Through Wolf's Eyes (68 page)

Afterward, Elise had nearly fled the infirmary to
sketch the details before she forgot them. She didn't doubt that Lady
Melina believed she scurried off to sob at the harshness of Her
Ladyship's words, but in the interest of the greater good, Elise could
live with a little loss of dignity.

"Very fine work, absolutely marvelous," she said,
meaning every word of her praise. "I am amazed you could do such
complex work from an amateur's sketch."

"There's a logic in it, my lady," Wain said
complacently, "that guides a crafter through the job. Your sketch was a
map, but my skill taught me to make sense of it."

"Then the necklace is ready for me to take?" Elise asked.

"It is." With a final proud and affectionate glance at his creation, Wain tucked it into a little bag of dark red velvet.

Elise paid him in a mixture of credit tokens, some
bearing the Archer mark, others that of the Eagle, still others the
local guild mark. Before he had been called to other duties, Derian had
changed the Kestrel tokens he and Firekeeper possessed into local
marks, thereby muddying the trail should any wonder
why
Lady Elise had spent such a great sum. Some Archer marks were
necessary, however, for Elise had excused her frequent visits on the
grounds that Wain was making her a bracelet to bring back to Lady
Aurella.

Wain gave her the bracelet as well, a pretty thing of
cut gemstones set upon a heavy silver band. He had adapted it from a
design he had been working on before their new commissions had
distracted him. It was complex enough to excuse Elise's visits and yet
not too expensive for her already strained purse.

Thanking the jeweler, Elise forced herself to visit
several more shops before returning to camp. There she settled herself
to rolling bandages and listening to the anxious gossip of the
noncombatants while waiting for Firekeeper to make an appearance.

The wolf-woman glided into Elise's pavilion late that night, long after Elise had snuffed out her candle.

"You have it," she whispered after she had woken Elise.

"I do."

"And you will put sleeping herbs into Lady Melina's food and that of Opal and the nurse?"

"I'll try." Even though she was whispering, Elise could hear the note of doubt in her own voice.

"You must," Firekeeper urged. "When you do this leave this stone . . ."

Elise felt something flat and vaguely oval-shaped set next to her on the cot.

". . . on the ground outside of your pavilion just
the other side of your sleeping. I will find it there and know that we
may hope that they are sleeping deep."

"I will," Elise whispered. "It may take a few days to find an opportunity."

"I know. That's why I bring the stone. Good luck. I know you will be brave."

There was a faint stirring of air and Elise knew she
was alone again. For a long time she lay awake, staring into the
darkness, and wondering if she was indeed the least bit brave.

A
LLISTER SEAGLEAM KNEW SOMETHING
that no one else knew. He knew which of the rumors about Queen Gustin
IV was true. He knew, but the knowing brought him little comfort. Tench
had returned the evening before—cautious, worried, little Lord Tench
who was Lord Tench rather than Tench Clark because of his service to
Her Majesty, first as her secretary when she was Crown Princess Valora,
later as a trusted member of her diplomatic corps.

And with him Lord Tench had carried letters: letters
commanding generals to hold fast and obey Allister Seagleam as they
would her royal self; letters to other nobles in the entourage who
might not think this a good idea; letters to Allister's children
telling them to obey their father and be the firm deck under his feet
in this tossing storm. Lastly there was a letter to Allister himself
telling him much the same and assuring him of the queen's support.

This was the letter for public eyes, for possible
spies. Allister Seagleam doubted that even Lord Tench had read it—
though he was certainly privy to the contents of the others. Gustin IV
had left nothing to chance, however. This letter was triply sealed and
encoded. The key to this code had been given to Allister by Gustin
herself when he had departed Silver Whale Cove to meet with King
Tedric. She swore that no one else knew it and Allister believed her.
From a small girl, Gustin had been good with numbers and puzzles. She
was quite capable of constructing and employing a code without any
assistance.

Once he had decoded the letter, it read:

"Dear Cousin,

"I wish I could come to your side—and indeed
to the forefront of this battle that has been thrust upon our people.
Sadly, I cannot. What Stonehold accuses
us
of may indeed be true as they see things. There are secrets known only
to the monarchs of Bright Bay. To share them even with you, cousin,
would be treason. If in some mysterious fashion Stonehold has learned
one of these secrets, I certainly cannot confirm the rightness or
wrongness of their knowledge by rushing to Good Crossing at their
command as might a kitchen maid called to task by cook for breaking a
platter.

"So here I remain. Soon you will hear tales
that pirate activity on the coast forces me to remain in the capital.
Part at least will be true. Here I must remain until either you come
home victorious or Stonehold's generals batter down my door.

"Tench tells me that King Tedric has offered
his alliance for the nonce and that you in my name have accepted it. I
shall support you in this, even before those who whine about your
foreign blood. They are asses. You did the only thing you could—accept
a new ally when an old turned against you.

"Standing fast is only part of your duty.
You must drive Stonehold out. I realize that military command was never
your ambition, but I know you well. You have a fair mind and will weigh
the advice given to you by those who
do
know that art before deciding a course of action.

"As soon as this war is resolved, I will reward you as you deserve. For now, I fear you will need to settle for my thanks."

The formalities which ended the letter were fluff and
vanity. Allister stared at the missive for quite a long while before
folding it into thirds, smoothing it flat, and tucking it into the
interior pocket of his waistcoat. Then he headed outside to attend to
the duties assigned to him, not altogether certain that Queen Gustin
IV, guardian of dark secrets, was as worthy of his loyalty as she
clearly believed she was.

I
N THE MIDST OF THIS MARTIAL PREPARATION
,
Lady Elise Archer, heiress to a barony earned by her grandfather in
battle, went into the fray herself, but her battleground was a dinner
party and her weapon a flask of fine-ground powder.

It had been easy enough to arrange the party. Ever
since the entry of Duke Allister Seagleam and his brood into the
competition for the throne of Hawk Haven, the alliance between the
family of Rolfston Redbriar with that of Baron Archer had been
strained. Nor had Jet Shield's failure to behave as a properly
betrothed young man should helped the situation.

So when Lady Elise had chosen not to spend overmuch
time with her betrothed, she had been well within her rights. Equally
so, when she invited her betrothed and his family, including sisters
and father, to dine with her in the sumptuous Archer pavilion, they
were not likely to refuse.

Baron Archer dined with them, but before the sweets
and cheese he returned to his command. Lord Rolfston, never wishing to
seem less the warrior than his rival, excused himself soon thereafter.
Soon Jet and Sapphire also departed, each having accepted temporary
military posts. Sapphire now rode with the cavalry under the command of
Earl Kestrel. Jet was learning to hate drilling with the foot soldiers
and to hate even more their sly smiles as they invited him night after
night to join them on visits to the camp followers' tents.

Elise was glad to see them go. Sapphire's pain was
obvious to her though her cousin hid it bravely. Elise feared that her
own sympathy would seem too knowing and so guarded her own words and
then worried that she seemed cold. Every word Jet spoke, every courtly
gesture he made infuriated Elise, but this fury was directed not at
him, but at
herself for allowing romanticism and ambition to overwhelm her native good sense.

Their departure left Elise with Melina and Opal just
as she had planned. She brought out a cunningly crafted miniature game
board. For a while they played hopping pegs and gossiped just as if
they were at home. When Ninette brought out elegant goblets of strongly
flavored mint cordial, Elise dissolved the sleeping powder into two of
them. Lady Melina and Opal, absorbed in counting the score and arguing
over the values of various strategies, never saw her.

When Melina drank her goblet to the last honey-green
drop, Elise felt like dancing. Opal, ever her mother's shadow, did the
same. Glancing at Ninette, Elise hid a smile at the sign the other
woman made her. As planned, Ninette had shared her mistress's
hospitality with the sour crone who waited on Lady Melina. The signal
meant that Nanny too had drunk the sleeping draught. Elise's part in
the exchange of the necklace was completed.

And indeed after another round of their game, Lady Melina yawned, delicately patting her lips with a beringed hand.

"I apologize, dear Elise. It must be all your good
food on top of rising with the sun. I am so tired I can hardly keep my
eyes open."

Opal blinked owlishly. "Me, too. May I beg to be excused?"

Elise feigned drowsiness herself. "Of course. Let me
walk you back to your pavilions. Ninette will dash ahead and tell Nanny
to expect you."

She escorted her guests back and returned to her own
tent, brimming with triumph. Then she set in place the river cobble
Firekeeper had brought her the night before. It was a pretty thing when
seen in daylight, greyish white, veined with black, smooth-polished by
the rapidly flowing waters of the Barren.

Elise settled in to wait for Firekeeper to arrive and
claim the substitute necklace. Surfeited with success, she worked a
piece of embroidery near a lamp to pass the time.

Time passed. Ninette finished cleaning up from the dinner party and came in to help Elise braid her hair for bed. More
time
passed. Ninette went into her own curtained alcove and blew out her
candle. Still more time passed. Elise finished one rose and began on
another. She heard the guards change shifts and fought sleep.

After the second guard shift, Elise was no longer
tired. She realized that something had happened to delay Firekeeper,
perhaps for the entire night. It need not be that the wolf-woman was in
any difficulty. Undoubtedly she had been sent scouting. She might not
return before dawn. Elise pricked the canvas and drew some pink thread
through, her mind racing.

She could not hope to give Lady Melina the sleeping
drug twice and go undetected. Perhaps it was her own nervousness, but
the more she remembered the sorceress's gaze the more it seemed to her
that beneath the drowsiness there had been a hint of suspicion. The
embroidery canvas dropped unheeded into Elise's lap. She knew what the
only course of action left to her was, but she took another several
minutes to work herself up to it.

Then, moving like one in a dream, Elise rose from her
cot. Among her clothing were some riding breeches dyed dark forest
green and a matching long-sleeved blouse. Donning these, Elise then
stepped into the soft leather house slippers she wore around the tent,
for she was no Firekeeper to go barefoot. Lastly, she tucked the
substitute necklace into the band of her breeches.

Walking softly on the carpeted floors of the pavilion
was easy. She left her lit candle on the table, protected by a tin
shield, and stepped into the night.

Outside, the stars and moon were dimmed by light high
clouds that raced along, pushed by a wind unfelt by those on the
ground. Elise waited until her eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, then
moved purposefully toward the Shield encampment.