Chapter 49. When It Comes
The air in the palace seems tense today. Waltz and I have just arrived, having received a message from Maeve that Sir Willard is presenting something important to my father this morning. And I do not know how I will keep Alcaster dangerous and this cycle going if Alcaster is arrested. I glance out the window toward the courtyard where the knights usually practice as we walk down the corridors towards my father's study, but it appears mysteriously empty today. The Redarms normally have the field at this hour.
And I know immediately that something is wrong. Obviously, they have better things to do than practice today.
I can feel a flash of magic from the direction of my father's study, and after a brief pause, there is another. Maeve would not have revealed herself unless it was an actual emergency. My husband and I exchange a brief glance, and we begin to run, startling servants as we pass. We do not pass any guards as we go, red-sleeved or otherwise, and all I can think is that something horrible must be happening.
When we finally get to my father's study, there is no one present outside and the door is ajar. Waltz enters first holding his magic, and I follow him inside. And I see blood on the carpet. On the floor in front of the desk is a white statue with a stone sword sticking in it, Sir Willard is sprawled on the floor with Maeve kneeling beside him, holding a bloody cloth against his scalp. She turns around to see the two of us. "Thank the gods," she says, and launches immediately into an explanation before I can ask her for one. "Willard was presenting evidence to the king, and Alcaster came in with some of his men. They overpowered Willard before I could get out of the pouch to see well enough to aim. By that time, Alcaster had taken Willard's sword and thrust it through your father. I made a flash of light bright enough that they knew that there was a witch present and they ran out the door. I turned the king into stone without removing the sword to keep him from bleeding to death…he is still alive, but you will have to break the curse keeping him that way before anything else can be done."
"Runia," my husband says, closing the doors behind us. "She's the only one that might be able to keep him that way."
I nod, opening a portal into the Witch Doctor's living room. I step through, and find her at her breakfast table, eating. "Runia, it's my father. There's been an assassination attempt."
The old witch puts her silverware down, grabs a large leather bag, and follows me through my portal without another word. Once we are back through, Sir Willard is starting to stir and Maeve is warning him to stay still. Runia spares him a quick glance before her eyes come to rest on my father. "You did not take the sword out of him, you kept him static. Thank the gods that you have a brain, child!"
"That…was actually me," Maeve admits.
"My point stands. Compared to me, you are all children," Runia says, levitating the statue form of my father to on top of his desk as I gather what I am sure is very important paperwork away into a single pile that I remove to a side table. She reaches into her bag, and starts pulling out items and sorting them. "I'm so old, I sometimes wonder why I am not dead yet."
"Is there anything else you need?" I ask Runia.
"A set of skilled hands," she grumbles. "Someone will have to hold arteries together while I repair them once you dismiss the curse."
I nod, make another portal to the Marchen and collect Chevalier in the same fashion that I collected Runia. When he stumbles through he freezes for a moment. "You!" he yells, looking at the old witch.
Runia looks up at him. "Yes, it's me boy. You'll do. We have to work quickly; the king cannot afford to lose much more blood. There's too much already on the carpet."
Chevalier's eyes fall to the carpet, and he grimaces before quickly rolling up his sleeves. While he does this, having finished with her other preparations, Runia spares a glance and a trickle of magic for Sir Willard who stops bleeding immediately and he sits up.
"Princess, I'm so sorry," Sir Willard begins as Maeve assists him to his feet. "Alcaster interrupted. He…he intends to frame you and I for your father's murder!"
"That will be difficult if my father lives," I say softly.
"I will warn you Bearer," Runia cautions me. "His survival is not guaranteed. Nothing in medicine ever is. Even if he does live, he is likely to be weak for some time."
"You will do your best?" I half ask, half state.
The old witch nods. "For you Bearer, yes. I have no love for a man that allows our kind to be even passively persecuted, when we fought the corrupted witches just as much as the fairies. However, you do…and I will not subject you to the grief so many of us suffered during the Witch Hunt and the Great War if it can be avoided."
"Thank you," I tell her.
"I'm sorry, Lucette," I hear coming from the statue. I move over, to beside my father's head. Of course…it's just like when I cursed Myth. He can still see, hear, and speak even though he cannot move his lips. "I…should have seen this coming. I should have heeded the warning signs. They were all there."
"Never mind that now. I need you to live, Father," I tell him. "Even if you cannot hang on…I still love you."
"I love you Lucette, and…I am a fool," he replies.
"Admitting to being a fool is the wisest thing anyone can say, but we need to get to work," Runia tells us. "Bearer, I will tell you when I want you to dispel the curse. After which, you will leave. Some of the fumes of the medications I will be using will not be good for your child, and I suspect you will be wanting to deal with the assassin if he can still be caught before doing any more damage. The doctor and I will be working in here. Leave Maeve outside the door and take the human and your husband with you as well. We will have Maeve find you if there are any changes, good or bad."
"Of course," I say, almost glad for an excuse to leave this bloody room. It smells of copper in here…and I know that it is my father's blood that I smell. I want to know immediately if my father lives or dies…but I am not sure that I could watch the surgery to remove the sword, either. As I look around, I note that Sir Willard has no sword, and pick up my father's out of the corner. "He will not mind if you are using it," I say, and the knight looks at it a moment before he nods, and slips it into his own scabbard. Fortunately, it fits.
The witch doctor rolls up her own sleeves, and coats her hands and arms with something from one of her bottles, and it turns into something like a pale blue second skin that dries over the surface of her hands. Chevalier does the same at her instruction. "Now, Bearer," the old witch commands, and I do not delay. The colors return to my vision, and I immediately dismiss my father's curse. He turns from stone to flesh immediately before Runia puts a rag soaked on one of her other potions in front of his nose. His tension releases immediately as his eyes close and he becomes unconscious. "Go away," Runia tells us, and we all file out of the door leaving her and Chevalier to work.
No sooner do we get out the door and into the hallway, then a frantic butler nearly runs into my husband before he can stop. "Your Highnesses, is the His Majesty in his study? He needs to know immediately!"
"Alcaster attempted to kill my father," I tell the butler, who now turns white. The man was so distressed he had forgotten to bow…for a butler to have forgotten that, something else must be seriously wrong as well. "The king is undergoing medical treatment to save his life at this very moment, and they are not to be disturbed."
"Alcaster…he…." I am not sure if the butler is shocked, or simply out of breath. The man gulps more air before he can continue. "The Redarms…most of them left the palace less than a half hour ago, and they had patrol duty within the palace this morning. I saw some of the Redarms myself forcibly pick up Her Majesty and carry her off. They gagged me, stuffed me in a closet, and locked the door. I banged as loud as I could, and one of the maids just let me out! I came as fast as I could, but there were no other soldiers to notify on my way here!"
I am very still for a moment. Alcaster planned this for when his men were supposed to be both patrolling the inside of the palace rather than its gates and the city walls, and those not assigned either duty were to be on the field practicing. That way, the loyal knights and guards would not be within earshot. The loyal men at the gate might have decided that the Redarms leaving were merely going to replace the men in their duties in the city itself. But Alcaster himself, as well as any hostages, left through the secret passages instead. "He has turned traitor, and is holding the queen hostage," is what I say. What I know is that he is attempting to frame me for my father's death, and convince the nation that he is 'saving' the queen…and perhaps one or even both of my stepsiblings…that he intends to plant as puppet rulers if he can turn my nation against me.
Alcaster is planning a civil war. And since Sir Willard was going to expose him today, he picked his last possible chance at it. I could sing…and I could weep. I have more time, more danger to deal with…but my family….
Still, no one must fall for his ploy. "Sir Willard, you need to marshal the knights loyal to the king. Alcaster needs to be followed, the nearby lords and towns warned about his treachery before he can get to them, and the queen must be rescued. I also need to know if Rod or Emelaigne were taken as well. Until you hear differently, consider yourself in charge of military matters." And I know that he must have either Emelaigne or Rod, perhaps even both. He needs them perhaps even more than he needs Ophelia who would not be able to legally rule Angielle except as regent for one of her children, who would be legal heirs to the throne should I be 'disqualified.' Which one has he taken…which one do I think might be able to cope best with capture…which would be most likely to escape?
Sir Willard nods at my words, but under the circumstances he shows no outward satisfaction at his sudden promotion. "The guards at the city gates should be able to give us a general direction, if only of what way the Redarms went. As many men as he has with him…he should not be that hard to follow. It's what happens when we catch him that I worry over. I doubt he will turn over his hostages if we simply ask nicely."
"Ready your men to ride to follow them, and send riders to the gates immediately just in case Alcaster has not gotten through yet," I tell him. It only takes a few minutes to leave the palace through the secret passages when running, even with a burden. Alcaster and my stepmother were probably out of the palace when I entered the study. If I were I him, I would hide Ophelia, perhaps gagged and rolled up in a rug on a wagon, and make for the nearest gate. The chances of catching them before they leave the city are minuscule, but it must be attempted anyway. Considering that it sounds like the kidnapping occurred before the attack on my father, Ophelia might be nearly out of the city gates right now. She and Alcaster might not even be in the same party. If I were I him, I would travel separately from each of the hostages until out of the city. That way, even if one of the hostages were found, they would not be found with him lessening his chance of immediate arrest. "Once my father's status is known, I will send Maeve with you. I can use a spell to locate her, and send you additional troops and supplies. Waltz can take a courier and use portals to get to military establishments, towns, and lords with resources Alcaster needs so they can be warned against him." And Alcaster will have no place to spend the coin he has earned illegally; he had meant that coin to finance his rebellion if he failed to corrupt me.
"I don't like leaving you alone," my husband tells me.
"This is necessary," I tell him. "Just don't die on me, Darling."
"I wouldn't dare," my husband tells me. "I know that you will never let me hear the end of it if I did."
In spite of the situation, I have to smile at him. "You understand me so well."
Sir Willard looks confused at this exchange. "Never underestimate my wife," Waltz tells the knight. "She has no appreciation for the word 'impossible.'"
The knight shakes his head. "I'd be a fool if I did. I can only hope Alcaster faces the full price for doing so."
I turn back to the butler. "I am going to the scribal chambers. Have the servants look for Emelaigne and Rod. If you can find them, send them to me there. If they were seen taken as well…I need to know that, too. You may tell the other servants that the queen has been kidnapped, and that we need to find the status of the prince and princess immediately."
The butler bows, and after a quick, "Yes, Your Highness," runs off once more.
Sir Willard also leaves to go about his tasks, and Maeve remains at the door to my father's study while Waltz and I continue to the scribal chambers. I do not run as I must appear composed for everyone's sake, and long before I reach my destination servants appear to be flying around me as they search for my siblings.
I enter the large, well-lit chamber where scribes and administrators without rank enough to warrant their own offices work, and as Waltz and I enter a young man sees us and cries, "Attend their Highnesses." Pens are returned to their inkwells and chairs scrap the floor as the clerks rise to their feet to bow or curtsey to us.
I nod in acknowledgement, but I do not release them to their ease to return to work immediately. A few of the more experienced clerks begin to look in askance at this, and I address the entire room. "There has been at attempt on my father's life by Sir Alcaster," I say, and my words are greeted with gasping. "The king lives at this time, and is undergoing medical treatment. Alcaster was startled and unable to finish his task due to the efforts of one of my servants. However, Alcaster did escape her grasp due to her efforts to stabilize the king and save his life. It is known that the traitor kidnapped the queen before he left the palace. There will need to be notices circulated of Alcaster's treachery. I will dictate it as soon as I know if my siblings were taken as well, or not. Additional notices will be sent tomorrow concerning the king's status if he survives the night and is expected to recover, or the lack thereof. Please prepare for this task."
The now rattled clerks return to their seats, and begin putting their old work aside as they ready new parchments for this task. The head of the couriers comes to me immediately, and seems almost excited in spite of the circumstances when I tell him that he will have my husband's help to deliver notices to far off places before the traitor can reach them. Waltz further explains his own abilities and limitations, such as how far he can travel each time and how long he must rest before making another portal. The courier is still excited at the prospect, and believes that even taking Waltz's limitations into account, this message will be spread faster than any message has ever before.
I can only count this as a good thing. If people receive my message, the truth, first…they will be abler to see Alcaster's lies for what they are. I can only assume he plans to tell everyone that I killed my father, that he 'rescued' the queen and perhaps my sibling from me, and that I must be destroyed for my treason just as my mother needed to be destroyed years ago.
A few maids appear outside the door, and one of them pushes the other through only daring to peek around the doorway herself. The news is not good. The maid that had been shoved is trembling as she curtsies to me, and she glances up at my husband as if to reassure herself that he is there. I guess like some others, she considers Waltz the only one capable of calming me if I were to lose my temper, and protect her from its effects. This is more common with the staff that have experience in both serving me before my magic manifested as well as serving my mother, even though I have never harmed anyone. "Your Highness…I regret to inform you that Princess Emelaigne was taken as well."
Emelaigne…he might have thought her easier to bend to his wishes…thought that threatening her might make Ophelia more compliant if it came down to it. I close my eyes for a moment, but when I open them, the trembling maid is still before me. "And my brother?"
"I…I do not know, Your Highness," she answers.
"I need to know about him as well, the moment anyone finds anything," I say.
The maid drops another curtsy, so deep she nearly has her face on the floor. "Yes, Your Highness," she says before scurrying out of the room in obvious relief.
In only a few minutes, the head scribe asks me, "Are you ready to dictate, Your Highness?"
I nod when I see a familiar and welcome face appear in the doorway, and as I open my mouth to begin, Rod is practically thrust into the room by a frantic butler. "Lucette, what in the name of Chaos…?" Rod tries to say, but then I begin to dictate the notice. It will not be any easier for him to find out this way than if I take him aside and tell him quietly. The wound will still be just as deep.
"I, Princess Lucette Riella Briton, as the Crown Princess of Angielle, do hereby announce that Sir Alcaster Leverton, once Head of the Order of Caldira, has carried out an attempt to assassinate my father King Genaro Britton III. The king is undergoing medical treatment, and is considered to be in a serious state at this time," I start, and Rod's eyes grow large. "Alcaster has left the palace with traitors from among the knights that call themselves 'Redarms,' holding Queen Ophelia Widdensov and Princess Emelaigne Widdensov hostage." My brother is now pale, even as he stares at me, as if begging me to tell him that this is not so. "Any man or woman, regardless of rank or station, that freely and knowingly gives the traitors any aid…or even sells them so much as a stick of bread…for anything less than the safe return of the queen or the princess, shall be considered complicit in their treason and the appropriate penalties under the law will be applied to them. Anyone that is currently following Alcaster will receive a full pardon in exchange for the safe return of the queen or the princess, as well as land and title."
I do not think that this will necessarily stop them from replenishing their supplies, but they will have to steal rather than pay for them. The sentence for supplying an army of traitors rebelling against the Crown is five to ten years in prison, with at least two years of labor after that. If the perpetrator holds title or office, those honors are forfeit. If they steal from the populace of Angielle to feed themselves, it will be easier for everyone to believe that they are traitors if they brand themselves as thieves, and Alcaster will not deprive his men of food so theft thus the brand of 'traitor' is inevitable.
I have to guess that this is why he stooped to illegal means to get coin. If he paid for his army's supplies, they would not be seen as thieves, and the populace would be more likely to support him. And with the stroke of a pen, I have taken this advantage away from him. Myth would not have made that mistake, and I can only assume that the whole civil war plan was Alcaster's doing alone. It would be easy to think that perhaps it had always been Alcaster's plan, but then Myth had convinced him that a coup would be better instead.
As for the offer of pardon, land, and title…I do not know if this will motivate any of Alcaster's men to betray him or not, as I am unsure if he will allow them to see this notice once he finds it. However, the offer must be available and published just in case there is any chance of it working. At the very least, his foraging parties will find it if the local lords ask for the queen or princess in exchange for supplies and show them the announcement. I stopped short of promising Emelaigne's hand in marriage to her rescuer, as that would still be my father's prerogative so long as he lives no matter his condition…not to mention the fact that she is still smitten with Fritz. However, I would be able to grant land, title, and pardon on my own initiative so long as my father remains in a weakened state. Until my father is able to rise out of bed under his own power at the very least, it is my responsibility to rule for him.
There is frantic scribbling as the clerks take my message down in shorthand, voices as they compare the dictation with what everyone else has written to ensure the words are correct, and then more careful work as they begin to craft my message into official notices. I turn around and walk over to where my brother still stands, gaping at me. "I'm so sorry Rod. We are going to try to recover them," I tell him softly enough that my words will not carry further than a few feet.
"Will you swear it?" he asks me, wanting my promise that he knows that I cannot fail to honor.
"That we will try? Yes. As to success…I know that they were taken alive," I tell him. "I cannot give a promise of success when I do not know if they remain that way even now. And until I know if my father lives or dies at the very least, I must remain in the palace myself and refrain from putting myself in any danger that promise could imply…or do you have a burning desire to be king? If both Father and I die or go missing, and with Emelaigne also gone, you would be next in line…and that is assuming that I would be willing to risk myself when I am carrying a child in the first place."
He opens his mouth and then closes it again, his cheeks pink. He knows that I cannot risk myself, risk my child, and is embarrassed for having asked it of me. Rod just spoke before thinking things through. He knows that if things go badly, I could find myself the acting queen within the next few hours. "What are the chances of his survival?" he asks eager to cover his mistake, as well as because he needs to know if he will lose his second father in addition to his first.
"They are as good as I can make them," I tell him, and Rod frowns, taking my meaning. Some things are simply out of my hands.
"I will need to leave, probably in less than a few hours, to help as I can," Waltz tells Rod. We need preliminary reports of which way Alcaster is headed before we know where Waltz should be sent first. "Please watch your sister for me."
Rod looks startled. "But…but I can't use magic, a sword, or even a dagger. I don't know how I could possibly help in the least!"
"You have eyes she can trust," Waltz tells him. "Just watch her back, and call her attention to anyone else trying to kill her. She is capable of doing the rest."
Rod nods slowly, and I am grateful to my husband. If Rod has a task, he will be better able to cope while we wait for news. And it will not hurt to have him on the lookout, either. It will make Waltz feel a little better about leaving me if he knows that someone he can trust is watching out for me…though I may have to get Jurien from the Marchen to pull night duty, as I will now have to sleep in the palace. I will have to have her banishment from the palace revoked immediately.
"My pardon, Princess," I hear from behind me, and I turn to see Sir Decimond coming from the other side of the room with Tuttle standing behind him, his eyes still alert even while the 'clerk' fades into the background. "First, my condolences for the conditions of your father, stepmother, and stepsister. My wife will be beside herself for Princess Emelaigne's kidnapping alone. Is the king expected to survive?"
"I summoned the Witch Doctor to treat him," I tell my father's political advisor. Well, I guess that he is my political advisor right now. "She gave me no definite answer. She expects him to be weak for some time if he does survive."
Sir Decimond nods. "Please excuse me for asking, Princess, but what price did she demand? I am sure that any boon she might ask would be well worth His Majesty's life, but if there are any arrangements I need to make…?"
"The only thing Runia has stated or implied that she wishes," I tell him, "is the charge of the patient within her care, as far as medical matters are concerned, until he is recovered enough that he no longer needs her attention." And I can just see that old witch ordering the king of Angielle to bed if she thinks that he is overexerting himself, and enjoying every second of it. I hope that he will live in order for her to be able to do so. And I need to ask the other Bearers if they have a budding Healer that needs a master to apprentice under, but the political advisor has nothing to do with that.
"That…is not something I find disagreeable," Sir Decimond admits, "but it will be important to show others, at least some others in authority, that the king still lives if she is able to save his life."
"I am aware of that," I admit. "Do you have any further suggestions in the meanwhile?"
He smiles at me. "When you have responded to this emergency in a perfect manner, Your Highness? I can think of nothing that you do not currently have in the works. Is there anything else you may need on my end?"
"Rescind the order that banishes Jurien Valiente and Garlan Belrott from the palace, and restore them to full privileges and rank as members of the Order of Caldira," I tell him. "They were put away over a year ago for bringing suspicions of Alcaster's wrongdoing to my father's attention. It was unfortunate that he chose not to believe them at that time…but obviously, they have been vindicated."
"Of course, Princess," Sir Decimond responds, and Tuttle comes next with an offering for my attention.
"My sympathies and apologies, Your Highness," Tuttle says as he holds out a lap-desk with two parchments. "With His Majesty unable to sign…you are the only choice to review and choose one of these documents for circulation."
"You have nothing to apologize for," I tell him, as I turn my attention to his offering. "You always do your duty perfectly." It goes unsaid, but the look I give him says that it is not his fault that my father did not heed his advice.
He places the lap-desk on a nearby table, and I turn to read the papers upon it, noting that the ink is quite dry. Tuttle has had these parchments, this choice, prepared for some time. Both documents strip Alcaster of his rank and command, but the first is a warrant for his arrest while the second specifically states that Alcaster may be taken either alive or dead. It is essentially a death warrant with just enough wiggle room for Alcaster to know he might live if he surrenders his hostages. Under the circumstances…I find that I have no other choice.
I sign the second warrant, the pen nearly slashing the parchment as I apply my name. My arms and hands feel heavy, still remembering the weight of Fritz's sword, and the resistance I felt going through Alcaster's neck with it. After all, I have killed the man before. Perhaps I will again.
….
