggrivane was in serious trouble.
Within the week, Aggrivane was given a special assignment as an envoy in Brittany, and Camille chose to go with him. In many ways, it was easier for me not having him around, not being reminded of what would never be, especially with Camille’s recent pregnancy. That had been a surprise given Aggrivane’s insistence on their love being chaste. Plus, while I’d never suspected Aggrivane, I breathed a little easier knowing he was out of easy reach of Arthur’s wrath.
But despite this move, the notes continued appearing as summer progressed, which meant Aggrivane couldn’t have sent them. They came at odd intervals, frequently enough that the sender had to be nearby—messages didn’t travel that quickly from Brittany—but inconsistently enough that I could never anticipate them. Or rather, I was always anticipating them, always on edge, as I was sure my hunter intended. Each one was more threatening and found in a more intimate location than the last. The fear they provoked built along with summer’s heat. These were no mere mind games; whoever was doing this had a point to prove—he or she had, or could gain, personal access to me. It had to be someone in our inner circle, but I had no idea who it could be or why this was happening.
Then on the night of the full moon, after Grainne and I completed our ritual, I found a tattered page tied to the apple tree in the center of the labyrinth at the very heart of Camelot. Without reading its sinister message, I crumpled it with a snarl and marched straight to Arthur’s quarters.
“I cannot take any more of this. I am the queen. I will not have one of my subjects threatening me. If you will not act to find out who is doing this, I will.”
Arthur stood. “What will you do?” he asked with a mocking chuckle. “Interrogate each man of the realm until one finally confesses? I’m already doing everything that can be done, wife. Sobian is investigating. Give her time.” He marched over to me, towering above me. “And if you ever speak to me like that again. . .”
I looked up at him, steel in my eyes. “You’ll what? Divorce me? Hit me? In the former, you cannot, and in the latter, you forget I can and will take you on any day.”
“Is that so?” He picked me up and carried me to his bed. “Let us see how well you fare.”
It was Sobian’s idea to gather the kings of the tribes, their lordlings, and the Combrogi at Arthur’s southern power base, a scarred hill fort called Cadbury. Officially, we were together to celebrate Samhain—the night the old year gave way to the new—but what only those closest to the crown knew was that Sobian had reason to believe this area was linked to the source of the chilling notes.
“When I was a pirate, I amassed a vast collection of valuable paperwork along with the other booty,” she explained. “Naturally, I kept any correspondence written by those in power in case it would ever prove useful leverage. In time, I noticed these pages had common characteristics, such as the way the vellum was prepared or even the color of the ink, little signatures that betrayed a common maker. By matching those with the name of sender, I could usually narrow down the location of origin.” She tapped one of the threatening notes against her hand. “I believe this came from somewhere in the south-central part of the Summer Country.”
We couldn’t accuse anyone based on that idea, but it was a place to start. Sobian suggested we gather everyone in the area and observe them in the abandon of the feast when they would be most at ease.
Situated atop a towering hill overlooking the Somerset Levels, Cadbury had one of the most impressive views I’d ever seen. From its walls, farmland, bogs, and untamed wilderness stretched to the horizon in every direction. Anyone foolish enough to attack this fort would be seen long before they glimpsed the castle and its four terraced earthen banks and ditches surrounded by thick stands of trees. Even if they did manage to overcome those obstacles, the castle itself was ringed by a wooden palisade with several gatehouses full of archers and armed troops. Arthur had chosen his location well.
Cadbury was even more impressive from the inside. The great hall, a massive structure separate from the fortress’s other buildings, was larger than any I’d ever seen, even Camelot. Above me, its support timbers stretched like ancient oaks into darkness even hundreds of candles could not penetrate. Based on the number of bodies milling about, I was fairly confident it could hold nearly a thousand people without strain.
At a signal from Arthur, Kay rapped on the underside of the table, indicating to the crowd they should quiet down—and for a moment, I was back in Corbenic the night Arthur had proposed and turned my life upside down. I shook my head to clear it and pushed my goblet out of arm’s reach. Whatever Arthur had them serving was too strong for me to consume without measure. I needed my wits about me if I was to observe whatever actions Arthur suspected would be brought out as our guests drank themselves into unsuspecting candor.
Arthur stood, watching imperiously as his guests settled and turned their faces to him. “I promise you will not have to listen to me overmuch this night—”
“Aye, we all know how you love making speeches,” Bedivere interrupted from his table below the dais, brotherly grin bright enough to light the night.
Arthur acknowledged him with an expression colored by a mix of amusement and annoyance before turning back to the assembly. “It is by no coincidence I picked this night to bring you together. It is the new year, and as the wheel of time turns once more, it is a time for celebrating, a time for new beginnings and unity. In that same spirit of brotherhood, I wish to introduce all of you tonight to our newest member. As many of you know, Mark of Cornwall has ruled the kingdom of Dyfneint in addition to his own land since his brother’s passing into the Otherworld. This night, he wishes to formally pass control of Dyfneint to his nephew, Constantine.” Arthur raised his hand, indicating the two men should rise.
Mark looked around at the assembled lords. “I could have passed the crown to my nephew in private, but I wanted all of you to know he takes this throne with my blessing.” He stepped forward and kissed his nephew, removing a golden torque from around his neck and placing it around Constantine’s throat. He turned back to the crowd. “My fellow lords, regardless of your quarrels with me, if you recognize my nephew as the rightful ruler of Dyfneint, please stand that I may see you.”
Arthur remained standing, and I joined him, offering Mark a compassionate smile. One by one, each of the lords, including Ana, silently rose.
Mark nodded his thanks. “In that knowledge, I bid you all peace.” He and his nephew took their seats.
Before Arthur could speak again, Malegant stood. “My king, if we are using this feast as a public stage for private matters, I wish to speak.”
Beside me, Arthur stiffened. He still hadn’t forgiven Malegant for his embarrassing tussle in the market all those years before, for which Malegant had been banished from court for three months. “Lord Malegant, I remind you this is not pleading day. If you have a case to lay before the court, I suggest you come to Camelot on the next full moon with everyone else.”
“But this isn’t just any case. And I too wish the full witness of the court to its outcome.”
Arthur pursed his lips behind folded hands. “I have a feeling if I for
bid you to speak you will do so anyway, and I have no desire to eject you from my court again. You may proceed, but be brief.” He sat down hard on the bench, hunched shoulders and taut muscles clearly displaying his displeasure.
Malegant bowed with dramatic flourish. “Thank you, my king.”
Arthur made an impatient gesture, commanding him to get to the point.
“Quite simply, I am here to lodge a formal complaint that Lord Uriens still holds approximately one hundred of my men captive in his lands. I have petitioned this court multiple times against him, and still they languish rather than being reunited with their families.”
Before Arthur could issue a rebuttal, Uriens was on his feet, rushing toward Malegant with the virility of a man half his years. “You attacked me, remember? Do you truly expect no punishment for your breach of peace? Did it ever occur to you that our king has taken no action because he feels me justified in my acts?”
Malegant shot Arthur a disdainful look. “If that is so, then he is not only cowardly but a disgrace to his role.”
The collective intake of breath in the room was audible. Many of the men in the crowd stood, loyalty and instinct bidding them to protect their king.
Before I could blink, Uriens had his eating dagger drawn, blade at Malegant’s throat from behind. “I could split you open from ear to ear here and now, and no one would lift a finger to stop me, you traitorous bastard!”
Weapons were not allowed at the quarterly meetings, but still Combrogi rushed forward to do what they could to prevent any further violence.
Malegant grinned evilly. “Go ahead, old man.”
Uriens flicked his wrist and blood ran from Malegant’s throat, but the younger man spun away before the blade could do any serious damage. Malegant picked up his own utensil and caught Uriens in the side. Blood blossomed in a crimson stain on Uriens’s tunic.
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