The Princess Crown Royal was due to give her public address that afternoon, to tell her people to prepare to put the country on a war footing. The speech Iagin had written for her very carefully said no more than that, and that was good even if nothing else was.
‘She will be alone this time,’ Vogel said, addressing us all in the mess at the house of law. ‘Everything has been prepared, and her maids are dressing her hair as we speak.’
All except Ilse, anyway. She hadn’t joined us, but then she seldom did.
Iagin frowned.
‘Alone? Is that wise, sir?’
Vogel made a dismissive gesture. ‘Her thirteenth nameday draws ever closer, and with it the time for her official coronation. She needs to be seen as a monarch in her own right. No longer can she hide in the shadow of her regent, in public at least. She has memorised the speech, of course?’
‘Aye,’ Iagin said, ‘it’s been drilled into her until she could recite it in her sleep. All the same, I think—’
‘Enough,’ Vogel cut him off. ‘She will be our queen soon enough, Iagin, the monarch to whom we are all sworn. The people need to see that, and get used to the idea. A simple prepared statement is not beyond her.’
‘If she can stay awake long enough,’ Ailsa murmured.
‘Mmmm,’ Vogel said. ‘Find her personal physician, Ailsa. This Doctor . . . Almanov, or whatever his name is. Have him take a look at her before she makes her appearance on the balcony. See if she needs her medicine adjusting beforehand.’
Ailsa nodded in assent. What more could any of us do than that?
See if she needs more drugs, or different drugs, or drugs to lessen the effects of the last lot of drugs we gave her, that was what he was saying. I remembered my investiture, and the court reception that had followed. I remembered the queen’s funeral, and what Billy had told me, and I thought of just how unstable the Princess Crown Royal truly was. The cocktail of drugs that kept her at least partially controllable seemed to be something her physicians made up on a daily basis, with success or failure a matter of luck as much as judgement.
She shines.
I pushed that thought away. I dreaded to think, truly I did, what would happen when she took the throne in her own right. If she dismissed her doctors, dismissed Vogel even, who could gainsay her? Who could say ‘no’ to a queen, in a city like Dannsburg?
No one.
I was only trying to make them pretty. Burn, you witch!
It didn’t bear thinking about.
‘Of course, my lord,’ Ailsa said, and gave Vogel a respectful nod. ‘Come with me, Tomas?’
She wanted to talk, I could see that.
‘Aye, if you like,’ I said.
I followed her out of the mess and down the corridor. She walked quickly, and I said nothing until we were halfway down a flight of stairs.
‘Do you think—’ I started, but she cut me off with a sharp look.
‘We’ll take my carriage,’ she said. ‘I dislike riding, as you know.’
‘Aye,’ I said, and only then did I notice the junior clerk standing close to his open office door.
One of Vogel’s, perhaps, or maybe Iagin’s. In Dannsburg the Queen’s Men watched everyone. In the house of law the Queen’s Men themselves were watched closer than anyone, and mostly by each other. I should know that well enough by now, I told myself. This was still Ailsa’s element more than it was mine, even now. This world of intrigue and constant suspicions was a far cry from what I had known.
I was a soldier; I was used to sides and uniforms and knowing at a glance who was your friend and who wasn’t. I was used to the harsh reality of the front line, where those behind you were your support and those before you your enemies, and it was as simple as that. In the house of law, that line could become very blurred indeed.
We headed down more stairs and out into the stable yard behind the great building, where Ailsa’s carriage was waiting. Beast was waiting with our horses, and I had him join Ailsa’s footmen in clinging to the backboard of the carriage. I didn’t know why, exactly, but perhaps some whisper of Our Lady’s told me I wanted him with me.
I held my peace until we were inside and she had given orders to her coachman to take us to the side entrance to the palace.
‘What is it?’ I asked at last, when I was sure the noise of the horses’ hooves on the cobbles and the creaking of the carriage’s springs would cover the sound of my words.
‘When did you last see Doctor Almanov?’ Ailsa asked quietly.
I thought for a moment, and shrugged. I didn’t often mix with the private physicians of members of the royal family, after all. I remembered seeing him at the Jolly Joker a few weeks ago, but that was all.
‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘I’m not exactly close to him.’
‘Well, I am, or at least in frequent contact with him if nothing else, for obvious reasons. And I can’t remember when I last saw him either. With everything that’s happened these last few weeks . . . well.’
‘Aye, we’ve been busy,’ I said, which was something of an understatement. ‘What does it matter?’
‘It probably doesn’t,’ she said. ‘I’m sure I’m worrying about nothing. Do you know what the time is?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘Some time past noon.’
My stomach said it was an hour or more past noon and I should eat something, but as was so often the way it seemed there
