Murder in the Queen's Garden

by Amanda Carmack

  Kate quickly found a quiet spot of her own, beside one of the open windows, where she could study the room. She couldn’t immediately see anything that would be of obvious interest to someone like Constable. It seemed a normal enough day at court. People playing cards, sewing, chatting, whiling away the sunlit hours.

  But the queen was there, which would always be of interest. Elizabeth sat at a small table near the other open window, the thin rays of sunlight glinting on her pale skin and the pearl-dotted loops of her red hair against the high collar of her golden gown. She bent her head over papers spread before her, a frown creasing her brow.

  Beside her were Robert Dudley and Dr. Dee, with William Cecil peering over her shoulder. They were all looking most solemn.

  She went up on tiptoe, trying to find Master Constable again. Why was he not with Dr. Dee now? Did his own teacher not entirely trust him? Yet surely whatever the queen talked of now with her closest advisers could not be so secret, or she wouldn’t be doing it here in front of her whole court.

  Kate looked around again and caught a sudden flash of a frown on Catherine Grey’s face. Kate followed her gaze and saw that Lady Catherine watched Constable.

  Kate crept closer to the queen, careful to keep close to the wall where she wouldn’t be noticed. She managed to catch a glimpse of the documents spread in front of the queen and noticed they were not letters of state. It was a chart, drawn in a circle divided into sections and sketched with strange symbols and characters.

  A horoscope.

  “And this, Your Majesty, indicates the most auspicious time for a journey,” Dr. Dee said, pointing to a section near the bottom.

  “A journey for myself?” Elizabeth asked.

  “It is hard to say, Your Majesty, but the signs seem doubtful for such a thing,” Dr. Dee answered. “The position of these planets here and here seems to indicate rather a journey for someone near to you.”

  “Perhaps Archduke Charles shall come from Vienna?” Cecil said, a hopeful note in his voice.

  Elizabeth shot him a glare. “Archduke Charles would do well to stay exactly where he is. Does it indicate a match there, Dr. Dee? Connected to this journey?”

  Dr. Dee suddenly frowned and glanced up to study something above Kate’s shoulder. She looked back to find Catherine Grey standing there, watching the queen with raw dislike on her pretty face. It was quickly banished in a bland smile.

  Kate remembered how Lady Catherine had told Lord Hertford that Constable drew up her horoscope, as he had Violet’s. Did that have something to do with what was in the queen’s stars now? How were the two royal cousins connected in the stars?

  “Not for yourself, Your Majesty,” Dr. Dee said slowly. “For one that is near to you. Great change is coming for them, so great that it will affect you as well.”

  “Good change?” Elizabeth demanded.

  Dr. Dee hesitated. “Greatly complicated, I fear. The moon disrupts the natural cycles here and wreaks great havoc. I would warn Your Majesty to look to your own family in the coming months, most closely.”

  The queen’s family? Kate shivered. That could mean one of so many people, all with their own competing interests. Lord Hunsdon and his sister, the Greys, even Kate herself. All of them could be suspects in such a journey.

  It seemed the queen felt the same. Her fist came down on the table, in the middle of the chart, and rattled the pens and instruments arrayed there. Dudley laid a gentle hand on her sleeve, and Dr. Dee stepped back.

  “That is of no help!” Elizabeth cried. “I am cautious at all times, of everyone, but I have only two eyes and a family like a many-headed hydra. I need more specific directions.”

  Dr. Dee held up his hands. “The stars are often obscure, Your Majesty. We can only interpret their signs, their clues. But I can say, it would appear that someone near you has had their own charts drawn up recently—and the path of their stars is opposed to yours, whether they will it or not.”

  Elizabeth’s face turned furious. She rose slowly to her feet, her long, elegant fingers balled into fists. Robert Dudley touched her sleeve again, but she shook him away.

  “Did you draw up another chart, Dr. Dee?” Elizabeth demanded.

  “Indeed not, Your Majesty,” he answered, his voice low and calm. “There are others who do not yet understand the dangers, I fear.”

  “I would hope it was not you, for I have given permission for no such thing!” Elizabeth said. “I must find out who close to me wishes me harm. Look closer there, Dr. Dee. Tell me more.”

  The queen pounded her fist on the chart again, her cheeks still streaked an alarming red. Dr. Dee drew closer, the only sign he might be at all concerned a small frown.

  Kate glanced back at Catherine Grey again. Lady Catherine stood across the room now; Kate could barely see her through the shifting crowd. Kate caught a glimpse of her golden hair and moved to a better place where she could watch Lady Catherine.

  She stood near the door, waving her hands as if she was arguing with someone. Her beautiful face was drawn into tense lines. The man who stood in front of her was Master Constable. His head was bent so Kate could not see his expression, but his shoulders were hunched.

  Lady Catherine waved her hands again, wildly, much like the queen’s own angry gestures when she was crossed.

  Lady Catherine had told Lord Hertford that Constable drew up her horoscope. In secret? Was Lady Catherine the one the queen needed to be wary of now? The one who was soon to go on a journey? Perhaps that was why the queen had summoned the Duchess of Somerset?

  Kate looked back at the queen, who had gone very still and watched Lady Catherine herself.

  When Kate glanced back to Lady Catherine, she was being led away by Lord Hertford. Their two handsome heads were bent close together as he whispered something into her ear.

  Constable was alone, his face paler than ever, but he didn’t stand there solitary for long. Master Green, who was striding through the door with Violet’s brother Master Roland, suddenly stopped and said something to Constable.

  The astrologer’s face went from white to flaming red in an instant. Green laughed, but there was no mirth in his expression. Roland drew him away, and Constable dashed out of the room.

  Kate was rooted to her place, wondering what exactly she had just seen. She tried to run after Constable, but he had vanished down the corridor.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Lady Knollys’s rooms were far from Kate’s tiny shared chamber. Once Kate reached one of the fancifully carved towers of the palace, a liveried footman led her into an octagonal banqueting room, richly furnished with a round table surrounded by cushioned stools and cross-backed chairs. A tall buffet displayed silver and gold plate and saltcellars. Bright tapestries depicting a summer outdoor supper decorated the walls, and red-and-blue carpets were laid over the floor instead of plain rushes.

  The windows were half-open to catch the cool evening breezes, and the scent of rain-fresh green grass and garden flowers filled the room, mixed with lavender-scented smoke from the censers in the corners. Chalky pale moonlight fell across the floor.

  Kate hesitated inside the door and studied the gathered company. She knew who they all were, of course, and saw them often at court, but usually only as she played for the dancing or hurried past them on errands for the queen. They were all of high families, all of them old allies of the Boleyn family. In one corner, she glimpsed Violet’s brother, Master Roland, and his handsome friend Master Green, and they gave her polite bows.

  It was company she rarely saw without the shelter of her lute to hide behind, and tonight she had nothing.

  She smoothed the skirt of her dark blue–and–silver silk gown, glad she had worn her best, with the embroidered silver sleeves and quilted white satin underskirt. She had her father’s gift of the garnet earrings, and a pearl pendant the queen gave her for her last birthday. She knew s
he looked presentable, but even her richest belongings were nothing like the jewels and gold-embroidered velvets of the others.

  “Mistress Haywood!” Lady Knollys called. Kate turned to see the hostess hurrying across the small, crowded room, her bejeweled hands held out. Lady Knollys wore the finest dark purple satin dress with a sleeveless Spanish robe of deep green over it, her dark hair bound with a pearl-studded caul. Her belly swelled gently under her kirtle, the signs of yet another little Knollys baby soon to arrive. This would be the twelfth, Kate thought.

  She was followed by her favorite daughter, the beautiful Lady Lettice, who dazzled in pink-and-white silk, her red-gold hair loose in a shining wave down her back, and by her brother Lord Hunsdon’s wife, Anne.

  “I am so glad you could come,” Lady Knollys said. Much to Kate’s surprise, she took Kate’s hand and drew her farther into the room. “It should be a most interesting evening, and one I am sure Her Majesty will want to hear about later.”

  Kate studied the people around them, even more curious now. What would the queen want to know about this casual gathering of friends? Why had she not come herself? Elizabeth often visited her cousin’s lodgings. There was a palpable air of excitement in the room. “Should I have brought my lute?”

  Lady Knollys and Lady Hunsdon laughed. “My dear Mistress Haywood,” Lady Knollys said. “You must only enjoy yourself tonight. Keep a watch on events, mayhap. I fear one of our guests has yet to arrive. But there are refreshments, and you must have some of the Canary wine Her Majesty sent.”

  The door opened to admit more guests, and Lady Lettice said, “I will see to Mistress Haywood, Mama.”

  She, too, took Kate’s hand, and drew her over to a long table by the windows, which was laden with platters of sweet delicacies of all sorts.

  Lady Lettice chattered the whole time, flitting from one gossipy tidbit to another as she poured some of the sweet pale wine into a silver goblet and handed it to Kate. Lettice was very pretty indeed, Kate thought, and intelligent as well, full of observations about those around her and books she had read. Her dark eyes, much like the queen’s, were too bright and alert for a young lady. Kate wondered if someone should keep a closer watch on her.

  “Here, try one of the apricots in ginger syrup,” Lady Lettice said, spearing one of the succulent fruits with a newfangled Italian fork. “They are quite luscious. As is Master Green over there, nay?” She pointed at Master Green with the fork. He stood across the chamber, still talking with Master Roland, the two of them observing everything around them as they talked together quietly. “But not as handsome as Sir Robert Dudley, I would say.”

  Lettice laughed, and even though her words were mildly scandalous (what would the queen say of another woman thinking her Robert “handsome”? Kate wondered), Kate found her too funny not to enjoy the conversation.

  “I am so glad to have the chance to talk to you, Mistress Haywood,” Lettice said as she sipped at her own wine.

  “Are you, Lady Lettice?” Kate said.

  “Oh, yes. I do adore music so much, and my uncle says you write your own compositions.” Lettice suddenly leaned closer and whispered, “I am only allowed here tonight because Mama says only a few close friends are invited. I am too young to be much at court as of yet, though they say I will be betrothed very soon. And Uncle Hunsdon says we must be careful, you know.”

  Kate felt as if she had plunged back into the garden maze—she did not know which way Lady Lettice’s words were going. “Careful, my lady?”

  “Aye. My uncle says that now we are kin to the queen, we must not be seen to try to use powers that are not meant for mortals. But you are to be trusted, yes, Mistress Haywood? You would not gossip about our family.”

  “I do hope so, Lady Lettice,” Kate murmured.

  Lady Lettice was called away by her mother, and Kate wandered toward the round table at the very center of the room, turning the girl’s words over in her mind. Lady Lettice leaped from subject to subject, but what did she mean when she said they had to be careful tonight? And why did she trust Kate so much? Did they know of her relation to them? They had never spoken of it.

  Kate saw a clue to the first question when she examined what was displayed on the table. There was no food or wine there, but a most strange array of objects. Atop the snowy white damask cloth was a shallow black stone bowl set in a brass stand. It was lined with a silver mirror that showed the carved ceiling above in distorted waves. Next to the bowl was a large bell, inscribed along its edge with strange symbols, and on its other side was a large white horn, also inscribed with those unreadable symbols.

  “A unicorn horn, to cast a circle of protection. Brought from the Indies,” someone said behind her.

  Kate spun around to find Lord Hunsdon watching her. He smiled behind his long red beard, but his dark eyes were cautious. “I am sorry. I did not mean to startle you.”

  “Unicorn horn, my lord?” Kate asked. She glanced back down at it, studying its smooth ivory white surface.

  “It possesses great powers, they say. There are only a few in the world.” He came to stand beside her and traced his fingertips in a circle around the horn. “There is a great web we cannot see with our own eyes, Mistress Haywood, a connection between heaven and earth that shows how celestial events will affect those in the world. People in our position cannot be too careful when it comes to protecting our family. We have been caught unaware before, and it nearly tore us apart.”

  Kate looked down into the mirrored bowl, half expecting to see spirits there. But she glimpsed only her own face, her own smooth dark hair under a beaded band, and her dark Boleyn eyes. “You mean . . .”

  “My late aunt, Queen Anne, yes—and others. My own mother chose to retreat from the world, to hide in the country with my stepfather, but we have not that option now,” he said solemnly. “We must use all the tools at our disposal.”

  Kate nodded, though she only half understood him. Lady Lettice’s words made more sense now, the warning against using powers not meant to belong to mortals. The mirror, the bell—they were to summon otherworldly guidance tonight. She half wanted to flee, to avoid seeing whatever was about to happen, but her curiosity made her stay where she was.

  That damnable curiosity that always led her into trouble when she should be at her most prudent.

  The door opened again, and Lord Hunsdon glanced up. His kind smile vanished. “Ah, at last. We may begin.”

  Kate turned and saw Master Constable standing there. He wore his usual black robes, a silver box clutched in his arms, and he looked almost frightened as he stared around him. She remembered how he’d been creeping around the queen’s chamber, and she wondered how he had come to be invited here.

  Sir Robert was surely right to be concerned about the man.

  She turned to say something to Lord Hunsdon, but he had already moved away.

  “Master Constable,” Lady Knollys said, hurrying forward to greet him.

  “Forgive my tardiness, my lady,” he said, giving her a low bow. He almost tripped on the hem of his long robe. “I was detained on an errand for my employer.”

  “’Tis of no matter. We are all gathered now,” Lady Knollys said. “I am so happy you were able to come tonight. For it must be tonight, yes?”

  “The spirits can only be called during certain phases of the moon, under the influence of a good planet,” Master Constable answered solemnly. “Tonight shows ideal conditions.”

  Lady Knollys led him toward the table, and Kate hurried to a spot hidden behind the others, where she could watch without being noticed. Lord Hunsdon and his wife stood close to his sister at the other side of the table.

  “Dr. Dee says you have the rare gifts of a scryer, which he sadly does not possess,” Lord Hunsdon said. “I hope that you can help us with our questions.”

  “I shall do my best, my lord. My powers are but newfound, and
I have much to learn,” Master Constable said. He looked nervous as he sat down on one of the chairs, fidgeting with his box, his long sleeves. “We must have as little light as possible in here.”

  Kate looked around to see that all the servants had vanished, and only the noble guests were left. Lady Knollys and her daughter put out all the fine wax candles themselves, until the only light was a lamp on the table.

  Master Constable poured a small amount of water into the shallow bowl and took a handful of herbs from his box to sprinkle over the surface. He closed his eyes, and the room went very silent and still. Everyone seemed to be holding his or her breath.

  Including Kate. Something fluttered deep inside of her, and she pressed her hand to her stomach to stop the sick feeling.

  Suddenly, Master Constable spoke, and it made her jump. It was not his usual quiet, meek voice, but a deep, gravelly boom. He reached out and rang the bell.

  “We show unto you the lower world,” he said. “The governors that work and rule under God. Show us yourselves; tell us what only you can see, what we must know.”

  Master Constable leaned forward and peered into the bowl. Kate stood on tiptoe, trying to see it for herself, but all she could glimpse was the silvery, unrippled surface of the water.

  There was an explosion, and Kate cried out as clouds of greenish smoke flew into the air above the bowl. She pressed her hand hard to her mouth, trying to suppress her fear.

  “’Tis a dire warning,” Master Constable cried. His voice was even deeper, and he no longer looked like himself. His face was waxen, almost yellow, his eyes blank. “Woe be unto the virgins of the earth if they be corrupted! Mercy and truth must meet if there is to be peace and justice in the land at last. The spirits say it can only be thus.”

  Kate saw Lord Hunsdon and Lady Knollys exchange worried glances. Lady Lettice clutched at her mother’s hand as the plume of smoke shot higher in the air, swirling tighter and tighter until it was almost a column.

  “The pure blood is tainted already—it must not be so any further,” Master Constable intoned in a low, steady voice, as if he merely recited the terrible words. “The world shall be turned upside down and demons shall reign if the virgin disdains her virtue and becomes the concubine of Satan. Once, here at this very place, a high lady did the same, and paid in blood. It shall not happen again. No man must touch her, or all shall be drowned in the lake of blackest pitch. In the fire that dances next to water.”