--Chapter 12: Evidence--
Peridan was waiting with Lord Irwin when we arrived. The Lord Chancellor of Galma looked distraught, his face about as pale as a Calormene's face could get. I shrugged off the uncomfortable feeling that passed over me as I watched his expression. Either he was innocent—or he was an extremely talented actor. As I studied the way he moved, I decided upon the latter. The way he moved was so smooth and deliberate, as if every one of his motions was planned exactly. Peridan stepped forward.
"Sire. My men searched Lord Irwin's apartments as requested and discovered nothing. We found Lord Irwin in the stables, speaking with the stable boy from Galma. It is conceivable that he was planning his escape, for the stable boy confessed that the Lord Chancellor ordered a horse for tomorrow."
Lord Irwin blanched. I tried, unsuccessfully, not to smile grimly. Peridan was thorough, and his relating of his investigation had obviously stuck a chord.
"Planning your escape, were you, my lord?" Peter asked, almost absentmindedly.
"Escape, King Peter?" Lord Irwin asked, trying to sound confused, and actually sounding most convincing. "Escape from what? If I have done wrong, I know nothing about it."
"We have suspected you guilty for the two poisonings that have taken place in the castle of Cair Paravel—one that took place in the kitchen concerning the cook's nephew, and the other in the ball room, whence our Royal Brother fell foul of a poisoned cup."
Peter said all this very steadily, not a tremor of emotion in his voice. He was so good at being my worried older brother one moment, and then being the emotionless, firm High King the next. It was almost maddening how well he played his role.
Lord Irwin caught his breath when Peter finished his speech, but then seemed to relax as he said:
"What proof is there against me, my Lord?"
Peter looked at me. I flinched. I had expected Peridan to return with at least some proof from the Lord Chancellor's chambers, but nothing had been found. Now all I could use in accusation was the sentence he had spoken when I had awakened in the ballroom, and now, that looked rather silly. Really, it wasn't enough evidence to charge a man with murder. Evidence. I needed evidence. Peter, Peridan, and Lord Irwin all watched me expectantly as I thought.
At that moment, Darm appeared at my elbow, silent as a cat—as usual. I jumped half a foot in alarm —as usual.
"King Edmund," he whispered, pressing a vial into my hands. "Take this. It's evidence."
"Evidence?" I stared down at the vial with what must have been a quizzical expression flashing across my face. I knew very well that Darm couldn't read minds, but this was impossibly good luck!
Darm nodded, jerking his head over his shoulder.
"Against the Lord Chancellor. You know how Lord Peridan had Lord Irwin's chambers searched? Well, the poison—the Adder's Blood—," he pointed at the vial in my hands, which I nearly dropped in surprise and horror, "—wasn't there. But it was in the saddlebags that he was delivering to Reth, the Galmian stable boy. We searched the stables after Lord Peridan brought Irwin here and discovered the vial."
"Thanks," I whispered to Darm, and then turned to Peter, Peridan, and Lord Irwin, holding up the vial proudly. "What do you say to this, Lord Chancellor?"
Lord Irwin stared at the bottle with his jaw clenched. His nostrils flared, as if he was trying desperately to control some emotion.
"What…what is it?" he asked.
I uncorked the vial and smelled it carefully, just to be sure. As I had expected, a strong, spicy aroma, similar to nutmeg, except far stronger, filled my nostrils—the telling odor of the deadly Calormene poison. The only thing that vial could have contained was Adder's Blood.
"Tis the poison."
Irwin blanched again and stood very still, like a cat who is about to pounce—or rather a mouse about to be pounced upon. I smiled inwardly. We had caught our man.
"Where was this poison found?" Peter asked, though I was almost certain he had overheard Darm.
"Twas in the saddle bags that Lord Irwin gave to Reth, the stable boy with the Galmian party," I nodded at the young man who had accompanied Darm to the throne room. I had never seen him before this moment, though there was something about him that reminded me of someone else.
"Your Majesty, I protest." Lord Irwin seemed suddenly to awaken, as if from a dream. "I am not at fault for this crime…I was nowhere near King Edmund when he collapsed at the feast. By then, I was near the other side of the room, having gone to refill my empty glass of wine."
"Empty because you had secretly exchanged glasses with Edmund, replacing my nearly empty goblet with one that contained the Adder's Blood," Peter replied steadily.
"But my lord," Irwin protested, "I drank from my own goblet before the ballad was sung!"
"Did anyone witness you drinking from the cup?" I asked.
Irwin faltered, and his face grew more like a mask.
"Surely someone, highness."
I sighed and gave Peter a shrug. There was no real way to prove that he hadn't drunk from his cup before exchanging with me; but that wasn't the only argument we could use against him.
"Reth, please advance to our throne."
The stable boy stepped slowly forward until he stood in the light. His black hair gleamed as he bowed low, and then he stood straight again.
"Lord Irwin, the Lord Chancellor of Galma, approached you in the stables with the request of a horse for tomorrow?"
The young man nodded.
"Aye, sire. He wanted me to saddle his stallion and put these saddle bags," Reth held up two leather bags, "on the horse's back as well."
"And this poison," I added, holding up the vial of Adder's Blood, "was found in those very saddle bags?"
"Aye, sire," Reth replied after hesitating for the briefest of seconds. "I assume he wanted to be gone with any evidence before this whole plot could be discovered."
Before I could ask what plot he was talking about, other than killing Peter and perhaps the rest of us, the door slammed open and I heard the angry voice of King Gavin as he shouted at the guards.
"What is this? A secret council concerning one of my own men? I'm to be notified if trouble comes up! Why was I not notified? King Peter?! What is the meaning of this?
I groaned, and Peter gave me a look. I shrugged and looked away, as my brother called out, "Guards! Let King Gavin pass. His presence might be helpful in this instance."
In a few more moments, King Gavin strode forward into the throne room. He stopped before Peter's throne, a look of barely veiled anger on his heavy features.
"Why was I not notified of my Lord Chancellor's arrest?"
Peter gave me an 'I told you so' look and then stood, bowing slowly to the Galmian King.
"My most profound apologies, sir. I did not think you desired to be involved. This is Narnia's problem, concerning this murderer, yet it also concerns one of your lords. Please, stay and do as you see fit, King Gavin."
Gavin seemed taken aback at this cordial reply to his hotheaded entry. Peter usually had that effect on other Kings and ambassadors and that sort. Mollified for the moment, King Gavin bowed in return and sat down in the chair that the stable boy had found for him.
"Lord Irwin," Peter continued smoothly, as if there had been no interruption at all, "have you any explanation for this meeting with the stable boy? What was your errand on the morrow to be?"
Irwin paused as he contemplated the matter. I could see sweat glistening on his brow; both his hands were clenched by his side.
"I was to ride to the town of Beaversdam, Excellency. We in Galma have our own great waterfall, the Cliffspur, outside of Glennith, and I was eager to look upon the Narnian falls to see how they compared."
Peter gave me a sidelong glance, and I shook my head.
"King Gavin," said I after a pause, "did you order or give your Lord Chancellor leave to visit the Waterfalls of Beaversdam?"
Gavin stared at Irwin for a long moment, and their eyes met: Irwin's almost pleading, and Gavin's hard and condemning, almost.
"I gave no such order or permission."
Lord Irwin let out a sort of muffled moan and fell to his knees before his king.
"My lord, that is not so! You were the very one who suggested the thing. To see the waterfalls so that we in Galma may know that none exceed the Cliffspur in beauty and power. Those were your very words!"
Peter and I both watched Gavin with a quizzical look, but he met my gaze with a calm, somewhat fierce gaze, and shook his head.
"It is obvious that you were right in your accusation. I came originally on my daughter, Iliea's part."
"Iliea? What has she to say?" Peter asked suddenly.
Gavin half smiled.
"She wishes to suggest that someone may have switched glasses with King Edmund at the ball—someone who was seated next to him. Lord Irwin had the perfect opportunity, my daughter says, because after the good king left before the ballad, Lord Ther approached her, and her attention was drawn away from King Edmund's seat and goblet for almost a full minute."
"But I was distracted as well, during that time!" Lord Irwin replied desperately, an almost mad gleam entering his dark eyes. "You came and spoke with me, my lord. Do you not recall?"
King Gavin shrugged and nodded.
"So I did. But when I arrived, my daughter and Lord Ther were well into their conversation. You would have had plenty of time to exchange goblets, my lord."
"Enough."
Peter stood, an impatient look in his dark blue eyes.
"We will reassemble tomorrow or the next day for further talk when we are better prepared. Lord Irwin: there is much evidence against you and none for. You would be wise to consider pleading guilty, for then mercy might be given. You will be taken to one of our safe rooms, which you will doubtless find quite satisfactory, even given the knowledge that you shall be kept as a prisoner until a verdict can be reached. Peridan, please see to all the necessary arrangements. Dismissed."
Peter began walking toward the back of the throne room, almost as if he was in a hurry. I followed after quickly thanking Reth and Peridan for their help. I fell in step with him after I caught up, and asked, "What's wrong with you? We had him caught! He was this close—," I held up my fingers to illustrate. "And then you dismissed everyone. Why? Don't you want justice to be done and the murderer to be caught at last?"
Peter turned on me and caught my arm, a brooding frown on his face.
"Something about this isn't right, Edmund. There's something that doesn't fit. I'm not sure what it is, but it's there. I can't help but still feel that Irwin isn't guilty. He seemed so stricken at seeing the poison…" his voice trailed off and a faraway look entered his eyes. "It's too sudden to justify any actions fairly. Give him time for the shock to wear off, and then we'll see."
I sighed impatiently and turned away, beginning the walk back to my chambers without another word to Peter. What was it with him and me this summer? It was backwards: me wanting it to happen quickly, and him willing to wait—wanting to wait. The rest of our lives it had always been the other way round.
Maybe, I thought as I walked, he has been poisoned, and it's deteriorating his judgment and ability to lead…
…and maybe he's just maturing at last. While I'm…un-maturing. Is that even a word?
As I entered my chambers, I halted in surprise. And shock. And utter dread.
My room had been utterly destroyed.
TBC.......