The King's Justice (22 page)

Frowning, she uncoiled a silken ire studded with barbs. “Do not think to refuse me, Alchemist. In matters that concern your life and your secrets, my rule is supreme. You have a supply of this
chrism
upon your person?”

From the depths of his self-regard, Opalt Intrix summoned a timorous nod.

She allowed him no pause for reflection. Holding out her hand, she commanded, “I will have it now.”

His dampness and pallor were such that I feared he might faint. It was fortunate for his dignity, then, that he remained standing. With quaking hands, he opened his robe, reached for a hidden pocket, and drew forth a leather pouch of a size to fill the palm of my hand.

“A lifetime's worth, Your Majesty,” he gasped thinly. “It is potent. Be sparing.”

Taking the pouch from him on the instant, my Queen untied its neck and peered within. “A powder,” she observed, doubtless for my benefit. Dipping one finger inward, she withdrew a few fulvous grains. When she had granted me a moment to regard them, she lifted her finger to her mouth and licked it.

“Tasteless,” she pronounced it—and after an interval during which her gaze appeared to absent itself, “Pleasurable.”

As though such actions were common between us, she offered the pouch to me.

There I found myself as frightened as the alchemist. I had prepared neither my expectations nor my resolve for such a test. I had scant confidence in my lineage. My gift—such as it
was—had not manifested itself in my immediate family, or in any of my relations. Nevertheless I recognized at once that both my service and my life depended upon my response. And during the space of a heartbeat I realized that I desired this test. If I wished to know how I might contrive to serve Indemnie as well as my Queen, I must first know myself.

In the corner, Excrucia had risen to her feet. However, she did not advance toward me or uncover herself.

After a moment's hesitance, I accepted the pouch. Emulating my sovereign's air of certainty, I used the tip of one finger to shift a minute portion of
chrism
from the pouch to my tongue. Then I closed my eyes to await the outcome.

When I opened them again, I met my Queen's gaze. “Tasteless,” I assented. More I could not say while an urge to gag choked me. When the impulse had passed, however, and I had swallowed a measure of bile, I was able to confess, “And sickening. Distinctly unpleasant.” In a limping tone, I added, “Fortunately the sensation is brief.”

Masked by shadows, Excrucia resumed her seat like a woman collapsing.

Two mysteries were thus revealed. We now knew the nature of the powder with which Baron Indolent had indirectly tainted Excrucia's wine. And I had confirmed that my blood lacked sufficient purity to forestall Indemnie's dooms.

In addition—a thought that occurred to me belatedly—I had discovered that Excrucia was concerned for my well-being. Previously I had gauged that she had allied herself with me
because my queries interested her, and perhaps also because she desired some use for her days that was not constrained or defined by her role as her mother's daughter. To believe that she valued my life for its own sake demanded an effort of which I had not then been capable.

For her part, Inimica Phlegathon deVry derived conclusions with a celerity that I could not match, and reached decisions as swiftly. To all appearances satisfied by my replies, she turned again to the alchemist.

“Opalt Intrix,” she commanded with the imperious calm of a monarch who had no cause to fear disobedience, “you are dismissed. Return to your labors. Say no word of our exchanges in this chamber. For the present, I have no further need of you.”

The alchemist's mouth opened and closed without issue. Another man might have offered some protest. This man may have wished to plead for the return of his
chrism
. But if his voice declined to serve him, his wits remained adequate to estimate the perils of his straits. Assisted by Slew's hand upon his shoulder, he jerked a bow. Without daring to raise his head, he backed toward the door, which Slew opened to expedite his departure.

When he was gone, my Queen stood silent a moment. Then she said in a musing tone, as though she spoke only to herself, “Now I comprehend Indolent's ploy. By testing my daughter's blood, he sought to determine whether she would suffice to command the support of Indemnie's alchemists in my absence. They would be loath to stand against a successor of pure lineage. But should her blood fail of purity, he could hope to win
some or all of them to his cause, and my rule would be at an end.”

So much I now understood. Seeking to comprehend more, I ventured cautiously, “Other attempts have been made as well, Your Majesty. Are they also Baron Indolent's doing?”

“No.” Her reply was a snap. “Indolent is too subtle for such crudeness. Plinth has honor, Panderman is besotted, and Venery's mouth betrays every intention. The instigator is Estobate. He aims high. My daughter's death would end the Phlegathon deVry line. Thereafter he conceives that he would supplant me, either by marriage or by force of arms, and the line of the Estobates would begin.

“He is deluded. He does not grasp—though his prompter Indolent does—that he cannot rule Indemnie without the fealty of alchemists and augurs.”

I did not contest her assertion. It conveyed conviction. Rather I dared to suggest, “Then, Your Majesty, we must speak further of alchemy.”

It was in my mind to urge the formation of an army for the Domicile's defense. Such an endeavor would require quantities of iron to match the equipage of Baron Estobate's men, and of Baron Plinth's.

But the force of my Queen's eyes—indeed of her entire manner—as she turned on me froze my thoughts in my head. She appeared to shout with rage, though in fact she spoke quietly.

“Must we, Hieronomer?”

I confess that I quailed before her—or I did so until I saw
that Excrucia had again risen to her feet. Whatever my friend's emotions may have been, her effect upon me was one of supplication. For her sake—or for ours—she appeared to ask of me that I stand firm.

By small increments, I squared my shoulders, straightened my spine. As well as I could, I faced Inimica Phlegathon deVry.

“You know this, Your Majesty.” My voice was a dry husk in my throat. “Throughout its history, Indemnie has relied upon alchemy. By the transformations of alchemy, we have become what we are. Without it, we cannot become more—a deed which we must accomplish, lest our dooms prove beyond our strength.”

Such boldness threatened to unseat my reason. However, my Queen did not respond as I anticipated. Still quietly, though she was rife with wrath, she inquired, “Throughout its history, Hieronomer? I had not known you so learned. Where have you found time to immerse yourself in study? The state of your laborium suggests neglect for the tasks which I require of you.”

To this query, I had no direct reply. I could not answer honestly without naming Excrucia, and I had already earned her more than enough of her mother's ire. Fear for her inspired me to a still greater boldness.

“Your Majesty, you digress. The
how
of my learning is without import. Only alchemy signifies. If we do not grasp its uses, we cannot turn it to our needs, and we will not long endure.”

Again my Queen's response mocked my expectations. In a tone of ice and harsh winds, she demanded, “
We
, Hieronomer?
I
rule here. Our fate is
mine
to determine.”

Her manner might have caused Thrysus Indolent himself to falter. In Excrucia's presence, I did not.

“
We
indeed, Your Majesty. I am your servant. Your needs, and Indemnie's, are mine as well. My scrying serves no further purpose. My best efforts discern no future which I have not previously beheld. Yet my desire to be of service remains. For that reason, I have interested myself in alchemy.”

“
Enough
, Mayhew,” she commanded, speaking yet more softly. I saw what I took for a glitter of dampness in her eyes, and for a moment her lower lip appeared to quiver. Ere I could be certain that she had betrayed so much access to her heart, however, she tightened every aspect of herself. Now stone of eye and compressed of mouth, she repeated, “Enough.”

While I gazed at her, and feared her, and sought to conceive some appeal that she might heed, she stepped close to me. Gripping my arm, she positively lowered her mouth to my ear. In the barest whisper—and yet distinctly, so that her words could not be mistaken—she breathed, “I have urged you to sacrifice a child for my sake. Do you name yourself my servant? Will you defy me in this?”

Standing as we were, I could not observe her mien. I could glance only at Excrucia's tense apprehension and Slew's cruel strength. For reasons of terror rather than of privacy, I was able to muster no more than a wisp of sound.

“I will. Take my head if you must. I will sacrifice my life for you, and for Indemnie, but I will not shed that of a child.”

Briefly Inimica Phlegathon deVry appeared to slump.
Holding me with one hand, she braced the other on my shoulder as though she lacked will to stand. However, her lapse was momentary. As self-command returned to her limbs, I strove to ready myself for death.

Still she did not release me. Her mouth remained at my ear. Soft and chill as the exhalation of a grave, she informed me, “Then I will demand more of you. Much more when the time requires it. Do you imagine that I have not consulted other hieronomers? Other augurs of every description? Catoptromancers, astrologists, interpreters of dreams? Do you suppose that I myself cannot scry?”
The gift is the gift
, and her blood was pure. “You have a gift which others do not, though your inheritance lacks purity. From this moment, you will undertake every effort and perform every deed that your service demands.

“Inform my daughter that my trust in her is absolute.”

While I struggled to comprehend her, staggered as I was by the realization that I had been spared, she left me. Swiftly she departed the chamber, taking Slew with her.

Thereafter I gaped at the iron of my door until relief and dismay overcame me, and I measured my length upon the floor.

L
ater I found Excrucia on her knees at my side, shaking my arm and whispering my name, and I understood that I had lost consciousness. My daring in my Queen's presence had exceeded my small firmness of character.

However, the sight of Excrucia's visage had an alchemist's power to transform my weakness. Seeing her unhooded, with a luxury of tresses beside her face, a sweet mouth, and open fright in her eyes, I had good cause to marvel that any man deemed her plain. And good cause also to rally my wits, for I apprehended that her mother had revealed much that disturbed her, much of which she had been ignorant of.

For a moment, I was nearly overcome by a desire to kiss my friend and ally—an affront as unpardonable as remaining seated before Inimica Phlegathon deVry. Fortunately I had now sufficient presence of mind to recall that I was merely a servant. Rather than risk further insult to the line of the Phlegathon deVrys, I offered Excrucia a smile which I intended as reassurance. Then I made shift to regain my feet.

Briefly my laborium appeared to reel, altered in every dimension by the aftermath of Opalt Intrix's disclosures. However, Excrucia held my arm until my walls and tables and drains regained their familiarity. Thereafter I was able to stand unaided, and to bow as I should, albeit somewhat unsteadily.

“Accept my thanks, Your Highness,” I pleaded in a shaken voice. “Excrucia. Friend. Your kindness exceeds my worth. I implore you to believe that I express my gratitude so poorly because I have no words adequate to the fullness of my heart.”

The moisture in her gaze was more explicit than her mother's fleeting weakness—explicit in that she made no effort to conceal it. “Oh, Mayhew,” she replied like a woman
shuddering, “what have you done? When you asked to speak with an alchemist, I did not foresee— And your daring—! I feared for your life, Mayhew! What did my mother say to you? I could not hear. It must have been terrible indeed to strike you down.”

To calm her, I cautioned wryly, “A breath, Excrucia. You must breathe. As I must.

“I could not have imagined that Her Majesty would enter here under any circumstance, and certainly not as she did. Her every word and deed surprised me utterly. As to her private commands, however, they were not terrible.” Deliberately I suppressed any mention of a child's life, or of my desperate defiance—or of my sovereign's unvindicated faith in me. “For reasons that I cannot fathom—though I suspect that they are a matter of deep policy—she did not address you. Yet her words to me were intended for you.

“She instructed me to assure you that her trust in you is absolute.”

“Oh, truly?” Excrucia's response was acid. “If trust she feels, she demonstrates it ill.” More anxiously, she continued, “You must speak of all that you have discovered. And I must confess that I have gleaned little.