Id have thought youd be happy, Mother, he said. He was, after all, trying to flee the kingdom after running out of the marriage you arranged.
That was true, but it didnt change anything. If I wanted Sebastian stopped, I would have ordered it, she said. You will release him at once.
As you say, Mother, Rupert said, and again the Dowager had the feeling that he was anything but sincere.
Rupert, let me be clear about this. Your actions today have placed all of us in great danger. Ordering the army around as you will? Imprisoning the heir to the throne without authority? What do you think that will look like to the Assembly of Nobles?
Damn them! Rupert said, the words bursting out. I have enough of them for this.
You cant afford to damn them, the Dowager said. The civil wars taught us that. We must work with them. And the fact that you talk as if you own a faction of them worries me, Rupert. You need to learn your place.
She could see his anger now, no longer disguised as it had been.
My place is as your heir, he said.
Sebastians place is as my heir, the Dowager shot back. Yours the mountain lands require a governor to limit their raids southward. Perhaps life among the shepherds and the farmers will teach you humility. Or perhaps not, and at least you will be far enough away from here for me to forget my anger with you.
You cant
I can, the Dowager snapped back. And just for arguing, it will not be the mountain lands, and you will not be a governor. You will go to the Near Colonies, where you will act as an assistant to my envoy there. He will provide regular reports on you, and you will not return until I deem you ready.
Mother Rupert began.
The Dowager fixed him in place with a look. She could still do that, even if her body was crumbling.
Speak again, and you will be a clerk in the Far Colonies, she snapped. Now get out, and I expect to see Sebastian here by the end of the day. He is my heir, Rupert. Do not forget that.
Trust me, Mother, Rupert said as he left. I have not.
The Dowager waited until he was gone, then snapped her fingers at the nearest servant.
There is still one more annoyance to be dealt with. Bring me Milady dAngelica, then leave.
***
Angelica was still wearing her wedding dress when the guard came to her, summoning her to speak with the queen. He gave her no time to change, but merely escorted her briskly to her receiving chambers.
To Angelica, the old woman looked worn paper thin. Perhaps she would die soon. Just the thought of that had Angelica hoping that Sebastian would be found quickly, and made to go through with the wedding. There was too much at stake for it not to happen, in spite of the betrayal she currently felt at him running away.
She bobbed into a curtsey, then knelt as she felt the weight of the Dowagers gaze upon her. The old woman rose from her seat unsteadily, only emphasizing the difference in their positions.
Explain to me, the Dowager said, why I am not currently congratulating you on your wedding to my son.
Angelica dared to look up at her. Sebastian ran. How was I to know that he would run?
Because you are not supposed to be stupid, the Dowager retorted.
Angelica felt a thrill of anger at that. This old woman loved playing games with her, seeing how far she could push. Soon, though, she would be in a position where she didnt need the old womans approval.
I took every step I could, Angelica said. I seduced Sebastian.
Not thoroughly enough! the Dowager shouted, stepping forward to slap Angelica.
Angelica half rose, then felt strong hands pushing her down again. The guard had remained standing behind her, just a reminder of how helpless she was here. For the first time there, Angelica felt afraid.
If you had seduced my son completely, he wouldnt have been trying to get away from here, to Ishjemme, the Dowager said, in a calmer tone. What is in Ishjemme, Angelica?
Angelica swallowed, answering out of reflex. Sophia is.
That did nothing but stoke the other womans anger.
So my son was doing exactly what I told you to stop him from doing, the Dowager said. I told you that the whole point of your continued existence was to prevent him from marrying that girl.
You didnt tell me that she was the oldest daughter of the Danses, Angelica said, or that theyre claiming her as the rightful ruler of this kingdom.
This time, Angelica held firm for the Dowagers slap. She would be strong. She would find a way out of this. She would find a way to put that old woman on her knees before this was done.
I am the rightful ruler of this kingdom, the Dowager said. And my son will be after me. But if he marries her, that brings their kind in through the back door. It returns the kingdom to what it was, a place ruled by magic.
That was one thing Angelica could agree with her on. She had no love for those who could look into minds. If the Dowager could have seen into hers, no doubt she would have stabbed her simply as an act of self-preservation.
Im intrigued as to how you know all this, the Dowager said.
I have a spy in Ishjemme, Angelica said, determined to show her usefulness. If she could show that she was still useful, this could still turn out to her advantage. A noble there. I have been in contact with him for some time.
So, you collude with a foreign power? the Dowager asked. With a family that has no love for me?
Not that, Angelica said. I seek information. And I may have already solved the problem with Sophia.
The Dowager didnt respond to that, merely left a gap into which Angelica felt she had to pour words before it claimed her.
Endi has sent an assassin to kill her, Angelica said. And I have hired one of my own should that fail. Even if he should reach there, Sebastian wont find Sophia waiting for him.
He will not reach there, the Dowager said. Rupert has imprisoned him.
Imprisoned him? Angelica said. You must
Do not tell me what I must do!
The Dowager looked down at her, and now Angelica felt true terror.
You have been a snake from the start, the Dowager said. You tried to force my son into marriage by trickery. You sought to advance yourself at the expense of my family. You are a woman who hires assassins and spies, who kills those who stand against her. While I thought you might keep my son from his deluded attachment to this girl, I could stomach that. No more.
It is no worse than you have done, Angelica insisted. She knew as soon as she said it that it was the wrong thing to say.
A nod from the Dowager, and the guards hands were dragging Angelica roughly to her feet.
I have only ever acted as I needed to in order to preserve my family, the Dowager said. Every death, every compromise, was so that my sons would not be killed by someone else eager to seize power. Someone like you. You act only for yourself, and you will die for it.
No, Angelica said, as if that one word had the power to stop it. Please, I can make this right.
Youve had your chances, the Dowager said. If my son will not marry you willingly, Ill not force him to bed down with a spider like you.
The Assembly of Nobles my family
Youve had your chances, the Dowager said. If my son will not marry you willingly, Ill not force him to bed down with a spider like you.
The Assembly of Nobles my family
Oh, I probably cant truly have you wearing the mask of lead for your actions, the Dowager said, but there are other ways. Your fiancé has just abandoned you. Your queen has just spoken to you harshly. In retrospect, I should have seen how upset you were, how fragile
No, Angelica said again.
The Dowager looked past her, to the guard. Take her to the roof and throw her off it. Make it look as though she jumped from grief at losing Sebastian. Make sure you are not seen.
Angelica tried to beg, tried to fight her way clear, but already those strong hands were pulling her backward. She did the only thing she could, and screamed.
CHAPTER FIVE
Rupert stewed as he walked along Ashtons streets, toward its docks. He should have been riding down the streets to the cries of a loving populace, celebrating his victory. He should have had the common folk cheering his name and throwing flowers. There should have been women along the route eager to throw themselves at him, and young men jealous that they could never be him.
Instead, there were only damp streets and people going about whatever dreary business peasants got up to when they werent cheering for their betters.
Your highness, is everything all right? Sir Quentin Mires asked. He walked as one of a dozen soldiers who had been chosen to accompany him, probably to make sure that he got to the ship without wandering off. Probably with orders to get Sebastians location before he left. It wasnt even close to the same thing. It wasnt even enough for an honor guard, not really.
No, Sir Quentin, Rupert said. Everything is not all right.
He should have been the hero in this moment. Hed single-handedly stopped the invasion, when his mother and his brother had been too cowardly to do what was needed. Hed been the prince that the kingdom had required in that moment, and what was he getting for it?
What is it even like in the Near Colonies? he demanded.
Im told that their islands vary, your highness, Sir Quentin said. Some are rocky, some are sandy, others have swamps.
Swamps, Rupert repeated. My mother has sent me to help rule over swamps.
Im told that there is a wide variety of wildlife there, Sir Quentin said. Some of the kingdoms men of the natural sciences spend years there in the hopes of making discoveries.
So infested swamps? Rupert said. You do know that you arent making this better, Sir Quentin? He decided to ask the important questions, checking things off on his fingers as he went. Are there any good gambling parlors there? Famed courtesans? Notable local drinks?
Im told the wine is
Damn the wine! Rupert snapped back, unable to help himself. Normally, he did a better job of remembering to be the golden prince that everyone expected. Forgive me, Sir Quentin, but the quality of the wine or the plentiful wildlife will not make up for the fact that I am exiled in all but name.
The other man bowed his head. No, your highness, of course not. You deserve better.
That was a statement so obvious as to be useless. Of course he deserved better. He was the elder of the princes and the rightful heir to the throne. He deserved everything that this kingdom had to offer.
Ive half a mind to tell my mother that I wont go, Rupert said. He glanced around at Ashton. Hed never thought that he would miss a stinking, squalid city like this.
That might be unwise, your highness, Sir Quentin said, in that special voice he had that probably meant he was trying to avoid calling Rupert an idiot. He probably thought Rupert didnt notice. People tended to think he was stupid, until it was too late.
I know, I know, Rupert said. If I stay, I risk execution. Do you actually think that my mother would execute me?
The pause was too long as Sir Quentin searched for the next words.
You do. You actually think that my mother would execute her own son.
She does have a certain reputation for ruthlessness, the courtier pointed out. Honestly, was this the way men with connections in the Assembly of Nobles talked all the time? And even if she did not actually go through with your execution, those around you might be vulnerable.
Ah, so its your own hide that youre worried about, Rupert said. That made more sense to him. People, he found, mostly looked after their own interests. It was a lesson hed learned early. I would have thought that your contacts in the Assembly would keep you safe, especially after a victory like this.
Sir Quentin shrugged. In a month or two, perhaps. We have the support now. But for the moment, they are still talking about the overreach of royal power, about you acting without their consent. In the time it took for them to change their minds, a man might lose his head.
Sir Quentin might lose his anyway if he suggested that Rupert somehow needed permission to do what he wanted. He was the man who would become king!
And of course, even if she did not execute you, your highness, your mother might imprison you, or send you off to a worse place with guards to make sure that you arrived safely.
Rupert gestured pointedly at the men who surrounded him, marching along in step with him and Sir Quentin.
I thought that was what was happening already?
Sir Quentin shook his head. These men are among those who fought beside you against the New Army. They respect the boldness of your decision, and wanted to see that you did not leave alone, without the honor of an escort.
So it was an honor guard. Rupert wasnt sure that he could have taken it for one. Even so, now that he cared to look around at them, he saw that most of the men there were officers rather than common soldiers, and that most of them seemed happy to be accompanying him. It was closer to the kind of adulation that Rupert wanted, but it still wasnt enough to offset the stupidity of what his mother had done to him.
It was a humiliation, and, knowing his mother, a calculated one.
They reached the docks. Rupert had been expecting that for this at least there would be a grand fighting ship waiting, cannon firing a salute to him in acknowledgment of his status, if nothing else.
Instead, there was nothing.
Where is the ship? Rupert demanded, looking around. As far as he could see, the docks were merely bustling with the usual selection of ships, merchants getting back to their trade after the retreat of the New Army. Hed have thought that they, at least, would thank him for his efforts, but they seemed too busy trying to earn their coin.
I believe the ship is there, your highness, Sir Quentin said, pointing.
No, Rupert said, following the line of the other mans pointing finger. No.
The boat was a tub, suitable for a merchants journey, perhaps, and already partly loaded with goods for the journey back to the Near Colonies. It was anything but suitable to carry a prince.
It is a little less than grand, Sir Quentin said. But I believe Her Majesty thought that traveling without attention would lower the chances of danger along the way.
Rupert doubted that his mother had been thinking about pirates. Shed been thinking about what would make him the least comfortable, and shed done a good job of judging it.