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Broderick’s mind wandered as the bishop started talking about something some baron had told him the other day. Looking around, he saw Muriel over in the side aisle chatting happily with Lady Jorunn Unset and her young student, Evika Videle. Good old Muriel. Jorunn would be a powerful friend to have if those fools in Stansted decided to attack. Muriel had an unfailing instinct for these things. What a relief that one woman in his life didn’t require constant supervision.
Not like Anne, unfortunately. She had been up drinking all night with her set of young ladies, and she had only come to bed a few minutes before he had left for church. There was something wrong with that girl, and he was going to have to have a word with her about it. The point of having a mistress was to make his life easier, not cause more problems for him to solve.
And speaking of women who were sometimes more trouble than they were worth, here came Duchess Flora.
“Broderick, dear, how nice to see you.” She curtsied to the bishop. “Pardon me, your grace, but could I borrow the captain general for a minute?” Then she looped her arm through Broderick’s and drew him through an arch and into a little Onsetting chapel, where long tapestries of the life of Finster would muffle their voices.
“Please tell me you’re not going to bother me about the Gemot, too,” he said.
“Not at all. I’m sure you’ll get around to it when you’re good and ready. No, I needed to talk to you about something else. My scouts tell me there’s a new military camp on the estate of the Duke of Leornian, up by the Summer Palace. Nearly two thousand men, apparently, from Trahernshire and Keelshire. Did you know about this?”
He hadn’t heard a word about it until that moment. Two thousand men a few miles from the city, and no one had told him. It was terrifying and infuriating.
Colonel Rath’s men should have known about it. But they were probably too busy soliciting bribes and chatting up girls in the marketplace. Finster’s balls, the colonel was on his last damned chance. One more fuck-up like this, and Broderick might have to ask William Aitken to do something about it. Not that William was much better, these days. Holy Earstien, how tiresome to be surrounded by sentimental weaklings and incompetents.
Of course, it would never do to let people know how precarious his position was. Especially not Flora, who was seated firmly on the fence between his party and the queen’s. He was tempted to mention that Lukas had gone south to raise an army, but he didn’t want that news to get out until he was absolutely sure where Lukas was. And at the moment, the only messages he had received from the south were intentionally vague. No, you didn’t brag about how sharp your sword was unless you could pull it out right there and use it.
So he smiled, gave a careless wave of his hand, and said, “Ah, that camp. Yes, I’ve known about it for a while. It’s not a problem.”
Muriel came over with Lady Jorunn, and all three women squealed with delight and complimented each other’s dresses. Broderick waited a minute and then excused himself to go find the bishop again. He was running out of time.
“Just out of curiosity,” he asked the bishop, “how soon could we have my son’s wedding?”
“Well, my lord, if you didn’t need the choirs and the musicians and the grand procession, we could do it this afternoon.”
He was sorely tempted, but he knew he couldn’t do it that way. A royal wedding was a major event in the city’s life, and if he did it quickly and in secret, there would always be people who claimed it hadn’t really happened, or who would hint there was something scandalous going on. No, it had to be done openly, and it had to be done with all the requisite ceremony.
“What’s the soonest we could do it and not make it look like we’re rushing it?”
“Probably in two weeks, my lord.”
“Then two weeks it is.”
***
“ONLY A DAY AGO,” THOUGHT Elwyn. She pulled her robe closer around herself and put her forehead to the window glass, looking off to the north. Lily was gone, and she would probably never come back. Everything was over now, and it had ended in the worst possible way. She would never be able to think of Lily without reliving that horrible moment when Rohesia had walked in on them.
Without Lily, she had nothing. No, that wasn’t true. She had a stepmother who was angry at her, and she had a whole dangerous world full of horrible people to deal with. Lily had promised to help her, but in the end, Lily hadn’t been able to do much of anything. Not that it was Lily’s fault; it was Elwyn’s. Everything was her fault.
The door to the servants’ stairwell creaked open, and Elwyn pulled the blankets over her head. “Go away,” she moaned. “Let me sleep in for a while.”
The blanket was yanked back down, and to Elwyn’s astonishment, the girl standing there in blue and white servant’s livery was Lily. Elwyn couldn’t even think what to say. She sat there, mouth open, reaching out with trembling fingers to make sure Lily was real. She was. Elwyn ran her hands over the girl’s cheeks, through her hair, down her back. She pulled Lily into bed with her and covered her face and neck with kisses.
Lily started reaching into her nightgown, but then she stopped herself and sat up. “No, wait. There’s no time for that right now. Elwyn, we need to go see your stepmother.”
“What? Why on earth would we want to do that?”
“Because I’m working on a plan to get you and your family out of here.”
“You mean leave with you? So we can be together finally?”
Elwyn was certain that Lily would answer with an immediate and enthusiastic “Yes!” But there was a long, uncomfortable pause, and Lily looked away, lip trembling. All the elation drained out of Elwyn, and she sat there, feeling empty and fragile, like the slightest push would shatter her completely.
“I’m sorry,” said Lily. “When we get you out of here, you will have to stay with your family, and I will have to go home. I’ve let this get out of hand.”
“I...I see.” Elwyn wiped her eyes with a corner of the blanket. “It’s not your fault. I hoped....”
“I did, too,” said Lily. She hugged Elwyn, then stood up. “Now get dressed. We’ve got to see the queen.”
“Then meet me afterward. Please. We can meet here. Or we can find somewhere in town.” She crawled over and put her arms around Lily. This couldn’t be how their affair ended. This couldn’t be the last time they’d ever touch each other.
“Oh, Elwyn...I’m trying so hard to be good.” The Immani girl gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, then let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine. We can meet up later. But for now you need to get dressed.”
So this wasn’t the end. But it was still the beginning of the end. She tried to feel brave, but she couldn’t. She could barely stand to look Lily in the eye as she dressed. Elwyn was pretty sure she was never going to be happy again. Even so, she derived a certain amount of satisfaction from the look on Rohesia’s face when they appeared in her parlor, hand in hand.
“This is some sort of tasteless joke, I assume,” the queen said. “If the two of you are here to announce that you’re eloping, have the decency to slit my throat before you go. And your brother’s throat, too.”
Lily ignored the murderous look Rohesia was giving her and curtsied politely. “Your majesty, as you may have guessed, I did not come to Formacaster solely as Senator Pellus’s companion.”
“Yes, you’re here to embroil us all in scandal,” said Rohesia. “Your versatility astounds me.”
“Mother, please,” said Elwyn. “Listen to what she has to say.”
“I represent a rather special office of the Immani government,” said Lily. “And some friends and I are going to help you and your family escape.”
“By disguising us as brothel workers, no doubt,” said Rohesia.
“Well, I suppose that’s one possibility,” said Lily, starting to look annoyed. “But I haven’t got all the details planned quite yet. Any suggestions you might have would be most welcome.”
Rohesia stood, hands on hips, tapping her foot, looking Lily and Elwyn slowly up and down. Her annoyance was still palpable, but there was now something cooler and more calculating in her gaze.
“Very well. I can’t say I have any ideas off the top of my head. Except for this one.” She crossed to her dressing table and took a small vial of reddish liquid from among the perfumes and face creams. “I refuse to let Broderick live peacefully in my home.” She handed the vial to Lily. “Find some way to put that in his wine. And in his son’s too.”
“Arsenic and opium, I’m guessing,” said Lily, holding it up in the light. She didn’t seem nearly as shocked by Rohesia’s sudden thirst for murder as Elwyn was. Lily gave the vial back to the queen. “I don’t particularly care, one way or the other, but our first priority has to be getting you out. We can’t afford to get distracted from that.”
“Oh, very well,” grumbled Rohesia. “I’m sure you’ll do whatever you like, no matter what I say.”
There was a knock at the outer door, and one of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting rushed in. “Ma’am, it’s Young Broderick. And he says he’s looking for Princess Elwyn.”
Lily ran to hide herself in the servants’ stairwell, and the ladies-in-waiting hurried to bring out tea and cakes. Rohesia whipped around and moved Elwyn into a corner where she could whisper hurriedly, “Do you know anything about this ‘special office’ of Miss Serrana’s? I would almost expect Empress Vita to send me aid, but I can’t believe the aid would come in the form of this young seductress.”
Elwyn had given no thought to who, precisely, Lily worked for, and she had no time to even guess before Young Broderick came in and announced he could only stay a few minutes.
“In fact,” he said, pointing to the balcony, “maybe we could step out there for a minute. I’ve got something I need to tell you in private.”
When they were outside and the glass door was shut, he said, “My father has arranged it all with the bishop. We’re supposed to get married in two weeks.” He looked away, face reddening. “I wanted to make sure you knew. It seemed...polite.”
Hearing they had set the date shocked Elwyn, and she had to remind herself it didn’t matter. In two weeks, she would either be free with her family, or she would be dead. Either way, she would never be his wife. But she couldn’t tell him that. She smiled at him and said, “I appreciate your telling me.”
“Let’s try to make the best of it, shall we?” He held out a hand.
She shook it. “Yes, let’s do.”