gone. No sense to send a ship out now, or soldiers.'
'Too late to fight Raiders, perhaps. But what of those burned out in Ferry? A contingent of workers to help repair houses, some wagons of food…
'Says there's no coin for it.' Cook bit each word off separately. She began to break her dough into rolls and to slap each one down to rise. 'Says the treasury was drained to build ships and man them. Said Verity took what little was left for this expedition to find Elderlings.' A world of disdain on that last word. Cook paused to wipe her hands on her apron. 'Then he said he was very sorry. Very truly sorry.'
A cold fury uncoiled inside me. I patted Cook's shoulder and assured her that everything would be all right. Like a man in a daze, I left the kitchen and went to Verity's study. Outside the study, I paused, groping. One clear glimpse of Verity's intent. In the back of a drawer, I would find an antique emerald necklace, the stones set in gold. It had been his mother's, mother's. It would be enough to hire men, and buy grain to send with them. I pushed open the study door, and halted.
Verity was an untidy man, and he had packed hastily. Charim had gone with him; he had not been here to clean up after him. But this was no act of either of them. To another man's eyes, probably little would have seemed amiss. But I saw the room both as myself and as Verity. It had been gone through. Whoever had done it had either not cared if it was detected, or had not known Verity well. Every drawer was neatly shut, every cupboard closed. The chair was pushed up close to the table. It was all too tidy. Without much hope, I went to the drawer and opened it. I pulled it completely open and peered into the back corner. Perhaps Verity's own untidiness had saved it. I would not have looked for an emerald necklace under a jumble that included an old spur, a broken belt buckle, and a piece of antler partly worked into a knife haft. But it was there, wrapped up in a scrap of homespun. There were several other small but valuable items to be removed from the room. As I gathered them I was puzzled. If these had not been taken, what had been the goal of the search? If not minor valuables, then what?
Methodically, I sorted out a dozen vellum maps, and then began to remove several others from the wall. As I was carefully rolling one of them Kettricken entered silently. My Wit had made me aware of her before she had even touched the door, so I glanced up to meet her eyes without surprise. I stood firm before the surge of Verity's emotion that rushed through me. The sight of her seemed to strengthen him within me. She was lovely, pale and slender in a robe of soft blue wool. I caught my breath and looked aside. She looked at me quizzically.
'Verity wanted these put away while he was gone. Damp can harm them, and this room is seldom heated when he is not here,' I explained as I finished rolling the map.
She nodded. 'It seems so empty and cold in here without him. Not just the cold hearth. There is no scent of him, none of his clutter…'
'Then you tidied in here?' I tried to ask it casually.
'No!' She laughed. 'My tidying only destroys what little order he keeps here. No, I will leave it as he left it, until he returns. I want him to come home to his own things in their places.' Her face grew grave. 'But this room is the least of it. I sent a page to find you this morning, but you were out. Have you heard the news about Ferry?'
'Only the gossip,' I replied.
'Then you have heard as much as I. I was not summoned,' she said coldly. Then she turned to me, and there was pain in her eyes. 'I heard the most of it from Lady Modesty, who heard Regal's serving man talking to her maid. The guardsmen went to Regal, to tell him of the messenger's arrival. Surely, they should have sent to me? Do not they think of me as a Queen at all?'
'My lady queen,' I reminded her gently. 'By all rights, the message should have been taken directly to King Shrewd. I suspect it was, and Regal's men, who mind the King's door, sent for him instead of you.'
Her head came up. 'There is a thing that must be remedied, then. Two can play at that silly game.'
'I wonder if other messages have similarly gone astray,' I speculated aloud.
Her blue eyes turned gray with chill. 'What do you mean?'
'The message birds, the signal fires. A Skill message, from Will in Red Tower to Serene. Surely at least one of these things should have brought us word that Ferry was attacked. One might go astray, but all three?'
Her face paled, her mind made the leap. 'The Duke of Bearns will believe his call for aid went unheeded.' She lifted a hand to cover her mouth. She whispered through it, 'This is treachery to defame Verity!' Her eyes grew very round and she hissed at me suddenly, 'It shall not be tolerated!'
She turned and rushed for the door, anger in her every motion. I was barely able to leap in front of her. I put my back to it, held it closed. 'Lady, my lady queen, I beg you, wait! Wait and consider!'
'Consider what? How best to reveal the depth of his perfidy?'
'We are not in the best position of power in this. Please, wait. Think with me. You think, as I do, that Regal must have known something of this and kept silent. But we have no proof. None at all. And perhaps we are wrong. We must go a step at time, lest we bring dissension when we want it least. The first person to speak to must be King Shrewd. To see if he has been aware of this at all, to see if he has sanctioned Regal to speak on his behalf.'
'He would not!' she declared angrily.
'He is often not himself,' I reminded her. 'But he, not you, must be the one to rebuke Regal publicly, if it is to be public. If you speak out against him, and the King later supports him, the nobles will see the Farseers as a house divided. Already, there has been too much doubt and discord sown amongst them. This is not a time to set Inland Duchies against Coastal ones, with Verity not here.'
She halted. I could see that she still quivered with anger, but at least she was hearing me. She took a breath. I sensed her calming herself.
'This was why he left you here, Fitz. To see these things for me.'
'What?' It was my turn to be jolted.
'I thought you had known. You must have wondered why he did not ask you to accompany him. It was because I asked him who I should trust, as an adviser. He said to rely on you.'
Had he forgotten Chade's existence? I wondered, and then realized that Kettricken knew nothing of Chade. He must have known I would function as a go-between. Inside myself, I felt Verity's agreement. Chade. In the shadows as always.
'Think with me again,' she bade me. 'What will happen next?'
She was right. This was not an isolated instance.
'We will have visitors. The Duke of Bearns and his lesser nobles. Duke Brawndy is not a man to send emissaries on a mission like that. He will come himself and he will demand answers. And all the Coastal Dukes will be listening to what is said to him. His coast is the most exposed of all, save that of Buck itself.'
'Then we must have answers worth hearing,' Kettricken declared. She closed her eyes. She set her hands to her forehead for a moment, then pressed her own cheeks. I realized how great a control she was keeping. Dignity, she was telling herself, calm and rationality. She took a breath and looked at me again. 'I go to see King Shrewd,' she announced. 'I shall ask him about everything. This whole situation. I shall ask him what he intends to do. He is the King. His position must be affirmed to him.'
'I think that is a wise decision,' I told her.
'I must go alone. If you go with me, if you are always at my side, it will make me appear weak. It may give rise to rumors of a schism in the reign. You understand this?'
'I do.' Though I longed to hear for myself what Shrewd might say to her.
She gestured at the maps and items I had sorted onto a table. 'You have a safe place for those?'
Chade's chambers. 'I do.'
'Good.' She gestured with a hand, and I realized I was still blocking her from the door. I stepped aside. As she swept past me her mountainsweet scent engulfed me for a moment. My knees went weak, and I cursed the fate that sent emeralds to rebuild houses when they should have girdled that graceful throat. But I knew, too, with a fierce pride, that if I set them in her hands this moment, she would insist they be spent for Ferry. I slipped them into a pocket. Perhaps she would be able to rouse King Shrewd's wrath, and he would rattle the coin loose from Regal's pocket. Perhaps, when I returned, these emeralds could still clasp that warm skin.
If Kettricken had looked back, she would have seen the Fitz blushing with her husband's thoughts.
I went down to the stables. It had always been a soothing place for me, and with Burrich gone I felt a certain obligation to look in on it from time to time. Not that Hands had shown any signs of needing my help. But
