Chapter Seven

 

 

“Stop.” Jer rapped his knuckles against the desk that Laeder was working at. “One, where is your father?”

“Headed home?” Laeder asked. “He granted me the winter and will retrieve me in the spring. Where is your father?”

“Home for days now,” he said, taking the seat across from Laeder. “No, I can’t stay here, don’t ask me again. Anue is with my father and I’m quite interested to see what sort of a child she is. If she is a queen, I’ve got to stop them from doing something stupid.”

“Like…” Laeder trailed off.

“Pairing her and Mie.”

“It’s not a stupid idea,” Laeder responded. “Aren seemed to like your little brother.”

“He’s only seven, Laeder, she’s almost eleven. It is not a good idea,” Jer growled at the scribe, feeling better for venting on someone even if that wasn’t what he wanted to snarl about.

Laeder sighed heavily. “Why am I stopping my research of the rebuilding of the palace? History is confused all over the place. I think if I can put it to rights I should. There are six or seven different timelines about that three or four-hundred-year span. I don’t even think my records are right now. Or these ones have been altered.”

“Whatever they decided was decided,” he said. “End of story. What we’re interested in is how to use the magic of a queen, how to teach her how to use her magic. Such as you mentioned something about Aren not knowing why she’s drawn to living water.”

“Oh, that.” Laeder nodded and turned the page of the book he had been reading.

Jer waited patiently for Laeder to return to their conversation. The scribe proceeded to turn the page of the book and continue to read, apparently having forgotten he was there.

“Why is she drawn to living water?” Jer asked again.

“Hm?” Laeder looked up, appearing genuinely surprised that Jer was sitting across from him. “What? Right, honour queens are drawn to living water. It’s instinctual, like how warriors are drawn to queens.”

“Pretty certain I could have assumed the ‘drawn instinctively’ part,” Jer growled.

“They filter the water,” Laeder said. “Or, more of, their magic does. Wherever an honour queen lives, anywhere that’s near living water. Meaning a lake or river, creek. Not marsh. Uh, where was I? Right, when an honour queen lives near living water, you can see the land around them becomes more fertile. Slowly, but it does.”

Jer thought back to his father’s home, to how it was when he was growing up. How it had become. Cleaner, brighter even.

“Because of water?” Jer asked.

“Clean water can do marvellous things for plants, animals.” Laeder shrugged. “From there I assume that all queens work as filters. The more queens there are, the brighter and better everything becomes. I think the difference really is, honour queens do the water, traditional queens do something else that I haven’t figured out yet. Maybe air?”

“Air, as in what we breathe?” Jer asked.

“Yes, exactly. If you’ve ever been around a dead body, you can smell it. That stench means sickness, therefore bad air makes you sick. Queens tend not to become ill with colds,” Laeder paused, “or stomach problems. They’re an awfully healthy bunch.”

Jer shrugged. “I don’t get many illnesses. My nose does not run, I don’t cough.”

“But you spent most of your days around Em in some capacity,” Laeder said, scratching at his chin. “No, you need to be linked to a queen to share in that filter, at least, the traditional kind. Hopefully Anue is a queen. Wouldn’t want you taking sick and dying on me.”

“I will be fine,” he said.

“If you need a nurse, though, I’d be happy to come down for a visit,” Laeder said with a smile.

“No, I need you here,” Jer said. “Reading the archives, any notices that you can find, any information you know of or can find on someone. And whatever you do, do not tell Telm what you are doing.”

“Can queens read your thoughts?” Laeder asked.

“No, but she will be able to tell if you’re lying to her. Speak the truth while hiding it is the best way to deal with that little quirk. You’ll pick it up quite quickly.”

Laeder made a face. “I don’t like lying. Who am I looking up, and why am I keeping it from Telm?”

Jer sucked in a breath through his teeth. “It’s occurred to me that we know very little about her. She’s simply always been there. Or here, I suppose, would be a better way to put it. I haven’t even got a clue how old she is. Older than my father, surely.”

“Telm?” Laeder choked out. “No, she’s no older than your father.”

“She was well established when my father came to the palace. He came from the north. Everything simply was: you don’t mess with Telm. And when I tell you that? It’s a warning, as well as what he was told when he first arrived.”

“Lovely. Investigate the woman who is basically the one who sits the throne, while you go off to your father’s for the winter safe and sound?” Laeder asked.

“I also need you to send me missives on anything you find,” he said. “I will be pressing my father for information as well. To see what I can find out, if he knows something that he’s thus far neglected to mention.”

“Is there anything in particular that you want me to focus my research on?” Laeder asked. “A specific event in time? Or would you like to know how many times she ate her own boogers right up to who took her virginity?”

Jer pointed a finger at Laeder. “I’m not sure she’s gone through that.”

“But…” Laeder struggled a moment with the idea, “she’s… old. All old people have gone through that.”

“Telm’s never shown interest in anyone,” he said. “Not man, not woman. Not a child. She cares for her girls, but I wouldn’t even say that’s love.”

The information churned over in his mind. What he had seen that morning was a damaged woman looking for help. Telm was too proud to ask. She was too stubborn to answer his questions, had he asked.

“Nothing specific, then?” Laeder asked.

“She’s talked often of an amulet that her mother gave her. It keeps her off the throne, allows her to sidestep the choice,” Jer said. “For the longest time I thought she was being sly, but I believe today I saw it. It’s about as round as your inkwell there. A polished red stone with dark through it. I don’t even know what it would be called. The lines almost seem to make shapes. I thought it a ruby.”

“What did she say about it?” Laeder asked, searching for a scrap of paper.

“Not a ruby, I’ve never seen anything like it. The chain was strange as well. It looked as if it had been scorched in a fire. Telm isn’t the sort to wear a chain that’s been burned, she would have cleaned it,” Jer muttered the last more to himself than to Laeder.

“Metal melts in fire, especially silver,” Laeder said. “Red rock, black chain.”

“Stone, it’s a stone. A rock is common stuff, queen’s stone is not a rock. What that amulet is made out of is most definitely not a rock. I don’t like it.”

“Makes warriors bristle,” Laeder muttered, jotting down notes. “That could help narrow the search. Any idea where Telm is from? Just a general area? She appears to be the quintessential palace lands woman. No telling bloodline.”

“No, though if you’re going to find trouble it’ll be in the northwest,” he said. “Probably this side of the northern border. This side of the western border as well, now that I think about it. If she had done something in another land, the barons would recall, no doubt.”

“Meaning your father would know?” Laeder asked.

“Exactly,” Jer said.

Laeder finished scrawling something out and then set the paper aside. “Now, what’s going on, specifically about this?”

Jer glanced around to be certain that no one was listening in on their conversation. He leaned forward, motioning for Laeder to do the same. “Aren’s headed to the northwest. This concerns Telm. She says we all did stupid things in our youth, but that there was only one Em.”

“Meaning she compares what she did, to what’s gone on between you and Em?” Laeder said, his voice becoming higher as he spoke. “But she manipulated you and stole eighteen years of your life. And, and…”

“Telm is practically harmless. She wouldn’t do anything that might cause trouble.” Jer paused to nod. “Yes, absolutely, I could see her being violent in order to protect someone. But she didn’t learn how to fight until my father came to court. Whatever is going on? Happened before that. If it happened after we arrived, I’d know about it.”

Laeder considered. The scribe was silent for a very long time before he made a face and focused on Jer.

“You’re telling me that a nice, older woman came to you and told you that Aren was in the northwest, insinuating that it had something to do with her past, that no one knows about, or at the very least aren’t talking about? That this happened just days after Aren left? The Aren who is infected, was taken by the throne, and then forced to run by the throne. To the northwest. And you aren’t worried?”

“Why would I be worried? Telm doesn’t have a great deal of magic. She doesn’t go off on holidays without warning. There are no rumours of a crazy woman who slaughters people randomly. What could she possibly have done?”

“More concerning, what did she do, that the throne decided that was the first thing Aren should deal with?” Laeder asked. “That specific problem?”

“It’s probably not that big of a deal. I’d just really like to know the history of the woman I’ll be working with from now on.” Jer shrugged, trying to dismiss his own fear.

Laeder shook his head. “Short of, the throne is doing this as a favour to Telm because she’s served long, I can’t see a solution to this that doesn’t end in you crying and Telm with more blood on her hands.”

“Why? She wouldn’t harm you for looking into her past, just stop you from continuing to do so.”

“The blood is yours, because she’ll tear your fun bits off,” Laeder said.

“Why my fun bits?” Jer asked.

“Because killing you straight out for invading her privacy wouldn’t be enough,” Laeder said. “She’d want to make certain you’d survive into old age and that you suffered greatly for your treatment of her. Say what you will about Telm, but you push her and she will mess you up. And I’m not talking ‘letter opener to the leg,’ mess you up.”

“How did you hear about that?” Jer asked.

“About what?” Laeder asked.

“Telm stabbing a lord with a letter opener,” Jer said.

“She actually did that? Oh, well, I don’t think she’s the type to use the same weapon twice.” Laeder glanced down at the small blade he used to sharpen his quills, then back up to Jer. “You’re sure she won’t stab me for this?”

“Just tell her that I told you to do it. Everything will come down on me. I promise.”