Zara the Wolf (16 page)

The duke nodded. "That would explain ... " He
didn't finish. "Yes, take what you want. I'll give you directions to
Master Yanez and Healer Breen and a letter to talk freely."

After breakfast, Shelly insisted on going with me, which on
reflection was a good idea. We found Healer Breen first in his laboratory. The
healer was a tall distinguished man with a clean-shaven oval face and gray hair
who was dressed in a blue silk blouse and pants, leather boots, and a maroon
velvet robe trimmed in gold. Shelly took the initiative, since her title
avoided unnecessary questions.

"Healer Breen, I'm Baroness Shelly. If anyone asks, you
can say I visited you because I was not feeling well." She handed him the
letter from the duke.

He read it, then looked from Shelly to me and nodded.

"Can you tell me what drugs you prescribed for the duke?"

He studied me for some time before answering. "You want
to know because ... you believe he isn't getting the right ones. I can assure
you Master Yanez—"

"I'm not questioning you or Master Yanez, but there are
others between Master Yanez and the duke."

"Alf? No. He's faithful to the duke." He shook his
head.

"I don't doubt that." And I didn't. The real Alf
probably was faithful. It was his replacement I questioned. "I'm not
accusing anyone, so if I'm wrong, no one will be hurt, and you can consider me
the fool," I said.

After a long pause, he nodded. "For the duke's
sake." He picked up a pen and wrote several names on a piece of thin
parchment. "There. That should be the latest list Master Yanez has. I pray
you're a fool."

"Thank you, Healer Breen. The duke requests you keep
this discussion to yourself." Shelly said. I concurred it was better from
a noble than me.

Whereas Healer Breen was on the top floor, Master Yanez was
one level below the ground floor. In contrast, Yanez was a small pudgy man with
thinning hair and stained fingers and hands. His clothes were of good material
but old, worn, and stained. When we entered, he was bent over his worktable
with a pestle, grinding something in a stone mortar.

"Master Yanez?" I asked.

"Yes?" he said without looking up.

Shelly walked up to the table and stood until he looked up.

"Yes, My Lady?" he said, letting go of the pestle
and standing more or less straight.

Shelly handed him the note from the duke. He read it and
nodded, giving it back to her.

When he did, I handed him the sheet of paper from Breen. "Is
this the mixture you have been preparing for Duke Brodka?" I asked.

He assessed me before looking at the paper. "Yes, that
is the mixture I prepare each day for His Grace," he said, nodding and
handing it back to me.

"Is this the same mixture?" I placed the powder I
had taken from the duke on his table.

He bent over to examine it, then wet his finger, touched it
to the powder, and then to his tongue. Then took out a magnifying glass and
moved the powder around with a thin glass rod. "No. This has ... foxglove
leaves added—"

"Oh, would you also test this drink and let Lady Shelly
know if you find anything wrong?" I placed the crystal goblet on his
workbench. "Would that powder with the foxglove kill me?"

"Over time, yes." He looked up at me. "The duke?"
He frowned so deeply his eyes almost disappeared.

"Yes, Master Yanez. We will need you to mix up five
packets of the mixture Healer Breen ordered. We will deliver them to the duke.
We don't want the individual who is poisoning the duke to know he knows. And
the duke would prefer you didn't mention it to anyone," Shelly said.

On the way back to the room, Shelly caught Minister Millard
and asked for a meeting with the duke when he was available. We had no sooner
gotten back to the room than Millard informed her that the duke was ready to
see us. We were led to the duke's study.

"Sit, and tell me what you have discovered." He
waved us to velvet-padded chairs. Each chair had a small table next to it. One
had an empty crystal glass and a pitcher of berryjuice, which Shelly favored,
and the other an empty china cup and containers with the coffee and cream I
favored.

"Your apothecary is mixing the powder solution your
healer prescribed; however, someone is adding grounded up foxglove leaves
before you get it," Shelly said.

"Alf?"

"He's certainly delivering it to you. Whether he is
grinding up the leaves is unknown. Whoever is adding the foxglove leaves knows
his or her herbs. It appears they want you to deteriorate slowly before you
die, like you had some sickness," I said. "We've had five doses made
for you to substitute while you decide what you want to do."

"What do you suggest?"

"Extreme caution. Beside Alf, there are a couple of
young ladies and a noble who aren't what they seem. And I'd wager there are
others I haven't detected. So any direct action could alert them that you know,
and that could lead to—an unfortunate accident." I suggested.
"If you die, Your Grace, who would be in line to become Duke of Hipula?
I'm not accusing anyone, but why kill you if they didn't plan for someone
friendly to their cause to become duke?"

"Normally, the eldest of my children. However, Ellissa
isn't old enough, so a guardian would have to be appointed, an earl or baron in
his or her own right ... Baron Woolan. My God. If my children died, the next in
line would be the earls of Monis, Arucci, and Budia. Unless they agreed, it
could mean a civil war." He looked pale and even frailer than yesterday.

"You have a dilemma, Duke Brodka. If Shelly and I leave
without eliminating the threat, they will kill you before the dukes can get you
help. However, if we miss one or if he or she gets the word out, or we do it in
such a way that it’s obvious we targeted talented ones, you and the other dukes
will all be marked for immediate assassination, because you’ll know too much."

"What do you suggest?" Brodka asked, his eyes
clinging to me in hope.

I suggest I'm in over
my head,
I mused. Eliminating each one in a
manner that made it look like they fouled up would take many weeks, if not
months. Sending them away or imprisoning them might just gain us new ones.
Killing them would be cruel although necessary, but difficult without arising
suspicion. And again, no guarantee more wouldn't be sent—Hipula would be
a prize.

"You need a Cheyo Monk," Shelly chirped with a
broad smile.

"The Trasslat Monastery claims they don't have one
available and won't for another year or two," Brodka said, pouring a glass
of wine.

"But if you said one was coming ... "

"But when a Monk didn't arrive?"

"Zara?" Shelly looked at me with a puppy-dog expression.

I closed my eyes, trying to clear my mind. Of course, she
was right. It should scare the Sirens here away and preclude their society from
sending any more, at least for a time. And we could leave to continue our
look-around
. However, that assumed I
could pull it off, didn't get assassinated, and lastly, couldn't be identified
at one of our other stops.

"Lady Shelly is right. It's the best solution, but not without
risks—huge risks."

"What risks?" Shelly asked with her forehead
furled in thought.

"It's an all or nothing gambit." I said, turning
toward Shelly and ignoring the duke.

 
"How?"

"I could be assassinated, or one of the talented could
test me and win, or I could be identified. Any of those would terminate our
mission and put the Sirens on the offensive and put the dukes and you at
risk," I said.

"Zara, why don't you and Lady Shelly think about it
tonight, and you can join me for breakfast tomorrow?" Brodka said, knowing
it wasn't his decision to make and that we needed time to think about the details.

Shelly was quiet on the way back to the room. Once there,
she dismissed her ladies until it would be time to get ready for the evening
meal.

"I know it wasn't my decision to make, but they will
kill the duke unless we do something," she said softly, her eyes pleading.

"It was a good suggestion, but you have to consider not
only the benefits but also the risks and whether they outweigh the benefits. I
know that's hard—having to kill defenseless men or having to sacrifice
innocent people," I said. "Decisions that can't be undone."

"The kind a duchess will have to make." She gave
me a weak smile. "The kind that should be made after a very cold shower,
not in the heat of the moment."

"I'm not saying your suggestion isn't worth
considering. It is, and while the benefits are substantial, the risks are
great. So in my mind, the question is whether the Hipula Dukedom is worth the
risk, because I don’t believe Duke Brodka is worth the risk of failing our
mission and helping the Sirens."

"I'm not sure I want to be duchess anymore." She
gave me a lopsided grin. "You do have a way of stripping the issue naked. Although
I hate it, I was right to trust you and to think watching you would make this
trip a good learning experience. But this is harder than being a slave. There,
my actions only affected me."

"Much harder. But you can't go back to being just
Shelly, a baron's daughter. You're a baroness now," I said, agreeing with
her. This was the reason I wouldn't like being royalty. "All right. Let’s
discuss how we would pull it off, consider how much risk that would involve,
and consider the value of Hipula in the Sirens' hands on Aesona." I looked
at her, wanting her to think it through.

"The robe and hood the Monks wear would keep your
identity hidden, so long as you were careful. Some makeup would help just in
case. You would have to be seen coming into Hipula, your absence around me
explained, not seen leaving, and the duke would need someone loyal to fill in
for you when we leave. Wow, more to consider than I thought … I guess in truth
I only thought about saving the duke."

"Let's consider each item and how much risk is
associated with each. If we can reduce the overall risk, then it may be an
option, otherwise … "

"It feels so heartless, but I know you're not. All right,
first item, your arrival … " Shelly settled herself on the floor with me
and we began. When her ladies appeared to prepare her for dinner, she dismissed
them and had our dinner served in the room. We finished in the early hours of
the morning, just in time for her ladies to get her ready for breakfast with
the duke.

* * *

"You look tired, Lady Shelly. A difficult
decision?" Brodka asked after the meal had been served and everyone
dismissed.

"Yes, Your Grace. My companion has the sense to
consider the risks as well as the benefits."

"That does take the fun out of ruling, if you consider
yourself responsible for the consequences." He nodded slightly. "The
good ones do."

"We'll try, if you agree," Shelly said. When he
nodded, she continued. "Zara will ride to the Trasslat Monastery and
convince them to send a troop to deliver her to Hipula. Her presence here as a Monk
should scare the Sirens away, at least temporarily. Those that don't scare,
Zara will identify and their arrest will appear normal. You'll have to find
someone loyal to impersonate the Monk until we can reach Kariso, report our
findings, and give the dukes the chance to decide on a course of action."

"Thank you, Zara. I don't imagine this is anything you
are going to enjoy," Brodka said. "And you, Lady Shelly, for the risk
you're taking accompanying her." The duke had a servant fetch Lieutenant
Eaton and Lutz at my request.

They were out of breath when they arrived.

"Relax gentlemen. We have talented intruders in my
castle trying to kill me … " The duke went on to explain the poisoning and
my play-acting as a Monk to get rid of them. This led to a discussion of
protecting Shelly while I was gone and even after I got back, as I couldn't be
seen while I was pretending to be a Monk. Eaton would provide some guards, but
Lutz and his team, which included a woman, would take primary responsibility.
That settled, we returned to Shelly's room to discuss the details.

"How do we explain your absence?" Lutz asked after
all the details of guarding Shelly had been resolved.

"Let's say Duke Dewan has an Indian problem and wanted
me to look into it. I left to see if I could help."

"In two days, the duke will announce that the Trasslat
Monastery has informed him that a Cheyo Monk will be arriving within a couple
of days. That will give the talented ones a chance to leave peacefully and
spread the word that Duke Brodka has a Monk in residence. When we feel it's
safe, we'll proceed to Arucci."

I left on Greystone later than night. I’d been told it was a
three-day ride and hoped to make it in half that time, arriving early in the morning
on the second day. Everyone played their part, questioning my route to Casstra and
talking about the
Indian
problem we
had at Jqedit as the stable hands saddled Greystone and servants brought me
provisions for the trip. By the next day we expected the story to have spread
and become general knowledge, which Shelly would reinforce.