Dunn wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. ‘Indeed, you said there was no plague, only poison, sir,’ he muttered. ‘The guards on the city gates have been told, as you ordered, and all of us have removed our masks.’
Unhappily he fingered the red cloth around his neck. ‘But Zon and Delta are dead, sir, just like Airlie and Wax, the men who were at the entrance door last night. And none of them were poisoned, I will take my oath on it.’
He met Barda’s furious eyes, and glanced away quickly.
‘You left the strictest orders, sir, that no guard was to accept food or drink while on duty, for in the past guards have been given sleeping potions by enemies,’ he mumbled. ‘Zon and Delta were not the sort to disobey, and neither were Airlie and Wax. ‘
‘Nevertheless, somehow they all took poison,’ Barda said firmly. ‘Get that into your head, and make certain that the other men do the same.’
Dunn’s ears were very red. Plainly he thought Barda was wrong. He blinked rapidly, but said nothing.
Barda hesitated, then turned to Lief. ‘It is true, however,’ he said, looking directly into Lief’s eyes, ‘that those men were good soldiers. They would not have disobeyed my instruction unless … they had very good reason.’
Lief understood what Barda was telling him. He understood only too well. But the thought was hateful to him. His mind did not want to accept it.
Dunn was shifting from foot to foot.
‘Can I go now, sir?’ he asked nervously. ‘The men watching over Zon and Delta will be growing impatient, waiting for me.’
‘Be off, then,’ Barda sighed. ‘But Dunn, try to remember that you are my deputy now. Be considerate by all means, but do not fear the men’s displeasure or they will not respect you.’
Dunn ducked his head and hurried towards the door, pulling out a large white handkerchief to mop his brow.
‘He will have to be replaced,’ Barda muttered under his breath. ‘He is far too anxious to be liked to make a good leader of the guards.’
But Lief was not listening. He had darted forward and picked up something that had fallen from Dunn’s pocket when the man pulled out his handkerchief.
It was a folded yellow paper. Lief unfolded it and his stomach turned over.
‘Dunn!’ he shouted. ‘Where did you get this?’
9 - The Yellow Notice
Dunn stiffened and turned reluctantly. When he saw the yellow paper in Lief’s hand, his own hand flew guiltily to his pocket and his blue eyes widened.
‘Th—There was a whole pile of them on the table in our eating quarters this morning,’ he stammered. ‘I did not think there was any harm in taking one.’
‘There was no harm in taking one,’ Lief said, making a tremendous effort to keep his voice level. ‘No harm in reading it, either. There would only be harm in believing what it says. It is all lies, Dunn.’
‘If you say so, your majesty,’ said Dunn. But he did not meet Lief’s eyes.
‘Is that the Toran Plague rubbish we saw pinned all about the city when we arrived?’ Barda exclaimed, glaring at Dunn.
‘No, this is something new,’ Lief said. ‘Very well, Dunn. You may go.’
Gratefully, Dunn escaped from the room, and they heard him almost running down the hallway.
Lief held the yellow paper out to Barda. ‘You had better read this,’ he said grimly.
Barda whistled. ‘This is indeed something new,’ he muttered. ‘It does not just encourage hatred of Tora. It …’
‘It threatens Deltora’s safety,’ Lief finished for him. ‘If Marilen does not have the trust of the people, the Belt cannot be strong. Cracks will open in the armour that protects us from invasion by the Enemy. Everything we have worked for will be in danger.’
‘Only if you die, Lief,’ Barda said bluntly.
Lief nodded. The bright room seemed to have darkened.
Indeed, he thought. And if I face the Sister of the South, I will die. This feeling of foreboding cannot mean anything else.
For a moment he stood motionless, his head bowed. He heard Jasmine come back into the room, and the rustle of paper as Barda passed her the yellow notice, but he did not move or speak.
Concentrate on the matter at hand for now, he was telling himself. There is still time to decide whether to face the Sister or not. When you know where it is. When …
‘These notices are not being written by a citizen of Del,’ he said in a low voice. ‘They are the work of the guardian of the south.’
He looked up. Jasmine had lifted her eyes from the notice and was staring at him in amazement. Barda, however, was slowly nodding.
‘Do you not see, Jasmine?’ Lief went on. ‘Raising hatred of my heir is the perfect way to make me fear risking my life by attacking the Sister of the South. The guardian is a dangerous enemy—subtle, quick-thinking, and very clever.’
‘It is someone we all know and trust,’ Barda muttered. ‘It is someone from whom a guard would take food or drink without suspicion, despite his orders.’
Jasmine’s eyes had darkened until they were almost black.
‘Why do you say the guardian is quick-thinking?’ she asked slowly.
Lief shrugged. ‘To stop Josef from telling what he knew, Mother was poisoned, and false fears of a plague were created. This led to the idea of raising hatred of Tora. Then the guardian remembered that my heir was Toran, and this in turn led to an even better idea.’
He flicked the yellow paper in Jasmine’s hand.
‘There is such a thing as being too clever,’ Barda said. ‘These notices will be our hidden enemy’s undoing. Sorcery may have been used to copy them in large numbers, but the yellow paper is real enough. I will order a search, and if we find a stock of it hidden in someone’s chamber, we will know …’
Lief nodded. He took the notice from Jasmine, feeling as if his arm and hand were weighed down by stones.
‘I must show this to Zeean,’ he said. ‘I cannot risk her seeing it by accident, as we did. And I must tell her that there is no bird fit to carry a message to Tora.’
‘It is fortunate that there is not,’ Barda said, with a grim smile. ‘It would be folly for Marilen to show her face in Del now—even if her father would allow her to come.’
‘Marilen can surely do as she likes!’ Jasmine exclaimed. ‘She is a married woman now. And her husband, the father of her child, is here.’
‘Perhaps he is,’ Barda said, with a shrug. ‘But Marilen is a Toran, Jasmine. Her father has great influence over her. And if the Torans felt coldness towards Del before, it is nothing to what they will feel if they suspect that people believe this latest notice.’
He grimaced. ‘The strange thing is,’ he said, ‘what the notice says makes good sense. Tora has always envied Del its favoured place in the land. Marilen is heir to the Belt. She does have powerful protectors. She is with child—’
‘But—but you almost sound as if you believe that Tora is plotting against us, Barda!’ Jasmine cried passionately.
Barda’s face grew stern. ‘I am saying only that we should keep our minds open,’ he said. ‘And from this moment, we should trust no-one but ourselves.’
Hurrying up the stairs soon afterwards, Lief heard the sound of stumbling feet and laboured breaths from above. He looked up and saw a hand grasping the curving railing of the staircase, high above his head.
His heart in his mouth, he pounded upward till at last he came upon Lindal, huddled on the stairs.
‘Thank the heavens!’ she gasped. ‘I could go no further. Lief—I fear you have made a terrible mistake. Zeean is deathly ill. And Sharn … is sinking. But it was not poison. They ate nothing, drank nothing …’