Maddy cried out.
“Calm down!” Lord Hector snapped. “You’ll come to no harm.”
Maddy continued to walk toward the chamber doors.
“You are the linchpin to all this somehow,” he observed, walking alongside her. “But how? Are you influencing the queen? What is your connection to Simet?”
“I’m sorry, but I must return to the queen,” Maddy said, picking up her pace.
“What’s the connection between the queen and Simet? Why did she intercede for him? How did she intercede for him?”
Maddy didn’t answer. The chamber doors were in sight now.
Lord Hector suddenly grabbed Maddy’s arm just as she reached the doors.
“Ouch!” she cried out, though it didn’t hurt much.
“What is the queen up to?” Hector demanded. “Is she for me or against me?”
“Does it matter?” Maddy asked as she grasped the door handle. “She’s only a simpleminded woman. What can she do to you?”
Maddy pushed the door open. The large bald-headed guard was just inside and approached them menacingly. He relaxed when he saw Maddy but looked suspiciously at Lord Hector’s hand on her arm.
Lord Hector let go. “Tell your queen that she should be careful,” he warned. “I’ve been playing this game—and the king—for years.”
“Maybe the rules are changing,” Maddy retorted and closed the door on him.
Safe inside the chambers, she found herself grabbing a cup of water. She felt sick to her stomach from the sheer anxiety of everything that had happened. Once she felt calm again, she went into Annison’s bedroom to tell her that Simet was all right.
Maddy’s dreams that night were fitful. She saw hundreds of people being led to the gallows, their bodies swinging lifeless at the ends of hundreds of ropes. Lord Hector had succeeded with his purge. He had played the “game” better than Annison.
Then she sat at a table with the king and Lord Hector. They were eating lunch. But Annison’s chair was vacant.
“Where is she?” Maddy kept asking.
Finally Lord Hector smiled and replied, “She was a fanatic of the Old Faith. You will find her hanging outside.”
“No!” Maddy cried.
“What do you believe?” the king questioned her. “Are you a fanatic, too, or are you willing to embrace our new ideas?”
“What new ideas?” Maddy asked.
“Whatever ideas I approve of,” the king responded. He dabbed a napkin against his lips and tossed it carelessly on the table.
“What do you believe?” Lord Hector pressed. “Tell us now so we may decide whether you live or die.”
Maddy felt a burning in her eyes. “I believe in the Unseen One,” she replied, her voice quavering.
“I’ll kill you for that,” Lord Hector said with a smile as he tugged on a long rope hanging from the ceiling. A curtain suddenly parted on the far side of the room. Behind it was a small scaffold. A noose hung from the top. “Custom-built for a girl your size,” he noted.
“Are you sure you believe in the Unseen One?” the king asked with a yawn.
Maddy looked at the scaffold and then back at the king. “Yes,” she said as firmly as she could muster. “Yes, I do.”
And then she awoke in a cold sweat.
“Whatever happens at lunch tomorrow,” she found herself praying to the Unseen One, “let me be brave.”
The morning was filled with preparations for the lunch. A large table was placed in the center of the queen’s chambers for Annison, the king, and Lord Hector. Smaller tables were brought in to hold the various dishes of fowl, vegetables, fruits, and several types of bread.
Annison checked and double-checked to make sure everything was as perfect as it could be. Tabby huffed and puffed as she double-checked Annison’s double-checking. Maddy ran several errands from the chambers to the kitchen and had to endure the complaints of the royal chef as he upbraided her for interrupting him so much.
Finally the the king and Lord Hector arrived. Annison’s entire court stood at strategic places around the table—some to serve, some to make sure the cups were always filled with drinks, others to clear away any unused dishes, and the remainder to do whatever was asked of them. Maddy was assigned to be Annison’s special attendant, to stay near Annison in case she needed anything. Maddy was pleased to obey. She had feared she would be sent from the room and not allowed to watch what happened.
“What are you going to do?” Maddy whispered to Annison in the final seconds of silence before the knock came at the door.
“I don’t know,” Annison answered honestly.
“You mean you don’t really have a plan?” Maddy asked, surprised.
“I have planted some seeds, which I hope we will see grow,” she replied. “Unless, of course, the birds have plucked them from the ground before they’ve had a chance.”
Maddy wasn’t sure of what she meant, but there was no time to question further. A loud rapping sounded on the door. Tabby opened it, and the king and Lord Hector strode in together.
“Oh, my!” the king exclaimed as he looked at the table spread out before him. “I thought we were having a modest lunch. This looks more like a banquet.”
“I am undeserving of such a feast,” Lord Hector said. His voice was smooth as silk.
They sat down with Annison, and her staff began to serve them. They chitchatted about the wonderful weather they’d been having and the flowers in the garden, and the queen advised Lord Hector about some of the shops for men in Sarum where he could buy the best-made clothes. He seemed grateful for the advice.
Finally the meal was finished, and the servants brought them coffee, tea, and small chocolates. Both the king and Lord Hector made a fuss about how wonderful the food was and how gracious a hostess Annison had been.
“I do not know Your Highness very well,” Lord Hector admitted to her. “But I’m so pleased to find you as charming and delightful as I’d heard you were.”
“Thank you,” Annison replied.
“You have outdone yourself, my queen,” the king said contentedly. “Ask me for anything, anything at all, and it’s yours!”
Annison smiled. “I want only what you want, my king— truth and justice in our kingdom.”
The king leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Truth and justice, yes. Two things we must have. Shall we begin with truth?” The king then pulled Annison’s red-velvet book from his coat pocket and set it down on the table. “Do you read much, Hector?”
Lord Hector looked at it distrustfully. “Occasionally. Books of trade, mostly.”
“You should read stories,” the king suggested. “Stories can be far more interesting than books of trade. They can also nudge you toward great truths that might otherwise escape you.” He patted the book. “This story, for example. Simple as it is, it has caused me to reconsider many things.”
“What kinds of things, sire?” Lord Hector inquired.
“That man, for one, the guard who was in the dungeon . . .”
“Simet,” Annison reminded him.
“Yes, him.”
“I released him as you commanded, sire,” Lord Hector said quickly.
“I know you did. And I’ve been informed that he’s recovering nicely from your interrogations.”
“I did not interrogate him,” Lord Hector corrected him.
“No, you didn’t. True. Your man Reginald actually did the interrogation.”
Lord Hector raised an eyebrow. He clearly didn’t expect the king to know about Reginald—or anything to do with what went on in the dungeon. “Reginald?”
“You know him, of course. Suspicious-looking fellow with a rather high forehead.”
“Yes, I know him.”
“So you should. He does a lot of your dirty work, I understand.”
Lord Hector didn’t reply but waited to see what the king would say next.
“The same sort of dirty work he did for his previous employer.”
“
I’m at a loss,” Lord Hector said. “I don’t know who his previous employer was.”
“But you must,” the king insisted. “His previous employer was that traitor Lord Terrence.”
Lord Hector feigned surprise. “Was he?”
“Yes, he was.” The king suddenly patted his pockets as if he’d forgotten something. He then dug into an inside pocket and produced a piece of paper. “Late last night, I got him to tell me all about it.”
Lord Hector paused for a moment, then signaled to one of the servants for more water. “You spoke to Reginald yourself?” he asked.
“At length,” the king replied. “You see, I read this story—written by my dear wife—and it caused me to think about the men who had tried to poison me. Of course, I hadn’t investigated the case myself. I left it to you, my trusted chancellor, to do that. Sadly, everyone who might have been forthcoming with information died from your interrogations.”
“I reported that to you at the time,” Lord Hector reminded him.
“One of the men was a servant,” the king went on. “You accused him of being in the employ of one of the two lords and claimed he had been the one who actually poisoned my cup. But I’ve learned from Reginald that the accused servant was innocent. It was Reginald who poisoned my cup.”
Lord Hector’s jaw dropped. “No, my king! Tell me it isn’t so!”
“I’m afraid it is. Reginald confessed it all.”
“I am stricken!” Hector declared, putting a hand to his mouth. “I had no idea I was employing a traitor. Until this moment, I didn’t know he was Terrence’s man.”
“It surprises me what you know and do not know, Lord Hector.”
“What do you mean, sire?”
“You said conclusively that Lords Stephen and Terrence were both fanatical members of the Old Faith. I have learned otherwise. In fact, the two of them, along with Reginald, actively hated the Old Faith. So how did you draw your conclusions?”
“From my interrogations, sire. But under such duress, they may have lied to me about their cause.”
“Perhaps they did.” The king drummed his fingers on the book. “Or perhaps you put the lie into their dead mouths.”
“Sire!” Hector cried indignantly and stood up.
“Sit down, Hector.”
“But Your Majesty—”
Maddy wasn’t sure how it happened, but the king suddenly had a knife in his hand. “I said, sit down.”
Lord Hector obeyed.
“We were speaking of truth, and now I want it.” The king kept the knife steadily pointed at Lord Hector. “You and Lord Stephen and Lord Terrence conspired together to do two things, kill me and—”
“No!”
“And rid the land of those who subscribe to the Old Faith. You failed at the first, but you’ve worked very hard at the second.”
“You accuse me unfairly!”
“And you continue to lie to me.” He turned to Annison and asked, “How did you know I was going to be poisoned at the banquet?”
“Simet told me.”
“And how did Simet know?”
Annison hesitated. Maddy knew she was trying to protect her, to keep her out of what might happen.
Maddy stepped forward. “I told him, Your Majesty,” she admitted.
“You?”
“I’d be wary of anything this girl has to say, sire,” Lord Hector interjected.
“Quiet!” the king commanded. To Maddy he said, “How did you know?”
“I overheard Lord Stephen, Lord Terrence, and Lord Hector plotting to poison you the day of the banquet,” Maddy reported.
“You’re certain it was the three of them?”
“Yes, sire.”
‘Don’t believe her, Your Majesty!” Hector pleaded, his voice rising. “She is easily influenced and may be confused by what she saw and heard.”
The king ignored him and asked Maddy once more, “Are you certain Lord Hector was one of the men?”
“I am positive, sire.”
Then, catlike, Lord Hector leapt to his feet and raced for the doors. They opened, but the way was blocked by several guards. He stopped, took a few steps in another direction, and then moved in another, but every exit was covered by the king’s men. They grabbed him and dragged him back to the table.
The king stood up and slapped him across the face. “I trusted you, Hector, and you have fed me nothing but lies,” the king stated.
“What else could I give you?” Lord Hector spat at him, his eyes narrowing with hatred. “The truth is too hard for you to swallow. It gets in the way of your golf games and wigs and stupid parades. The truth in your hands is like giving a diamond to a fool—you would play marbles with it!”
The king observed him silently for a moment, then confessed, “Yes, you’re right, Hector, but I’m willing to change. No, I will change. But what am I to do with you? Can you change?”
Lord Hector, seeing hope for a reprieve, nodded quickly. “Yes, Your Majesty, I can change. Show mercy to me. Please! You will then see such an amendment of life that even my closest family will not recognize me. Mercy!”
The king turned to Annison. “What does my queen say?” he asked.
“It’s not for me to decide,” Annison answered. “I can only hope you show him the same mercy that he has shown the believers in the Old Faith over the past month.”
The king understood and signaled the guards to take Lord Hector away.
“No!” he cried as he was dragged out, kicking and screaming. “No! Please! Have mercy! Noooooo!”
Everyone was shaken by Hector’s exit except the king. He sat down again and calmly picked up Hector’s uneaten piece of chocolate. Popping it into his mouth, he told Annison, “And now I want the truth from you.”
“Sire?”
“Who is Simet?”
“A member of the palace guard,” she replied, then added, “and the man who raised me as his daughter.”
The king nodded as if he’d already figured it out. “He is also a leader in the Old Faith, a faith that I myself have outlawed.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The king kept his eyes fixed on Annison. “Then I may assume that you are also a believer in the Old Faith?”
Annison gazed back at the king. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“So, by the law of Hector’s decree and the purge he ordered for this coming Saturday, Simet should be executed.”
“Lord Hector planned for him to be the first,” Annison stated.
“And, by law, you should also be executed.”
“Yes, sire.” Her gaze never wavered, her eyes staying firm on the king. “In the end, I would not deny my faith—or my foster father.”
The king averted his gaze, looking down at the table thoughtfully. He touched the red-velvet book again. “I would have preferred that you told me the truth in the beginning.”
“I was afraid to,” Annison confessed. “The man I knew a month ago seemed so fickle and uncaring that I was certain he would have sent me away. And then what would have happened to my people?”
“And now?”
“Now I see a man to be respected. A man I believe loves me. A man I have grown to love.”
The king seemed startled by her remark. “Is that true?”
“It is, sire. I would now trust you with my life—and the lives of those I hold most dear.”
He sighed. “So be it.” He stood up again and seemed taller somehow, rising to a majestic height. “In light of Hector’s treason, I will repeal his decree. Further, because Simet, as a believer in the Old Faith, showed his loyalty to me by being instrumental in saving my life, I will repeal any and all laws that oppress or persecute those who believe in the Old Faith. The gallows that Hector constructed will be used on him alone for his treachery.”
Annison fell to her knees and, grabbing the king’s hand, kissed it. “My king!” she declared.
“Rise, my queen. What I do, I do because I want to be a just king.” He then looked do
wn at her tenderly. “And because I want to be a good husband.”
Before Annison could respond, he withdrew his hand and marched from the room.
Annison rose to her feet and stood until he was gone, and then she slumped into her chair again. Her face in her hands, she began to cry.
Maddy went to her and wrapped her arms around her neck. She, too, cried.
From the corner, Tabby grabbed a handful of chocolates and said, “I’m going to find another job. This one is too stressful!” And she popped the chocolates into her mouth.
The banquet for Simet was held in the Great Hall on the following Saturday. It was a magnificent feast and included all those of the Old Faith whom Lord Hector had thrown into the dungeon. Together they, along with the king and queen, lamented those who had died at Lord Hector’s hands. Then the king made a passionate speech asking for their forgiveness and promising a new day of religious freedom for the people of Marus.
Simet, whose bruises were now faded, was touched by the occasion. He was teary-eyed when the king pinned the medal to his chest. “I don’t know when I became such a baby,” Simet sniffled.
The king laughed and then announced that Simet was now Lord Simet, with a manor house and lands to the east of Sarum, and would replace Lord Hector as his adviser.
Annison had the last word, though, when she stood up and, in defiance of all known ceremony and protocol, offered a toast to her father, Simet.
Everyone, the king included, rose to his feet and saluted Simet. Afterward, the guests all applauded the queen, for everyone knew by then that she had truly saved their lives.
Alone, in a courtyard on the other side of the palace, Lord Hector was executed for his crimes against the king and against Marus. The executioner and a lone witness confirmed his punishment and signed the death certificate. He was buried in an unmarked grave.
On your next birthday, you’ll be old enough to be made a royal lady-in-waiting,” Annison told Maddy several days after Simet’s banquet. They were in the east garden, walking among the many rows of flowers. The smells were intoxicating.
Maddy smiled. “I don’t know what a lady-in-waiting does, but it sounds very chivalrous,” she said happily. “Just like something from the days of King Arthur.”
The Marus Manuscripts Page 39
