Igniting Darkness (Courting Darkness Duology #2) - Robin LaFevers Page 0,22

toward me than when I first arrived. Saints, please let it be so!

I want, more than anything, to prove my loyalty to her. To prove that it is still she and the convent I serve. “Your Majesty, there is something else you should know.”

She stares at me quizzically. “Yes?”

“The regent was glad that I had come back to court and thought to use me in a scheme of her own.”

The queen frowns. “What sort of scheme?”

It is all I can do not to squirm, not for my own sake but because it is still so hard to believe it of the regent. “She wished to install me in her brother’s bed. Only instead of asking clemency for the convent, she wished me to report everything I learned directly to her.”

The queen looks as if she will be sick. “She was the one who placed you in my husband’s bed?”

“No! As much as I would like to blame her for that, it was my own mistake entirely. But she was most invested in using the king’s interest in me for her own ends. I refused. My loyalty was only ever to the convent and Brittany. It was never for sale.”

She is quiet a long moment as she studies me, and I would give a sack of gold coins to know what she is truly thinking. “Thank you for telling me, Genevieve,” she says at last.

Her words bring a flood of relief rushing through my limbs. “The regent is as cunning and devious as a fox, and twice as dangerous. Her ruthlessness in securing the interests of the crown knows no bounds.”

“Oh, believe me, I am aware.” She falls quiet again, and so I wait. I do not know for what—a sentence, required penance, banishment? Or mayhap some task to perform to make it up to her. Instead, she simply dismisses me. Whether that will be the end of it or I must wait for whatever ax she plans to hang over my head, I do not know.

 Chapter 10

Sybella

It requires an enormous effort to keep from putting my ear to the door to listen to Genevieve and the queen’s meeting. Instead, I try to look as if I am not waiting, but here for a purpose. I pick up someone’s discarded embroidery hoop and begin stitching, my hands grateful for the small task.

Will the queen punish Genevieve? Banish her? Is that the best thing to be done with the girl? Hard to know if she can be trusted—not simply her loyalty, but her judgment. For all of Father Effram’s assurances that she meant well, it is difficult to imagine giving her a second chance.

Yet how many second chances have I been given?

The outer door opens, and I brace myself for the barbs from the regent’s ladies who attend the queen. My tension eases somewhat when I recognize Elsibet. At least until the look of concern on her face registers.

“My lady, they are looking for you.”

“They?”

“The steward. The king has requested your presence in his chamber at once.”

Merde. What new accusation can Fremin have dreamed up? “Thank you, Elsibet.” I frown at the queen’s door. “Would you please see that Genevieve is escorted back to her rooms when the queen is done with her? As discreetly as possible, if you please.”

* * *

There are two additional faces among the king’s retinue this morning. The Bishop of Albi and the Bishop of Narbonne appear to be part of his council now. This cannot bode well.

Just as he was two days ago, the king’s personal confessor is perched on his left shoulder. To his right stand General Cassel and the captain of the king’s personal guard, Captain Stuart. Beyond them, as if an afterthought—or a puppet master gently pulling the strings—is the regent. Foreboding unfurls inside me, sharpening my senses. Stall them, I remind myself. I must only stall them long enough that Beast can get the girls to the convent. After that, none of this will matter.

The steward escorts me to the middle of the room, then excuses himself. The king says nothing, but pins his gaze on me. “Monsieur Fremin tells me he has not found his men.”

The lawyer is looking faintly smug again. “I have not.”

The Bishop of Albi leans over and whispers something in the Bishop of Narbonne’s ear.

“And you, demoiselle? I presume you have not managed to locate them either?”

“No, sire, but I did learn that a large group rode out three days ago. Perhaps the stable master would be