Ransom had an uneasy feeling about the whole thing. Estian had proven he was perfectly capable of tricking and manipulating them. Any concessions he made would come with barbs.
“What if he gives you Bayree outright?” Lady Deborah asked. “He just might do it to prevent the scandal.”
The king nodded sagely. “I’ll give it to Sir Ransom, and he can take her as his ward. But I want her confined.” He looked at Ransom with great conviction. “I don’t want that poisoner running around. But honestly, I don’t think Estian will grant our request. And he won’t let her be taken hostage either. She knows too much. You must capture her, although it won’t be easy. If you can get to Bayree first, you might be able to bring her into our territory before Estian finds out.”
Ransom remembered something she had told him, something he hadn’t revealed yet in the furor of all his other revelations. “My lord, she would know I’m coming.”
“Why? Because of that Fountain-blessed nonsense?”
Lady Deborah looked at Ransom in confusion.
“It isn’t nonsense, my lord. It’s the truth. Ask Lord Kinghorn if you don’t believe me. But that’s not what I meant. Alix told me that Lewis, and now his son, has a Wizr board, one that has been handed down for generations.”
The king looked skeptical. “It’s a popular game. What of it?”
“This board has been gifted with power from the Fountain. The game is real. The pieces represent real people, I believe. Through it, she told me that Estian knows all of your moves as you make them. He knows when you are working against him. Based on what she told me, that, my lord, is how he knew we would attack Occitania and not the Vexin.”
“What madness is this?” the king murmured.
Lady Deborah just cocked her head, waiting for him to continue, but she had a skeptical look on her face.
“I’m just repeating what she told me. The Wizr board is hidden in Pree. She said she knows where to find it, and if you manage to claim it, she can change sides. Some curse binds her to play for him. If it’s true, we’d do best to find it. It could change everything in our conflict with that country.”
The king folded his arms across his chest, and a sour expression twisted his mouth. “I’m doubtful of her story, Ransom. She may actually believe it’s true, but that doesn’t make it so. Yes . . . I have often wondered how the Occitanians knew of our movements. But I’ve attributed it to men they’ve hired to spy on us. This is a large castle, and I cannot vouch for the loyalty of every man, woman, and child who lives and serves here.” He paused, as if thinking on it. “But let us pretend this is true. The board is in Pree? Very well, go and fetch it. Send word to Lady Alix that you’ve been sent on a mission there. Have her steal it for you. Inspect it yourself. If it is true, then I will reconsider keeping her in a dungeon. Be careful, though. If she learns what you’ve told me, then your life will be in danger.”
“I will go,” Ransom said, nodding with conviction.
The king wrinkled his nose. “I don’t know if you have the talent for deception, however. This mission requires some guile. I suppose you will do the best you can.”
“A bold plan, my lord,” said Lady Deborah.
“Confound it, I’ve told you both I detest such formalities! Go to Pree, Ransom. When you return, I will summon the lords of the realm to meet with me. I wish to name Benedict my heir and to see him crowned. The question is whether he will acquiesce to my demand that he give the Vexin to Jon-Landon. We shall see. Do you believe he will?” He looked at Ransom and then at Lady Deborah.
“I know he won’t,” Ransom said. “He’s told me as much.”
The king snorted. “Deborah?”
“I don’t think so. He’s too much like you.”
King Devon chuckled. “Then my son will earn another lesson in humility.”
I watched this morning as Ransom departed on his ugly dappled horse with a cohort of a hundred knights to enforce the king’s will on some matter or other. I asked Emi what she thought would happen next. She knows her husband better than any other person. She said he would try to force Benedict’s obedience once again through promises of wealth and land but without ceding true power to him. And she predicts that her son will do something rash in response. I asked her what he might do. She looked at me, her eyes gleaming with mischief. She knows, but she won’t tell me.
I hate this tower. I hate this entire palace.
—Claire de Murrow
(mired in the troubles between kings and queens)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Enemies Forever
It took them three days to ride to the borders of Occitania, and another to reach Pree itself. Ransom had sent a courier ahead to Alix, asking her to meet him in Pree to discuss their marriage, and to bring the Wizr board with her. Although he knew it was unlikely, he still hoped she might switch sides. As an enemy, she was dangerous; as an ally, she’d still be dangerous, but hopefully more dangerous to the other side.
The wind had become cool on the journey, and the leaves on the elm trees began to turn yellow, some purple. It would be winter in short order, and there would be no armies, no long rides, and no more contention between the king and his son.
If only it were winter already.
The Occitanian palace rose above the city of Pree, with ribbons of smoke coming from the hundreds of chimneys beyond the fortress walls. It was a splendid structure, but one that contained too many dark memories for Ransom to view it with anything but trepidation and mistrust. He had wondered whether they would encounter Occitanian knights along the journey, especially since he rode with so many warriors, but the road had only been full of carts and wagons, tradesmen and merchants roaming the realm to provide their goods.
When they reached the gates of Pree, Ransom announced himself and asked for a writ of safe conduct to see King Estian. Was Alix already there? He couldn’t sense her yet. It was granted in short order, along with permission to bring twenty of the knights as an escort. Ransom asked Dearley to remain behind with the other eighty, and to be on the lookout for any trouble.
“Do you think the king would attack us now?” Dearley asked with a frown of concern.
He would if he realized it was Ransom’s intention to steal the Wizr board and his poisoner.
“I don’t. But neither do I trust him,” Ransom answered. Then he parted ways with Dearley, taking his smaller group into the city. The residents of Pree glared with open hostility at the knights wearing the badge of the Silver Rose.
As much as he worried about the confrontation with King Estian, Ransom felt more anxious about seeing Lady Alix. If she came. Would she affect him the way she had in Bayree? Was her power so strong it would sway his will even now?
Was it even possible to manipulate a person who could magically influence others? He aimed to try. He hoped he could persuade her to take the Wizr board out of the city. It would require more deceptions on his part, but lying to her was a little easier because he suspected she’d already deceived him.
When they reached the palace courtyard, he sensed Alix’s presence. His heart began to pound faster, but he hid his reaction as he dismounted and then followed the royal steward through the gates of the palace.