The Unbound Queen

by M. J. Scott

  "I am Prior Giarme," the man said, turning his focus back to Sophie. "If you would follow me, my lord and my lady, I will take you to Domina Francis." He paused. "Unless you would care to stop first in the sanctuary and spend some time in devotion." He tilted his head. "I do not think I have seen you attend here?"

  "No, we are new to the city," Cameron said. His tone didn't invite further questions.

  "We've been to the temple in Isle de Angelique to give our respects to the goddess," Sophie added. "We don't want to keep Domina Francis waiting for us."

  Prior Giarme didn't comment on this but asked them to follow him. As they neared, the temple, Tok squawked and flew up to perch in one of the oaks.

  "Tok," Sophie hissed.

  Cameron took her hand. "He'll wait for you. Or he'll come find you. Let's go."

  They entered via the main doors, but there was no time to gain more than a fleeting impression of the interior—more marble, bronze, and stained glass—before Prior Giarme led them to an unobtrusive door in the left wall just past the entry and into a corridor that was more functional than lavish in its decoration.

  The floor was still marble, but the windowless walls were an undecorated stretch of plain white, broken here and there by bronze sconces supporting alternate rows of lanterns and earth-lights that were the only source of illumination. They walked for a few minutes until they reached a staircase and began to climb. Two flights before another door opened and they stepped into a second hallway.

  This one was slightly more welcoming, the stark white walls edged by tiled borders weaving patterns of leafy green. Sunlight fell through the high windows, highlighting the same pattern painted along the edges of the wooden floor. The prior stopped at a set of doors about halfway down the corridor and knocked once before entering.

  Two dominas looked up from identical desks set either side of a second set of doors in the far wall. One of them nodded at Prior Giarme.

  "The domina is expecting you, you can go in." She turned her attention back to the stack of papers on her desk as though she had no more time to spare.

  Prior Giarme advanced to the inner doors and knocked again, beckoning them to follow.

  Domina Francis sat behind a vast wooden desk piled high with ledgers and papers and crowded with plants and vials of what looked like temple oil. Several inkwells, pens sitting in them, were perched precariously amongst the clutter. She didn't look up immediately, her gaze intent on whatever she was writing. She finished it and signed with a flourish, and then stood.

  "Lady Scardale, Lord Scardale, welcome." If she hadn't expected Cameron, she showed no sign of surprise. She came around the desk smiling at them with what looked like genuine warmth. Her robes were the same temple brown as the others wore, but the quartered cross that hung around her neck was heavy gold, set with emeralds the size of a good pearl. She was the domina, Sophie reminded herself. Illvya's Domina Skey. Not someone to take lightly. Or trust on face value.

  "Domina Francis." Sophie curtsied.

  Domina Skey would have expected a greater obeisance, but Domina Francis merely waved a hand and said, "Don't bother with ceremony up here. There are not enough hours in the day to get through my work if I have to spend half of it watching people bob up and down." She held out the folded paper. "Adolphus, this needs to go to the mistress of halls, please. Quickly. Don't worry about a reply. Tell her this is my final word. I'll send for someone to escort Lord and Lady Scardale back to their carriage when we are done. You can get back to your duties."

  The prior, Sophie thought, looked slightly put out at this succession of orders—hoping to remain and gather some gossip perhaps—but he took the paper and murmured, "Domina," before departing swiftly.

  The domina gestured them toward the cluster of chairs arrayed in front of a small fireplace. It wasn't lit, the sunlight streaming through the windows enough to warm the room. "Let's sit. Can I get you anything? Tea, perhaps? Something to eat? We dine simply here, but there will be cake. Domina Andreis, who runs our kitchens, knows I have a sweet tooth and thinks she can get on my good side if she indulges it." She seated herself in the chair facing the door.

  "And can she?" Cameron asked as he took the chair that sat between the domina and the third chair, leaving Sophie no choice but to sit on his other side.

  "Some days, yes," the domina said. "Running this place is trying at times, and generally, we do not indulge in alcohol. Cake is a reasonable substitute." She grinned; the expression more wicked than Sophie expected. It made her look younger—or less formidable perhaps—though Sophie wasn't sure what her true age might be. There were silver threads in the domina's hair, but her face was mostly unlined.

  "It may not do my waistline any good, but the goddess gave us sugar, so I expect she does not mind the indulgence much," the domina continued.

  Sophie laughed, startled. She had never had much of a friendly relationship with any temple representative she'd known. The small temple in the nearest town to her family's estate had been simple and welcoming enough, but she wouldn't have described Domina Greenleaf who was in charge there as having much of a sense of humor. Domina Skey rarely even smiled. But she steeled herself against the inclination to like Domina Francis too soon.

  After all, charm was a weapon all of its own.

  The domina had risen to a position of high power, even if the goddess wasn't the only deity recognized in the empire. She hadn't made it there by pure goodwill and being the sort of simple down-to-earth woman she was currently portraying herself to be. Temple politics—like any other kind—was too complex for that.

  "I'm not hungry," Sophie said. "But you should eat if you wish, Domina. Your days here must be hectic. The temple is so large."

  The domina nodded. "Yes. Close to three hundred serve here, including servants. Of course, we have the school for acolytes and their teachers, and that increases the numbers. Usually we have fifty students at any one time. Not nearly so large as your Academe, but enough to keep us busy."

  Fifty acolytes. Hardly enough to keep the empire supplied with future dominas and priors. There must be other schools elsewhere. Which made sense. There were other Academes di Sages in other parts of the empire, Sophie understood. But the Rookery was the most prestigious.

  "The temple in Kingswell is not half so big," Sophie said. In fact, she didn't know exactly how many served there. She had never had much reason to concern herself with the inner workings of the temple before Domina Skey had taken an interest in her. And no opportunity after, given the speed with which events had moved following the attack on the palace.

  "Well, Anglion is not so large a country as Illvya," Domina Francis said. "The goddess needs less of us to serve her people there. But I didn't ask you to here to talk about numbers."

  "Why did you ask us here?" Cameron asked.

  "I wanted to speak to your wife about her vision," Domina Francis said. She looked him up and down. "She may not have wished to tell the emperor what she saw, but it seemed distressing. And it is my purpose to ease suffering where I can. But I'm not sure if your wife wishes to discuss it with you present, my lord. I hope you take no offence, but if she does not, we can make you comfortable elsewhere."

  "I would prefer that he stays," Sophie said. "There's nothing I could tell you here today that would be news to him.”

  Domina Francis raised an eyebrow. "Well, I commend marital honesty, of course." She peered at Sophie a moment as though considering whether she should say something else, but then merely shook her head. Sophie got the feeling that she doubted the truth of Sophie's words, and maybe she was right to. Sophie didn't tell Cameron everything. He didn't know every secret of her soul, but he did know the truth about her visions and every other important factor in the choice they were about to make.

  "If we are not going to keep this between just you and I, my lady, then perhaps we should get started." Domina Francis settled back in her chair.

  Sophie hesitated. "All right. But if I tell you about my vi
sions, then I have some questions of my own. And I would ask that you keep what I am about to tell you to yourself for now. Treat it as though I am one of your congregation."

  "I would have to share if one of my congregation told me something that endangered others or was otherwise illegal."

  "I'm not planning to commit a crime." Not in Illvya, anyway. What the Anglions might make of her plan was another matter entirely. Perhaps, if the conversation got that far, she could ask the domina what the repercussions for attempting to remove Domina Skey might be under temple law. "Or hurt myself or anyone else. On the contrary. I'm asking for some grace, my lady. Some time to consider. The choice that his Imperial Majesty has laid before me is not an easy one. I want my family to be safe, but I don't want a crown."

  "I should imagine not," Domina Francis said. "You were not raised to expect power, from what I understand."

  "I wasn't raised to expect almost anything that has happened to me since my Ais-Seann—" She leaned into the word making sure she gave it the Anglion pronunciation. She wanted no chance of misunderstanding. The domina needed to be clear that her loyalties weren't entirely with Illvya. "—other than getting married of course. I expected that." She didn't look at Cameron. She had no idea if the domina knew much about the circumstances of their marriage, but she wasn't going to explain it. "I most definitely was not raised to expect power or desire it. I was thirty-second in line to the throne a few months ago. All I wanted was a quiet life with a family. Children. Peace to raise them in."

  "And now?"

  "If I'm honest that is still what I want. A quiet life. Children. Peace."

  "That last part may not be so easy."

  "So I am coming to see. But I'm not sure that the emperor's plan is the best one for me or my country."

  "Is your country still Anglion, then?"

  Chapter 16

  Was her country still Anglion?

  That was a question that was becoming more and more complicated to answer.

  "I was born there. Raised there. Despite what they currently seem to think of me, it is difficult to see myself as anything but an Anglion, my lady." Difficult but not impossible. She was no longer just an Anglion. Her time in Illvya, and even what had come before, had changed her.

  Domina Francis toyed with the quartered cross at her neck. "I see. Well, that may make no difference to your decision. Only the goddess knows how things will proceed. For now, I think it is simpler for us to start at the beginning. Why don't you tell me exactly what you saw in that vision you had in the palace? And what you are doing having visions at all. Have you always had the sight?"

  "No, not even a hint of it," Sophie murmured. "But it hasn't been that long since I manifested. Less time still since I found out I had water magic."

  The domina pressed her lips together, which made Sophie think that perhaps she knew something about how Sophie had come to that particular set of powers. "Go on."

  "Madame Simsa and Maistre Matin have only begun teaching me to use those powers. You can appreciate that we are not taught anything of water magic in Anglion. Other than to fear it, of course."

  "Of course." Apparently Domina Francis wasn't going to pause for a discussion about the theological differences between Illvya and Anglion. Well, there was time enough for that discussion once Sophie had told the rest of the story. Or as much of it as she decided to tell. She still didn't know how much to share. But she was leaning toward more rather than less. They didn't have time for secrets. Not if they wanted to be able to decide if what she and Cameron had discussed the night before was in any way feasible. If there was a way out of this mess that didn't end with the crown she didn't want.

  "Anyway, they decided to start with a lesson in scrying. That was when I had the first vision."

  "And what did you see then?"

  "Much the same. My mother crying. Glimpses of home. It was...strange. Upsetting."

  "And did Henri or Madame Simsa seem surprised that you had succeeded so quickly? I understand it is a skill that takes time to master."

  "I don't think I've mastered it," Sophie countered. "So far I cannot control what I see. Or when."

  The domina tapped a finger against her cheek. "I see. All right. Your lesson was the first time you had a vision. And then another at the palace. Have there been others?"

  Sophie nodded. "One more. In the temple in Isle de Angelique. The same day as the first. I don't know what triggered it there."

  "What does the temple have to do with a vision of your mother and Anglion?" the domina said sharply. "What else did you see? I will keep your confidence, but I think the stakes that you are dealing with are too high for deception. I cannot advise you if I do not have all the information, and it's not only your life at risk now."

  That much was true. And the choice seemed clear when put so bluntly. But that didn't make it easy. She couldn't leave her family to suffer—or worse—but once she took this next step—once she told the domina what she had actually seen in her visions, then she would be saying "yes" to everything that came after. To Aristides having his way. To Anglion being invaded. To pain and death, even if she was trying to save people with her actions. It could even end with her death, or Cameron's, and the thought of that—of losing him—was one of the most frightening things of all. She reached for his hand, unthinking.

  "Breathe," the domina said. "This is frightening, yes. You're in a place you didn't ask to be and faced with a decision that no one should be forced to make. But all you can do here and now is try to choose wisely. Tell me what you saw. After that, we find the next step to take, and then the next."

  Breathing was easier said than done with the fear tightening her ribs like the clasp of a giant's fist. But she did it. Took a breath. Found her voice. "You're right. I haven't told you everything. I haven't told anyone other than Cameron. Because I don't know what it means."

  "Leave meaning for later," the domina said, her eyes not breaking contact from Sophie's. As though she could will the truth out of her. Maybe she could. After all, as a domina she had to be used to coaxing the truth from those who didn't necessarily want to face it. She might not be Lord Castaigne, with magic to confirm what she heard, but Sophie, caught by that clear green gaze, didn't think she needed it.

  "I saw the tree," she said. "Or a tree. Bigger than any I have ever seen. And at first, it looked strong and healthy, but then below the surface of the earth, the roots were turning black."

  "Is that all?"

  "No. There was a woman lying under the tree—buried beneath it, I guess. The roots grew through her and where they pierced her body, the rot was deepest. I couldn't see her face at first, it was covered by a veil, but then that fell away, and I saw Eloisa's—the queen's—face. Decaying."

  The domina's expression didn't change. "Is that the only time you saw her? Or the tree?"

  "No. Three times. I've had three visions, and every time I've seen her. It's been slightly different each time, but it's her. Yesterday, at the palace, she turned and looked at me. That's why I cried out."

  "I see." Finally the piercing green eyes lowered, breaking the spell.

  "What do you think it means?" Sophie said. "Is it a true seeing?"

  Domina Francis exhaled. "I'm no water mage, and the goddess has not gifted me with the type of foresight that some of our earth sisters have. I cannot tell you for sure. Maybe no one can. But I believe that all magic comes from the goddess, from her earth and her grace, and that includes visions. The same vision sent three times? I must confess, that seems hard to disregard as coincidence. You had no reason to fear for Eloisa herself before you left Anglion?"

  "No. She was injured in the attack on the palace, but she was...healed."

  The domina cocked her head at the hesitation. "That sounds like a conversation we need to have another time. All right. The queen was healthy when you left. No reason the goddess would be sending you a warning that she had sickened somehow?"

  "I can't be sure," Sophie said. "But not t
hat I knew about. She was different after the attack. But not ill."

  "Different?"

  "More distant. More—I'm not sure of the word. Angry, perhaps though that wasn't quite it. More ruthless. Less kind. I assumed it was grief and the weight of her new responsibilities. And maybe—" she looked at Cameron who nodded as though to say, "Tell her if you must."

  "There was a reason she might dislike you specifically?" Domina Francis asked.

  "She wasn't pleased about our marriage," Sophie said.

  "Why not?"

  "For one thing, at one time, I was her lover," Cameron said bluntly. "For another, Sophie and I broke some rules. We weren't supposed to be a match, but then there were...circumstances."

  "Circumstances that explain the bond I see between you? I have seen an Anglion marriage bond once before. This"—she swept her hand at the space between Cameron and Sophie"—doesn't look like that."

  "Yes," Cameron said. "Those circumstances." He looked distinctly uncomfortable.

  The domina sighed. "Perhaps the details of that are also a conversation for another time. All right, so the two of you were an unexpected union. One that foiled some plan, or other for Lady Scardale's marriage, perhaps? Lost the crown some advantage?"

  "I don't know," Sophie said. "For royal witches, no marriage contracts are discussed formally until after our Ais-Seann. They wait until it's known whether we have power or not before they decide who might get to marry us. I don't know what happens behind closed doors, of course. We aren't consulted. I have no idea who King Stefan may have had in mind for me if I manifested. No one told me. Then the palace was attacked before my Ais-Seann. After we came through that, well, Cameron and I were bound. There were more pressing matters than anyone bothering to tell me who I had been intended for. For all I know, the prime candidate for my hand was killed in the attack."

  Domina Francis looked from Sophie to Cameron and back again. "So the queen was displeased. Either because you, Lord Scardale, married another or because Lady Scardale was married to a minor lord when she might have been used to tie a more powerful lord more tightly to the crown. I understand your father was an erl, Lord Scardale? But you were not the heir?"