His Majesty! He knows best.”
Hansen has the grace to look sheepish at this. Even he would agree that knowing best is not one of his strong suits.
“I’m afraid that I have urgent business elsewhere,” Hansen says, and nods to me. “Her Majesty is more than capable of representing our views and setting a course of action.”
For him, urgent business means the stables or the dog kennels, I suspect, where a new horse or hound has arrived. The Winter Races loom, I’m told, though all these Montrician festivities are new to me. It’s a series of horse races that sound chaotic and dangerous, and it’s one of the highlights of my husband’s year.
“The queen and I are in perfect agreement on all issues now.”
He flashes a significant glance at the duke, who looks smug.
“We’re on the same part of the scroll, as it were. Everything moving ahead with us in harmony on all things. Are we not, my love?”
I just look at him.
Hansen whistles to his dogs and they rise and stretch, shaking off sleep, tongues lolling. They’re handsome beasts, really, but I hope they’re more active when Hansen is out in the forest, riding to the hunt. In the castle they’re like overgrown pups.
I take Hansen’s seat and wave him away when he tries to push my chair closer to the table.
“Gentlemen,” I say, before the Duke of Auvigne can launch into one of his pompous speeches. “As the Chief Scribe has said, something strange and terrible has happened in the castle. My personal priest, Father Juniper, has been murdered—”
“Found dead, Your Majesty,” says the duke, because he can never resist interrupting me and showing the others that he knows better.
“Murdered,” I repeat, nose in the air. “It has been confirmed by Martyn. There’s a black chalkiness on Father Juniper’s face that the physician believes might be a new form of poison. Or the result of dark magic.”
I see the long glances exchanged between the duke and Lord Burley.
“Just as I warned!” says Daffran, indignant. “I told you that dark magic was afoot, and now we have paid the price for our complacency. Poor Father Juniper. Someone must have slipped past the guards. They should be put to death!”
“We can’t afford to lose any more fighting men,” the duke snaps. “The priest might have eaten bad food or inhaled some of that foul ink you all use. Maybe one of your scribes is to blame!”
“My scribes are men of the utmost integrity,” Daffran says, his face shocked and his eyes, the color of weeds, bulging from his head. “I have been inhaling that foul ink, as you call it, for years, with no ill effects.”
“Really?” The duke leans back in his chair. “There must be some reason all of you in the tower seem to be losing your hair.”
“Gentlemen!” I say in my sharpest tone. “Whatever the cause, Martyn will identify it. But we appear to have a serious breach of security to confront. The sanctity of my private chapel has been violated. Someone close to me has been killed, not long after Daffran reported suspicious activity in the tower. We will investigate the murder immediately.”
The duke makes a strangled noise that he pretends is a cough. I know that he would much prefer to be the one ordering investigations. He’s used to Hansen being compliant and disinterested. Too bad. I’m not Hansen, and it’s time I asserted my regal authority.
“If my own Assassin was here,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm. “If he was here, he would be the most fitting person for this role. In his absence, we will have to make do with the captain of the guard. It’s to him that my orders have been issued.”
The duke’s response is not at all what I was expecting.
“Very wise, ma’am,” he says. “This is indeed a serious matter. Your safety is of utmost concern to us.”
I make no reply. The duke is up to something. He’s never agreed with me once since my marriage to Hansen.
“Utmost concern,” Lord Burley echoes. “I’m so glad that Your Majesty grasps the peril that surrounds you.”
“Surrounds us, surely,” I say, and they all nod over and over, in an almost dizzying way.
“Surrounds me in particular, as I live in the tower,” says Daffran. “And therefore I’m in immediate danger. Which everyone here seems to be overlooking. Not you, Your Majesty. Apologies.”
“Earlier, when His Majesty was here,” Lord Burley continues, “he told us the very happy news that you wish to