The King took the letter. He opened it. Alberon’s writing was firm and neat; it took up barely a page. The King read it twice, then placed it on the table. He turned it, obviously intending Razi to read. Wynter leaned discreetly forward, reading from a distance.
Father,
I am a dull, knot-headed boy – did my tutors not always tell you thus? I have no power over words, unless I speak with soldiers, who seem to understand me well enough. You have always wished it were not so. I have wished so myself. Next to my clever brother, I am a toad. But you and I found our common ground this last five years, did we not? In all that horror, you found a pride in me, and a use for my own peculiar strengths. Though I wish it had not been in such a manner as war, I was glad to be of service to you. That I could help protect your wonderful hopes for our people’s future.
I am doing this still. I wish I had the power to persuade you of it, to convince you and make you understand. I have waited and waited for Razi’s return, knowing he would be the one to put into words that which between us has only ended in screaming and blows.
If I could take all the curs who threaten this kingdom and pile their heads at your feet, I would do it. I wish only to be your guardian. I wish only to be your strong right hand. I believe in this kingdom and that which you wish to do with it. Listen to Razi. He will assure you of it.
Wynter tells me you may have destroyed my things. I hope you preserved her letters (they are in my red leather trunk). It is their influence that has me sitting now, cramping my fingers and my brain in this clumsy effort to speak. It was easier than I thought it would be – perhaps you and I should only ever have written notes? Certainly it may have prevented a few black eyes.
I will leave off now. I pray we meet on friendly ground.
Alberon
Father, one last thing, perhaps we could allow Wyn to keep her gypsy? He seems an unlikely fellow, but Razi is fond of him.
There was a long moment’s silence. Wynter reached forward without thinking and placed her fingers on the parchment. Oh, Albi.
The King immediately slid the letter out from beneath her fingertips. She did not look up at him, could not look up at him, and so she did not see where he put it. His voice was very quiet when he said, ‘Sit down, boy.’ Razi sat. ‘Child,’ Jonathon turned to Wynter, ‘get the captain to brew some coffee. Tell him to bring us something to eat.’
Wynter moved to the door, and as she ducked outside to get the King his food, Jonathon pulled Alberon’s folder to him and unlaced the ties.
DAY ELEVEN:
AN UNDERSTANDING
WYNTER SIPPED coffee and watched the King read. It was the first time she had ever seen the man working, and she was astonished at how quickly he processed the tightly packed manuscripts, how immersed he became in their contents. He had a very particular method, which interested and intrigued her. First he would scan the document at incredible speed, reading from beginning to end, his brows furrowed. Then he would straighten the pages, tap them into alignment and work his way through again, pausing at relevant passages. He would take notes on a separate sheet. Sometimes he marked the original papers in some way, underlining sentences, ticking words, ringing whole paragraphs of the text. When he was happy that he had squeezed every jot of information from one document, Jonathon would pass it to Razi, bidding him read it and its notes, and then he would move on to the next.
During the course of this intense period of concentration, the King drank two or more pots of tar-black coffee and demolished a manchet loaf with olive oil and cheese. Razi read in frowning silence. He seemed to be absorbing information afresh, seeing all the various angles as if for the very first time, but he couldn’t add much to Jonathon’s deliberations. Indeed, the King seemed to offer the documents more for his son’s benefit than for anything else.
Occasionally the men would ask Wynter to fetch ink or food. Occasionally they would ask for her recollections of Razi and Alberon’s conversations. But mostly they