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Rohesia hated to tempt fate, but for once, everything seemed to be going well. Alfred was proving to be a natural military engineer and tactician, according to Grigory. More importantly, the members of the council and the nobles around the Bocburg seemed to trust him, at least so far. Would they eventually accept him as the captain general? She believed they might. Especially if she could get him married to Elwyn.
She thought things were going well on that front, too. Or did she only hope so? No. She had good reason to believe Elwyn and Alfred were growing closer. Were they not out riding together at this very moment? Did they not ride together multiple times a week now? They had definitely developed...something between them. She just wished she knew whether or not it was love. Or at least a marriageable affection.
Rohesia had come into the library that morning looking for a book of military strategy by one of the former Earls of Levanger that Alfred had mentioned the night before at supper. Many of the men at the Bocburg and on the council had spent decades studying warfare. At an age when she had been writing in her journal and studying literature, they had been serving as squires to famous knights and fighting in tournaments. No one ever mentioned her glaring lack of experience, but she felt it, all the same.
Without too much difficulty, she located the book, which turned out to have some lovely diagrams and maps illustrating different kinds of tactical maneuvers. Those, she thought, would be very helpful.
As she turned to leave the library, however, she happened to look out the window and made an even more important discovery. She could see Elwyn and Sir Alfred returning from their morning ride. They both appeared happy, smiles all around and at ease in each other’s company. And yet she would not say they evinced any signs of passion. They could be siblings or pleasant acquaintances. In the past, it had never been Elwyn’s habit to hide her feelings (sometimes much to everyone’s embarrassment). If she had been madly in love with Alfred, she could not have failed to show it. So perhaps in her case, liking had not yet turned to love. As for Alfred, Rohesia did not know him well enough to say. She would have a talk with her stepdaughter and see what she made of the situation.
Rohesia went to meet Elwyn at the side entrance leading in from the stables. She hesitated in the shadow of a suit of armor as Elwyn and Sir Alfred paused in the doorway. They stood closer than mere friends as he whispered something to her. Elwyn laughed and Alfred smiled with pleasure at the fact. He squeezed her hand before jogging off.
Rohesia slipped from the shadows and nodded at Alfred as he hurried by with a quick bow. When Elwyn saw her, she blushed. Surely, that was a good sign.
“Did you have a nice ride?” Rohesia asked, trying not to imply too much with her inflection.
“It was fine,” Elwyn answered, twisting her hands and not meeting Rohesia’s eyes.
“You and Sir Alfred have been going riding together regularly, have you not?”
“I guess you could say that.”
Rohesia took a step closer so she might rest a hand on Elwyn’s arm. “Come now. Tell me how your relationship and feelings are proceeding.”
Elwyn glanced around as though about to divulge state secrets. Which was appropriate, since the possibility of a royal wedding was a matter of national concern, as Rohesia knew from experience.
“Well, he hasn’t run away screaming. I suppose that’s a good thing.”
Rohesia was not entirely successful in hiding a grin. “A very good thing. And as you have gotten to know him better, how do you feel about him?”
“He’s... I don’t know. I mean, I do know how I feel, but I don’t know if he feels the same. And it, I guess, worries me. Can I really feel like this so soon after, well, someone else?”
Two servants entered, carrying a large crate between them, and Rohesia realized they may not have chosen the best spot for this conversation. She steered Elwyn into a little office beside the library.
“It is always possible for feelings to develop,” Rohesia said, now that they had a modicum of privacy. “And I think Lady Melanie might have been what Empress Vita once described to me as a ‘rebound love.’ She was someone you cared about, but whose primary function in your life was helping you to heal from
another love.”
Elwyn stared hard at the floor. “When you put it that way, it sounds as if I treated Melanie terribly, then. It makes it sound as if I lied to her.”
“It makes it sound as if you are entirely normal. And a normal person in your situation might well find herself ready to transition into a new relationship with someone else.”
There was a long pause. Rohesia felt acutely her own lack of experience in this area. Her romantic life had been limited to an awkward teenage crush on Aldrick, followed by her marriage to Edgar. She felt like a fraud, and she was sure the next words out of Elwyn’s mouth would be something along the lines of, “How in the Void would you know anything about what a ‘normal person’ in my ‘situation’ would do?”
Instead, Elwyn sighed and finally looked up at Rohesia. “I like him so much, but he’s far too good for me.”
“That is not remotely true.” Elwyn opened her mouth to protest, but Rohesia pushed on before she could. “Does he know how you feel?”
Elwyn shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m trying not to act like an idiot in front of him, but I doubt I’m doing a very good job of it. He probably thinks I’m defective somehow and rides with me out of pity.”
“I doubt you’re being an idiot, and he clearly likes your company—no pity involved. But I do think you should be clear about your feelings. It’s the fairest thing for you both.”
“You mean just blurt it out?”
“Yes, a confession of feelings can be effective. But sometimes words are not enough. It’s equally important to demonstrate your affection through your actions. Show him how you feel.”
“What if that scares him off?”
Rohesia prayed that would not be the case, as her plans hinged on Elwyn and Sir Alfred marrying. “If he runs away, then he is not the man either of us believes him to be, and he would not deserve you.”
“You really think so?”
“Absolutely.”
Duke Robert’s treasurer stumbled into the office—his office, apparently—shocked and apologetic at finding them there. “My sincerest apologies, your majesty,” he said with a bow. “I can return later. You may remain as long as is necessary.”
She smiled, hoping to put him at his ease. “No, you are a busy man, and I am intruding on your space, for which I ask your forgiveness. Also, I am quite busy myself. Her royal highness and I were just going.”
And so she and Elwyn departed, leaving the flustered treasurer to his work, Elwyn to run upstairs and change out of her riding clothes, and Rohesia to head to her study.
But Rohesia’s correspondence would have to wait. Even as she paused for the guard to open the door to her study, she heard Presley call out to her. Normally his comportment was flawless, so this behavior shocked her. A heartbeat later, she saw that this should not so much shock as worry her. Intira was hurrying along at his side, looking wrung out, as though she had not slept all night. Rohesia cursed herself for thinking minutes earlier that everything was going so well.
“Please come in,” she offered toward the open door. “Shall I send for coffee?”
“Gods, yes,” Intira said. “I’ve had a night.”
“And this might take some time,” Presley added in a whisper.
Rohesia gave the guard their request, and he trotted off to find a Bocburg servant. Breath held, Rohesia closed the door and joined them around the little table, where Intira had already collapsed into a chair. “I take it your informant has provided you with some less than happy news.”
“Indeed. But at least it’s news, and we can be grateful to have it,” Intira answered. “And let me apologize now for only delivering it this morning. Travel last night back into the city was not as smooth as I could have hoped. But I won’t bore you with that.”
The story Intira launched into at that point could never have been called boring. Magy and fire and arrows loosed. It sounded like something out of a sensational novel. But in novels, the reader could trust the author to find a way for it to all work out for the hero in the end. There was sadly no such assurance here.
“The southeast wall?” Rohesia repeated, finding it hard to believe. “We thought that would be the least likely spot for an attack.”
“Which is surely why they’ve picked it,” Presley muttered. “It makes perfect sense.”
“And you’re certain about Seefest as the date? We were sure Broderick would not attack without Duke Lukas, and he has not returned. Correct?”
“That was originally the plan,” said Intira, “but Broderick has decided not to wait for the duke. You have to give it to him—it’s a bold plan.”
“Extremely,” Rohesia grudgingly admitted. Earstien, why did the enemy have to be so blasted intelligent? She took a deep breath and reminded herself that their side was not devoid of intelligence. “Do we think Professor Sobol can shift work to the southeast wall?”
“That’s why he’s not with us,” answered Presley. “As soon as Domina Stylianos told us this morning, he set to work. He says he doesn’t know if he has enough time, but he always underestimates himself. He can absolutely mount a defense.”
Rohesia appreciated Presley’s confidence in his partner, but she needed a dispassionate assessment. “Has he summoned Sir Alfred to join him?”
Presley nodded. “I sent Miles Richards to take Sir Alfred to join Grigory as soon as we arrived at the Bocburg.”
Rohesia paused to organize her thoughts. These two had told her a great deal, and action must be taken immediately, but in an orderly fashion. As odd as it was to say, they did not have time to hurry. This all needed done properly on the first try.
“I will call an emergency council meeting in one hour. Apologize to Professor Sobol, but I will need to borrow Sir Alfred from him for the meeting, and Sir Alfred must be fully briefed on the solution Professor Sobol proposes for defending the southeast wall.”
***
IT TOOK AN HOUR AND a half to assemble everyone in the council room, but Rohesia thought thirty minutes was a reasonable delay to make certain everyone was there and ready for this news. Once they decided to act, it would need to be decisively, and for that to happen, everyone must be on the same page.
Sir Alfred was there, and he assured her that he could explain Professor Sobol’s new plan. Sir Presley was also in attendance as he had been for weeks. Intira was absent, as no one on the council save Rohesia knew her true purpose in Leornian. But Sir Robert Tynsdale had come to speak to the veracity of the intelligence. Rohesia felt ready.
“Your majesty,” said Duke Robert once all the councilors were seated. “You have called an emergency meeting of the council, as you say we are under immediate threat. Please tell us what you know.”
“We have contact with someone highly placed inside the enemy camp.” She allowed the news to sit for a moment and for the murmuring to die down. Then she turned and nodded to Robert Tynsdale. “Sir Robert can attest to this.” He nodded back. “Our contact has seen the plans for an attack on the southeastern wall of the city on Seefest, just one week away.”
The muttering was louder this time, and it took Duke Robert, invoking his rights as lord chancellor and president of the privy council, to bring the room back under control. “If that is correct, your majesty, it would run counter to everything we thought.”
Rather than answer, she waved Robert Tynsdale forward from where the non-members of the council stood along the wall. “In your expert opinion, Sir Robert, is this intelligence likely to be accurate?”
“Absolutely, your majesty. An attack is coming. We can trust our source.”
“What are we going to do?” squeaked Dr. Stark.
“Mount a defense, obviously,” answered Lawrence, smacking the table.
Rohesia feared he was about to propose some half-baked plan of his own. And then the rest of the council would feel obligated to support him, since he was captain general. Quickly, she interrupted and said, “Sir Alfred and Professor Sobol have already begun working on some ideas. Sir Alfred, please explain what you and the professor are doing.”
Sir Alfred cleared his throat and stepped forward from his spot along the wall. “I should begin by saying that it is truly Professor Sobol’s plan. I am merely assisting.”
Grigory might be the true engineer, but Alfred knew more than enough to explain everything in excellent detail. The gist seemed to be that they would shift most of the troops to the southeast, while leaving behind fake defenses on the rest of the wall. There would be hidden traps and clever ruses. From outside the city, Broderick would still believe that they were unprepared for his surprise attack. It was elegant and achievable in the amount of time afforded them. If only Alfred were already captain general and the decision rested primarily with him.
Rohesia held her breath and looked to Lawrence as Alfred wrapped up.
“Well,” Lawrence answered with a frown Rohesia couldn’t read. “That’s certainly a start. But I want to know more about these defenses. Where’s Grigory now?”
“Professor Sobol is at his workshop in the warehouse next to the grain stores. Shall I send for him?”
“No.” Lawrence slapped his hands down on the table and pushed himself to his feet. “Let’s both go and see if this is really as clever as you make out. If so, you and Grigory might be about to save the city. If not, we had all better get started on something else.”
Rohesia let out her breath.