The Fool helped the King into a thick woolen robe and knelt to slipper his feet. Shrewd settled into his chair by the fire and set his wineglass on the table at his elbow. Older. Much older. But the King I had reported to so often in my youth once more held council before me. Suddenly I wished I could be the one speaking to him tonight. This sharp-eyed old man might actually hear out my reasons for wishing to wed Molly. I felt a new roiling of anger at Wallace for the habits he had led my king into.
But this was not my time. Despite the King's informality, Verity and Kettricken were strung tight as bowstrings. The Fool and I brought chairs that they might be seated to either side of Shrewd. I stood behind Verity and waited.
'Tell it simply,' Shrewd requested of Verity, and he did. Kettricken's scrolls were unfurled one at a time, and Verity read aloud the pertinent passages. The old map was studied at length. Shrewd did nothing but ask questions at first, making no comments or judgments until he was sure he had from them every scrap of information. The Fool stood at his elbow, alternately beaming at me and making terrible faces at Verity's page in an attempt to make the petrified boy at least smile. I think it more likely he frightened the lad. Rosemary forgot entirely where she was and wandered off to toy with the tassels on the bed curtains.
When Verity had finished speaking, and Kettricken had added her comments, the King leaned back in his chair. He drained the bit of wine that was still in his glass, then held it out to the Fool to refill. He took a sip, sighed, then shook his head. 'No. There is too much of pecksies and nursery tales to this for you to undertake it right now, Verity. You have shown me enough to make me believe it worth our while to send an emissary there. A man of your choosing, with a fitting entourage, gifts, and letters from you and me to confirm he is there at our behest. But yourself, the King-in-Waiting? No. We have not the resources to spare just now. Regal was at me earlier today, going over the costs of the new ships being built, and the fortifying of the towers on Antler Island. Money is becoming scarce. And it might not make the folk feel safe to have you leave the city.'
'I do not flee, I leave on a quest. A quest with their benefit as my goal. And I leave behind my queen-in- waiting, to represent me to them while I am gone. I did not have in mind a caravan with minstrels and cooks and embroidered tents, sir. We would be traveling on snowy roads, going into the heart of winter itself. I would take a military contingent, and travel as soldiers do. As I always have.'
'And you think this would impress the Elderlings? If you find them? If they ever existed at all?'
'Legend has it that King Wisdom went on his own. I believe the Elderlings existed, and that he found them. If I fail, I will return, to take up again with my Skilling and my warships. What will we have lost? If I succeed, I bring back a powerful ally.'
'And if you die in the seeking?' Shrewd asked heavily.
Verity opened his mouth to reply. But before he could speak, the sitting room door was flung open and Regal boiled into the room. His face was flushed. 'What goes on here? Why was I not informed of this council?' He shot me a venomous look. Behind him, Wallace peeked in at the door.
Verity permitted himself a small smile. 'If you were not informed by your spies, why are you here now? Rebuke them that you did not know sooner, not me.' Wallace's head jerked back out of sight.
'Father, I demand to know what goes on here!' Regal very nearly stomped his foot. Behind Shrewd, the Fool mimicked Regal's facial expression. At this, Verity's page finally smiled, but then his eyes widened and he straightened his face.
King Shrewd addressed Verity instead. 'Is there a reason that you wished Prince Regal excluded from this discussion?'
'I did not see that it concerned him.' He paused. 'And I wished to be sure the decision reached was exclusively your own.' Verity, faithful to his name.
Regal hackled, his nostrils pinching white, but Shrewd held up a hand to quell him. Again he spoke only to Verity. 'Does not concern him? But on whom would fall the mantle of authority while you were gone?'
Verity's eyes went icy. 'My queen-in-waiting would represent my reign, of course. You wear the mantle of authority still, my king.'
'But if you did not return?..'
'I am sure my brother could adapt to that situation at a moment's notice.' Verity did not bother to mask the dislike in his voice. I knew then how deep the poison of Regal's treacheries had worked into him. Whatever bond they had ever shared as brothers was eaten away by it. Solely rivals, now. Shrewd heard it, too, I did not doubt. I wondered if he was surprised at all by it. If he was, he covered it well.
As for Regal, his ears had pricked up at the mention of Verity leaving. He now stood as avariciously alert as a dog begging at table. He spoke just a moment too soon to have any ring of sincerity to his voice. 'If someone would explain to me where Verity is going, perhaps I could speak for myself as to what I might be ready to assume.'
Verity kept his tongue. Clear-browed and silent, he looked at his father.
'Your brother' — the phrase sounded a bit heavy to my ears — 'wishes me to grant him leave for a quest. He wishes to go, and soon, to the Rain Wilds beyond the Mountain Kingdom. To seek out the Elderlings and obtain from them the help once promised us.'
Regal's eyes went owly. I don't know if he could not believe in the notion of Elderlings, or if he could not believe the quantity of good fortune he had suddenly been dealt. He licked his lips.
'I, of course, have forbidden it.' Shrewd watched Regal as he said it.
'But why?' Regal demanded. 'Surely all courses must be considered…'
'The expense is prohibitive. Did not you report to me, just a short time ago, that the building of the warships and the manning and provisioning of them have all but drained our reserves?'
Regal's eyes flickered as swiftly as a snake's tongue. 'But I have had the rest of the harvest reports since then, Father. I had not known they would be so good. Funds could be found. Provided he was willing to travel simply.'
Verity breathed out through his nose. 'I thank you for your consideration, Regal. I had not realized such decisions were your province.'
'I but advise the King, just as you do,' Regal pointed out hastily.
'You do not think sending an emissary would be the more sensible thing to do?' Shrewd probed. 'What would the people think of their king-in-waiting leaving Buckkeep at such a time, and on such an errand?'
'An emissary?' Regal appeared to consider it. 'I think not. Not for all we must ask. Do not the legends say that King Wisdom went himself? What do we know of these Elderlings? Do we dare take a chance of sending an underling to offend them? In this, no, I believe the son of the King at least is called for. As for his leaving Buckkeep… well, you are the King, and you are still here. As would his wife be.'
'My queen,' Verity growled, but Regal continued speaking.
'And I. Buckkeep would hardly be abandoned. And the errand itself? It might capture the people's imagination. Or, if you choose, the reason for his going might be kept quiet. It could be seen as a simple visit to our allies the Mountain folk. Especially if his wife went along.'
'My queen remains here.' Verity used her title pointedly. 'To represent my reign. And to protect my interests.'
'Do not you trust our father to do that?' Regal asked blandly.
Verity held his tongue, and looked at the old man in his chair by the fire. The question in his look was plain to anyone with eyes. Can I trust you? it asked him. But Shrewd, true to his name, replied only with a question of his own.
'You have heard Prince Regal's thoughts on this undertaking. And mine. You know your own. Given these counsels, what do you now wish to do?'
I blessed Verity then, for he now turned and looked only at Kettricken. No nod, no whisper passed between them. But he turned back to his father with their accord. 'I wish to go to the Rain Wilds beyond the Mountain Kingdom. And I wish to leave as soon as possible.'
As King Shrewd slowly nodded, my heart fell into the pit of my belly. But behind his chair, the Fool turned back flips across the room, and then cartwheeled back, to stand as attentively behind him as if he had never moved. Regal was unsettled by this. But as Verity knelt to kiss King Shrewd's hand and thank him for his permission, the smile that spread across Regal's face was wide enough to engulf a shark.
There was little more to the council. Verity wished to leave in seven days. Shrewd accepted it. He wished to choose his own entourage. Shrewd accepted that, though Regal looked thoughtful. I was not pleased, when the
