"It's not your fault," Lily replied, waving off the apology. "You've been every bit as busy as Rosa and I have. For all we know, the Huntsman's orders came in a note left in a kennel, and catching him looking for that would have taxed anyone. It's not as if I haven't had you doing the work of three Mirror Servants — even with the help of your Apprentices — " She paused when Jimson coughed discreetly. "What is it?"
"Oh, I have been watching the Huntsman personally," Jimson replied, "I hope you do not think I delegated that — "
"I know better than that. Don't be ridiculous, Jimson. I work you harder than any Godmother has ever worked someone, and I know I can always rely on you to do what you say you will — no one could keep up with me but you! I really do not know what I would do without you, especially now!" She smiled over her shoulder at him, and he flushed a slightly deeper green. "If you need more apprentices for this, then get them. Let them handle things that are tedious and less important. I need you for the clever things." She got up and moved to the chair facing the mirror. As another breeze wafted through the room, she lifted the hair off the back of her neck to let the cooling air get to it. "Speaking of clever things, the next contest should be something where magic is not going to help. There were too many of those young men using charms — and I don't think that the King of Eltaria should place too much reliance on magic — except for mine." She sighed. "And mine is not infallible."
Jimson frowned, his brows furrowing. "That isn't going to be easy. You can forbid the use of it, but that doesn't mean they won't cheat. Finding a task where magic is useless will be a tall order."
"I've been thinking about this a little." She sipped her sherbet and pondered the question. "We could make it strictly a test of intelligence, a chess tournament, perhaps. Though I am not sure that would serve if not all of them know chess. Or solving a puzzle? That's Traditional."
"Don't make it untying a knot," Jimson replied, making a face. "There's a Traditional answer for that, which leaves you without a knot to be solved by the rest of the candidates. And they can't all chop the thing to bits."
She twined a strand of hair around her fingers, thinking. "A maze, a puzzle...we would have to put some sort of negation spell on them so that magic couldn't be used to solve them. Besides, that seems too...small." She shook her head. "Am I not thinking spectacularly enough?"
Jimson nodded. "Whatever we do, if it is a public trial, it must be flamboyant. The Tradition expects that. Remember, the more we satisfy The Tradition, the more power will be available to you. And whatever we choose, we need to make sure it has something to do with testing the capabilities of a potential king for this country."
"I can't see how puzzles or mazes would be relevant, then," Lily sighed. They needed a contest and they needed one soon, or their enemies would see this for what it was — an attempt to stall for time. "What would be relevant?"
"Finding a way to get what you want without having to fight," said Jimson wryly. "That would be relevant, considering that Thurman managed to fend off fights more often than he actually engaged in them. Traditionally, one of the tasks in a trial is to fetch something with a dangerous guardian. Could we have them get something for us? Don't we have a dragon up on Sharpstone Pass? Don't dragons have the ability to nullify magic?"
"Some of them do." She frowned, thinking. She hadn't had much to do with the Sharpstone Dragon in a century. Even when she had, he hadn't spoken more than three words, and one of them had been "No." Still, he was perfectly happy with his monthly tribute of sheep, no one really wanted to use the Sharpstone Pass, and the only people who ever tried to come through there were generally up to no good.
"I don't want him hurt. He's a very effective deterrent on that pass. The question is if he would be willing to cooperate. You know that he is not going to want to part with any of his hoard."
"What dragon ever does? And even if we gave him things for them to....oh..."Jimson suddenly became very alert. "I think I have a plan. But as you say, we would have to see if he will cooperate. Is there anyone we can send so that you don't have to go?"
Lily drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair for a moment. "Perhaps. Perhaps. Can you see if Godmother Elena is able to talk? I need to find another dragon. Sharpstone won't talk to me, but he will to one of his own kind."
Jimson beamed. "Immediately, Lily!"
Chapter 14
Siegfried and Leopold slipped back into the Palace by the servants' entrance, after an evening spent trying to puzzle out what the next contest might be at the King's Arms. Neither one of them wanted to mingle — again — with the rest of the candidates as was the custom after supper, to tell the truth. The regular evening gatherings were already getting rather tedious to both of them. Nothing ever happened, except the endless subtle and not-so-subtle jockeying for information and status. In fact, what both of them wanted most to do was get some sleep. It only occurred to Siegfried, just as he was drifting off, that the so-helpful old lady might be waiting in the garden again to give them hints about what the next contest was. But of course, at that point it was too late to do anything about it.
In the morning, they went together to the dining hall, got food and took it out into the gardens to see if the bird was about. She was, but she didn't have any good ideas, either. She happily shared their breakfast, but that was all. "I was asleep last night," she explained needlessly. "And besides, it's not a good idea to spy on a Godmother. They are sometimes swift to anger, and I am easy to transform, I like being a bird. I wouldn't like being a toad."
Lacking anything else to do, they separated to see if they could get more information that way. Leopold joined the Princes idling in the garden, Siegfried joined the ones idling in the stables and the practice grounds. From everything that Siegfried could see, no one else had any clues, either. Many tried to guess, of course. A good many decided fearfully that it was likely to involve fighting. Even more came to the same conclusion, but regarded the prospect with a great deal of enthusiasm. This meant that the practice ground was thick with young men sparring with each other by midmorning. The ladies of the court found this much more appealing to watch than their needlework. There was a rough stand of sorts set up, with a canvas shade to keep the sun off, just outside the fence. Since this was a practice field normally used by the knights of the court, there was often a lady watching, but this might have been the first time in a very long time that the stands were full.
Siegfried joined them, but only to keep his hand in and stay fit, not because he thought they were right. Leopold did not join them, but leaned on the fence to observe with several other men. Siegfried did not think he was doing this because he was lazy, as some of the others said in voices they thought too low to carry. When he was resting, he watched Leopold watching them. Analyzing the fighting styles of others was, oddly perhaps, not what he was good at. But then, his people were not themselves noted for subtle fighting styles — and his own style was, truthfully, to rush in like a great bear and attempt to batter his opponent into unconsciousness, or at least submission, within the first dozen blows. But Leopold was watching all of the other Princes very closely in a carefully-not-watching way as they fought. Siegfried had hopes he was going to get an earful about how the others measured up, and even higher hopes that Leopold might be able to coach him through some changes to his own fighting.