While shaking her head slowly from side to side, she muttered barely loud enough to hear, “No, the answer we seek resides in Mercia.”
There was no changing her mind. She still stood there as I entered her bedroom and met the eyes of Kendra. My voice was soft, “You wanted to talk to me in private?”
“That seems like a full day ago. Why didn’t you meet with me sooner? I wanted to warn you that if you did not solve this whole damn thing, we would travel across the kingdom on foul-smelling horses.” She threw a shirt at a travel bag and missed. Not for the first time. Worse, she didn’t attempt to retrieve it. She threw another, barely missing me.
Explaining none of this was my fault would only increase her anger. Attempting to appease her was no easier than opposing Elizabeth. “Perhaps we’ll find out something before we leave. We can go snoop around.”
“No. Any more unexpected appearances by you will have half the tongues in the east wing wagging. Our only hope is Princess Anna. Elizabeth has already requested they meet here for an informal conversation.”
“Lord Kent?” I asked, expecting Kendra had also managed to locate another thread to pull. “Has she agreed to meet with him again?”
“It seems he has taken ill and will not be attending the upcoming dance two nights from now, and only the gods above know how he can be so certain he will not be well by then. And yes, that was intended as a pun, so wipe that smirk off your face. In the meantime, his manservant has requested an unusual selection of food be sent to his quarters.”
“Unusual?” She might refuse to share the information. She had become ornery like that in the last few years. Besides, the manservant, Pallor, was peculiar in himself. Still, I liked the man and wondered what the concern about food was.
“Yes, you’d expect him to eat only soup or broth and perhaps dry bread. Instead, according to the kitchen, he is to be eating an assortment of nuts, raisins, dried figs, and smoked meats and fish. At least, that is what my sources tell me.”
“Also, the same food to eat while traveling.” I digested the information. Had Kendra been in a better mood, I’d have shared my pun but wisely kept it to myself.
“You think so?” she asked in a lilting tone of scorn. “Let me guess. Lord Kent is going on a trip of his own. Care to venture where?”
She was my sister, and therefore we had daily spats. Kendra seldom approved of my small-magic and often suggested for me to cease its use. Her opinion was that someday others would find out about my powers and the mages and sorceresses would certainly take me away for some undisclosed reason. To where, I had no idea, and no idea of why she believed that, but her feelings couldn’t be changed. She insisted on some things remaining between only the three of us.
While not fully sharing her beliefs, I was absolutely convinced that if even a hint of my abilities became known, everyone we encountered from then on would suspect I was trying to draw them into something or force them to reveal secrets with magic. She was right.
Whenever possible, I avoided using it. But there are times when magic controls me instead of the other way around. Those are the times we feared.
Aside from me and my abilities, there was still a central question unanswered. What could be so damned important that would force Princess Anna to travel all the way here and insist on speaking only with the ill king? And even more strange was that his trusted advisers had actually agreed to the meeting. That added to the importance of the message. My first thought was a possible invasion by another kingdom. That didn’t work for several reasons, not the least was that the army generals still paraded around the palace in their fancy uniforms filled with a chest of ribbons instead of charging into the field of battle with raised swords. Their men still marched daily and practiced with their weapons.
An outbreak of plague, the death of someone important, or a usurper intending to replace our good king were all discarded. Yet, what else could it be? My mind switched from disasters to the possibility of good news. The unexpected birth of a high royal, a trove of hidden gold discovered, or a person with magic skills so important he couldn’t be denied were all thrust away almost as quickly.
The latter idea of magic being involved might need reconsideration since three mages were heading to the same place. We didn’t see why the king or his advisers would consider that so significant, but the idea held more credence than any other I’d come up with.
Kendra snapped at me in the way only sisters can, “Why are you just standing there?”
The ignorant portion of my mind considered responding that she had told me not to leave the apartment or others might become suspicious and more rumors would spread. The intelligent part, admittedly smaller, made me keep my mouth shut. I was getting good at that.
She stopped filling luggage with clothing and stood erect, ready to continue when Elizabeth called me from the sitting room. I spun and ran to her side. The needs of the princess outweighed those of my sister—and least for now. Still, I’d have to face Kendra again.
“Tell me if I’m wrong in my assumptions and conclusions.”
My response was to merely nod as if capable of doing that, knowing that unless I used a tactful method of answering, I’d again keep my mouth shut.
Elizabeth continued, “Is there any occurrence you can conceive of that would meet all the criteria we know.”
For once, we were in complete agreement in our line of reasoning, and that we didn’t know something critical. Not that we were often opposed, but to think we always agreed would be an error. However, it didn’t matter what I thought. She was Elizabeth, and a princess.
She closed her eyes and allowed her head to flop back as she thought and gazed up at the ceiling. She was probably imagining scenarios and trying to make them fit the circumstances. When she refocused her eyes, she turned them directly on me. “If there is no emergency imaginable that will fit our known information, then there are only two alternatives.”
“We have something erroneous, or we have assigned evidence to the problem that belongs to another.”
“Precisely,” she agreed. “Which is it?”
After only a moment’s hesitation, “I believe the information is accurate.”
“Me too,” Elizabeth said. “Listen, you will . . . carry a message from me to my cousin, Carol. Carry it in your hand where all can see you are about your task. If anyone asks, feel free to tell them your destination.”
“Carol is visiting her sister at the Temple of the Doves today. That’s a full day’s travel from here.”
“So, it is your task to pretend you’re going to her with a message. Say that I must have forgotten she is away. It gives you the excuse to wander the most distant parts of the palace. While you roam there, listen to rumors, do not speak.”
“To better serve you, Elizabeth,” My tone was respectful, careful to keep any hint of a smile from appearing in my voice. “As you wish.”
Elizabeth reached for the pillow behind her and flung it playfully in my direction, but I’d already ducked and moved to the desk. I returned with paper, pen, and ink. She accepted them and quickly jotted a note asking when she and Carol could get together to discuss which colors were best for the coming summer. I watched over her shoulder as she penned the note and rolled it to tie with a slip of blue ribbon before handing it to me.
She said, “Perhaps you will hear someone say something interesting, an overheard whisper or hint of gossip. Again, listen, don’t talk.”
I accepted the scroll and slithered out the door, leaving Elizabeth still sedentary in the same place, her eyes again unfocused. If she had not been so distracted, she wouldn’t have given me the detailed directives of how to listen, and what to look for, as if we were both still children.