unbowed. “When you hold court tomorrow, sire,” he said in the same infuriatingly even tone, “I will ask to settle the matter in trial by combat.”
Drake laughed humorlessly. “No one’s settled a dispute that way in years. We have courts and laws now.”
“That is true, and were this any other crime, I would expect nothing else. But this is a crime of both treason and blood betrayal. As she said, the queen is also family. As such, this can only be expunged through spilled blood. Mine, or the queen’s through her champion.”
“Tommy, please,” Jennifer said, and approached him. Tears shone on her cheeks. “Look at me. I’ve known you since before you could shave. You’ve been my friend and confidant. How could you believe this of me?”
He turned those blank, serious eyes on her. “I assure you it was not an easy decision. And it broke my heart to admit it to myself.” Then he faced Drake again. “Because of the seriousness of the accusations, I ask that the combat be scheduled as soon as possible. Since Elliot is not here, I must insist that we not wait for you to summon him. You must choose a champion from among the knights present.”
“I’m not choosing anything,” Drake snapped. To the three silent witnesses he added, “Nor am I denying Gillian his request.” He stood to his full imposing height, and his voice grew official. “But since it involves the crown directly, I am claiming royal prerogative and will take the day to think it over. I suggest all of you do the same. If you go through with your intention to raise the issue at court… I’ll make my decision then.”
“As you say, Your Majesty,” Gillian said. He knelt again, and the three men with him followed suit. They stood and strode from the room without waiting to be dismissed. The door closed behind him with a solid, funereal thud.
“I don’t believe that,” Kay seethed. “Who the hell does he think he is?”
“A man with the moral high ground,” Drake said wryly. He turned to Jennifer. “So now what should we do?”
“You’re asking me?” she replied, and added a derisive “Hmph.”
“This is all about you,” he almost, but not quite, snarled. “By tonight, every Knight of the Double Tarn will know Gillian asked for trial by combat, and that one of them will be asked to stand in for Elliot.”
“How will you get out of it?” Kay asked.
Drake shrugged. “If Gillian really demands it, I’ll have to let him have it.”
“Are you serious?” Jennifer gasped. “You’ll let my honor, your wife’s honor, be decided by two thugs with swords?”
“I have a country to run, Jennifer. The loyalty of the military is essential to that, and they already think you’re guilty. I have to overcome that somehow.”
Jennifer stepped toward him slowly, trembling with fury. “So you, my husband, the man who shares my bed, would give in to these demands just to save face.”
“To save Grand Bruan,” he corrected.
“This is absurd,” she said again, and turned with a swirl of her silk gown. “I’ll be in my sewing room. When you have some rational thoughts, please let me know.” Her door slam was far more emphatic than Gillian’s.
Drake sighed and dropped into the nearest chair. He looked up at Kay and me. “Okay, fellows. I’m open to suggestions.”
“Is there any way to get word to Elliot?” Kay asked.
Drake shook his head. “I’d have to send one of the knights, and then everyone will know it’s because I don’t think anyone else will stand up for the queen’s innocence.”
“ Will anyone?” I asked.
No one answered.
Drake pondered a moment, then said, “I suppose, as Jennifer’s husband, I could fight Gillian.”
“No,” Kay said quickly. “You are the king, you have to stay above it all and pass judgment.”
Drake chuckled. “Not in a trial by combat. The winner’s sword is all the judge they need. You just don’t think I can beat Tommy, do you?”
Kay said nothing.
Drake turned to me. “You’ve got a unique perspective on this, Mr. LaCrosse. What do you think I should do?”
“Put off this fight as long as you can,” I said. “Let Kay investigate this further. The killer is here, and he’ll find him. Maybe he’s this ‘Kindermord’ the queen mentioned.”
Drake shook his head. “There’s no time. Somebody will have to fight Gillian, unless I get a lot smarter between now and tomorrow morning.” He paused. “And there’s no one named Kindermord. It’s just old gossip, older even than the stuff about Jennifer.”
Kay sighed. “Marc, I’m really sorry about all this. It happened on my watch.”
Drake smiled. “Bob, if it hadn’t happened on your watch, Jennifer’s head might already be decorating the main gate.” Drake heaved his large frame from the chair. “And now, if I don’t get in there and make peace with her, my head might be up there in the morning.”
“I’ll do what I can, Marc,” Kay said.
“Bob,” Drake asked quietly, “do you believe she’s guilty?”
“No,” Kay said at once.
Drake turned to me. “And you?”
I held up my hands. “I’m a prisoner, I have no opinion either way.”
Drake indicated my manacles. “Do we really need those, Bob?”
“I’m ninety-nine percent sure he’s not involved,” Kay said. “But it only takes one percent to kill you.”
Drake nodded. “That’s true. I suppose I should go attempt to mollify my own one percent, then. Bob, keep me posted. Good evening, gentlemen.”
Drake went into the other room where Jennifer awaited. I almost expected crockery to fly past his head when the door opened, but it closed behind him uneventfully.
“You have no ideas about anything?” Kay demanded. “That makes me look real good for building you up to the king. Thanks.”
I clenched my fists; well, at least my left one. He was lucky I didn’t shatter my cast on his skull. I snapped, “You really want to know what I think? Even if you had a dozen guys like me, you’d never get to the bottom of this. A royal court is always full of secrets, and this one is no different, although it is impressively complicated. I mean, hell, maybe this was all to force Gillian into a tournament; I’d look real hard at anyone who volunteers to fight for the queen.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kay said, still fuming.
For some reason this disapproval made me even more determined to defend myself. “And even if I stayed and cleared up this mess, another one would just spring up in its place. That’s how it works.”
I must’ve sounded condescending, because Kay’s angry redness deepened almost to purple. “I don’t expect you to understand, you being a sophisticated outsider like you are. But this court, this king, this country, is different. We’ve earned the chance to make a safe, secure future for our children, instead of adding their blood to what’s already soaked into this island. That chance means each of us has to do everything, everything to make it work, to hold this dream of Grand Bruan together.”
He gestured at a nearby painting that showed a triumphant Marcus Drake on horseback, sunlight glinting off his upheld sword. “You see this? There has never been a single, unified government on this island in recorded history before this one. Now no one dares to attack us with swords and armor anymore, so they come after us with ideas, with gossip, with death by damn poison. And that poison spreads with every lie and accusation that gets made. It can’t be stopped with armor and swords, only with this.” He touched his temple. “And those of us who have learned to fight only with our hands need the help of people like you, who know how to fight that way.”
This passionate tirade, coming as it did from a big, square-headed soldier who at first glance might not appear to know any two-syllable words, moved me far more than I wanted to admit. Still, I held up my wrists and rattled them for emphasis. “It’s not my fight, Kay. And it’s only my problem until I get these off for good.”
Kay looked at me for a long, silent moment, searching my face for the idealism he was sure lay hidden there. He didn’t find it. Finally he sighed, “Damn it, Eddie,” then turned away and struck the stone wall with the flat of his hand. The noise echoed. Without looking he said, “I’ll take you back to your room, then, until I can make arrangements to get you safely out of the castle.”
