“No, it’s a warning. You will get safely out of Nodlon, but it’s a long way from here to the south coast. If anything happened to you, you’d very easily become the scapegoat for yesterday’s events.”
I felt a slow chill that had nothing to do with temperature. History showed that Drake was a hands-on king not afraid to get a little bloody. I’d hate to fight him with two good hands, let alone just one. “That would get Jennifer off the hook.”
“But it doesn’t expose the real killer. If we don’t do that, he’ll strike again. And I won’t be able to sleep thinking his next target might be Jennifer.”
“Or you.”
“Or me. And that would be the worst thing, not for me, but for this country. The peace and unity we’ve created depends on my being invincible. I’m not, of course, but I can’t let that get out.” He said this last with a wry little smile.
I sipped my drink more carefully this time. So the great King Marcus Drake wanted my help and expected it simply because it served this sparkly dream of Grand Bruan. Just as Bob Kay had done a few minutes ago, and as I knew Iris Gladstone would if I saw her again. Before I even realized I’d formed the words, I said, “I get twenty-five gold pieces a day, plus expenses.”
“That’s all?” he asked, genuinely surprised.
Yeah, that’s all, I thought sardonically. That’s the price of my clear conscience. “There’s not much money in this business if you’re honest.”
Marcus smiled a little. “Then you must be the most honest man around.”
I didn’t laugh. “I’ll need something with your seal on it so this Spears will know I’m legit. And a good horse.” I recalled the recalcitrant, mule-stubborn one that had brought me here from Lady Astamore’s and would be glad to never see it again.
“All taken care of.” He produced a folded parchment, sealed with embossed wax. “Give this to Elliot. Show the seal to anyone who questions you. Bob’s already arranging the horse. There are messenger stations all along the route where you can change mounts.”
“Awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you? Good thing I said yes, or you’d have looked pretty silly.” I pocketed the items. “Normally I get half my fee in advance.”
He put one hand on my shoulder. The weight, both physical and moral, was considerable. “I don’t pretend to believe you’re doing this just for the money, Mr. LaCrosse. I’ve been lucky enough to encounter more decent men than not in my life. I’m glad you’ve continued that trend.” He paused. “And you’ll find your entire fee with Bob.”
I didn’t laugh in his face, but the urge was pretty damn strong. Instead I said, “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What if you go to all this trouble and Spears loses?”
“Only someone from off this island would ever ask that. Thank you again, Mr. LaCrosse.”
“Wait,” I said suddenly. “Since you’re getting my services so cheaply, I want you to throw in a favor.”
“What?”
“Ten minutes alone with the queen.”
He blinked, and his expression subtly grew harder. I’d seen that same look on the faces of many irate husbands; it was nice to know that he was, deep down, so typical. “Why?” he asked with frightening calm.
“Use your imagination.”
“That’s not funny.”
“And I’m not joking. I’ve spent the last two days investigating a murder an awful lot of people believe the queen committed. I’d like some resolution just for my own sake.”
“She won’t come.”
“She will if you tell her to.”
“And I’d pay for it for the next three weeks.”
I wasn’t sympathetic. “Crowns are heavy, aren’t they?”
He thought for a moment. “All right, I’ll send her. But she won’t be pleasant.”
Neither, I thought, will I. But I kept that to myself.
TWELVE
I poured two drinks and had just stoppered the decanter when the secret passage opened again and Queen Jennifer Drake emerged. She started to close it behind her, but I said, “Leave it open. That way I’ll know no one’s on the other side listening.”
She stared at me with a mix of surprise and contempt. She looked soft and feminine in her casual finery, but the fire in her eyes was as sharp as ever. “I am yours for ten minutes, Mr. LaCrosse. Don’t waste it being clever.”
“Occupational hazard,” I said, and offered her a drink. She looked at it and back at me, making no move to take it. I shrugged, put hers back on the bar, and sipped mine. “I overheard you and your serving girl Rebecca in the courtyard last night.”
The reaction was so minuscule I almost missed it. “I was in a courtyard?” she asked coolly.
I nodded. “And you were… underdressed.”
She looked back at the open passage, then took a casual step toward me. Most men would’ve thought nothing about the movement. I said, “That’s close enough. Anyone can be dangerous if they get within arm’s reach.”
“I merely wanted the drink you offered.”
I mock-bowed and handed it to her. She turned it up and drank half of it. It got no more reaction than my revelation.
“So were you skulking about in the shadows last night?” she said. “That’s what your kind does best, isn’t it?”
“It was entirely an accident, believe it or not. But it did leave me with the nagging question of why a queen would let her lowly attendant rip her a new one that way.”
Jennifer smiled slightly. “You turn a colorful phrase, Mr. LaCrosse. You didn’t ask why I chose to be naked.”
“Didn’t have to. I’ve met moon worshippers before.”
This time a red flush crept up her face. It could’ve been a delayed effect of her drink, of course.
“And,” I continued, “I’ve met queens. But never one so demure to a lesser mortal.”
“Will you accept,” she said after a moment, “that both my presence in the courtyard and the conversation with Rebecca have nothing to do with the murder of Sam Patrice? And therefore are no concern of yours?”
I shook my head. “You’ve forfeited your right to be taken at your word, Your Majesty.”
I’d basically called her a liar to her face, but she showed no reaction at all. At last she said, “What did Marc say?”
“You know I haven’t told him.”
“And why is that? I’d think the opportunity to bring down a queen would be too strong to resist.”
“Oh, I’m good at resisting. Besides, you’re not my queen, so I really don’t have a knight in this joust. I just want to know why you let Rebecca talk to you that way.”
“And how will that help solve this crime?”
“I won’t know until I get an answer.”
She chuckled without humor. “Very well. In all ways I am her superior, except in matters seen under the moon. Last night she came to me in that role, and in that role she had the right to speak to me as she did.”
That made sense based on what I knew about moon priestesses. Their rank had nothing to do with age or their station in life, so a lady-in-waiting could have seniority over a queen. “Are you in league with your husband’s sister? She’s a moon priestess, too, I hear.”
“Hardly. Megan Drake is a single-minded creature bent on revenge for a wrong committed against her mother by Marc’s father. For that reason, she’s been banned from the island. And for that reason, so has worship of the moon.”
She took another drink, and anger fueled her words. “Oh, it still occurs; it always will. But it’s furtive now, hidden, disreputable. If the great King Marcus hates it, it must be a bad thing. That’s how the common thought goes.” She looked at me. “Can you imagine his reaction if he found out his own queen, his own wife, took part in it behind his back? That one day she would become a priestess able to lead rituals?”
“Is that what Rebecca meant when she said you were ‘so close’?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know, Marc seems a pretty levelheaded guy. He might support it. And even if he didn’t, you are the queen.”
“Make no mistake, Mr. LaCrosse. In Grand Bruan, Marc is the jewel; I am merely the setting. I can be replaced.”