I shall witness you. He will keep this safe, and you will leave England for a period of—what is your will, my lord?”
“Seven years, I think, will be sufficient.”
“Just so. If you return to England before that time, this will be used to condemn you, and I will not lift a finger to stop it. If you refuse to obey me of your own will, you must be made to obey. Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly,” I said woodenly. Cecil dipped a pen and I crossed to the table to draw a rather shaky K, then press my signet into the small puddle of wax he obligingly poured for me. When the wax cooled, he folded the page and put it with a handful of others, locked safely away in a small brassbound casket. “My lord, please, may I say goodbye to Southampton?” I had to see Hal once more, I had to.
“No.”
“It would make my sudden departure seem less suspicious.” He looked at me quizzically. “Not connected with you, I mean,” I gabbled and rushed on, a plan forming almost as I spoke the words. “We could stage a quarrel.” He thought about it and glanced at Geoffrey, who nodded slowly. The guards were summoned and told to escort me back to the earl’s cell.
Hal was pacing when I entered, and sank down on the chest that served him as both wardrobe and settle. I told him briefly what had occurred, and my hasty plan. He nodded, and I joined him on the chest—after all, it would look suspicious to begin a quarrel immediately. About a quarter-hour passed most pleasantly, and then we deemed it time to begin.
“I care not, you barbarian! Prince indeed! Prince of savages! Prince of churls!” Hal snorted.
Our angry voices roused the guards outside from their semi stupor. The bolt shot back and the press behind him pushed the foremost man into the room in spite of himself. We had squared off, apparently not caring who heard our quarrel.
“My family was nobly born when folk on this island were still painting themselves blue and baying at the moon!” I snapped back, and taking the cue, Hal yowled and threw himself into an attack. I caught him in mid-flight, keeping him from what could have been a painful fall, and we engaged in a short but enjoyable scuffle before the stunned guards separated us.
“Get you to hell!” Hal screamed after us.
“I’ll look for you there,” I retorted over my shoulder, as they hustled me down the corridor, and to the gate where Geoffrey awaited my arrival. The long ride to Chelsey was made in total silence. The queen was waiting for me. I slipped through the palace corridors as silently and unmarked as any ghost, fingering the ring that had summoned me. The weather, after the first teasing hint of spring, was bitter; even my chill vampire’s breath left its traces in the air. I found the room I was looking for and pushed the heavy door open, almost colliding with Cecil as he had turned to go. He followed me back into the room. The Queen’s gaze, icy as the draughts that rippled the hangings on the walls, met mine, then his. “You have our leave, my lord,” she said. “I must have speech in private.”
“That would be most unwise, your Majesty.”
“Do not think to school me, little man, at this late hour! I said go!” He fled then, stating that he would be awaiting me without.
Elizabeth sat perched on cushions in front of the fire that burned sullenly on the great hearth. She relaxed when she saw me, and patted the pillow beside her. She grinned at me, hiding her blackened teeth behind her hand. “I am happy that you came to me, cousin,” she went on. “I had feared that you would not.”
I raised the hand bearing the summoning ring. “How not, when you send me this. Whatever my faults may be, ingratitude is not among them, your Majesty.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “And yet you have visited with the Earl of Southampton in the Tower, against both my wishes and my express command. How is that?” Her tone was cold and remote.
“I had some matters to discuss with him, your Majesty, that I could commit neither to paper nor to emissary.”
“I trust than that the outcome was amicable?” Her eyes glittered with ruthless amusement, telling me that she knew the answer even before I spoke.
“No, your Majesty, it was not. We quarreled, and he