ROAD TO CORDIA (22 page)

     “They’re talking about the Queen,” Ja’Nil realized.

     Ee'Rick nodded. “I wonder how she died. She was only in her thirties.”

     The waitress appeared with a loaded tray. She set a large drinking jug filled with thin beer in front of each of them, in the middle of the table she placed a platter with a dozen small meat pasties, next to it she plopped down a covered stew pot. Wooden bowels and spoons made out of bone were placed in front of each of them.

     “Thanks,” said Ee'Rick. The waitress nodded and hurried away.

     “Eat,” ordered Ee'Rick as he reached for a pasty.

     Half a dozen replies occurred to Ja’Nil. For instance she could say; ‘You’re not my boss.’ Or, ‘Don’t tell me what to do.’ Or, ‘I told you I wasn’t hungry.’ But the food smelled so luscious and her stomach was growling so loudly she was afraid the people at the next table could hear it. Still she hesitated.

     Ee'Rick stopped chewing. “If you don’t eat, I can’t eat,” he said.

     What to do? She dug into her tunic pocket. The ring she wore on her right thumb snagged on the rough cloth and more bits crumbled off, but it stayed on her finger. She pulled out the few coins she had, and slapped them down on the table, then shoved them across to him. Ee'Rick counted them carefully, nodded, picked them up and put them in his pocket. “Fair enough,” he said. “Now eat.”

     She ate.

* * *

     Truth was Ee'Rick was charmed by Ja’Nil. She was such a bundle of contradictions; she was shy but brave, she was easy going yet stiff with pride, smart but very naïve, not to mention pretty as a new filly.

     What she is, he reminded himself firmly, is young, very young.

     Still she had made this infuriating trip to Cordia a pleasure. He hadn’t wanted to come, had argued with his father about the usefulness of this trip. “Let the damned Cancordians solve their own problems,” he had argued.

     However, his father had insisted. “We have a treaty,” he had said. “Before I break it, I want to know exactly what’s going on.”

     Ee'Rick had argued that Cancordia had already broken the treaty but his father was unyielding. “Decided I have,” he told the glowering Ee'Rick, “you will leave with First Sun.”

     Ree’Ki, Ee'Rick’s brother had been highly amused. “Going to buck the old man?” he had taunted.

     When Ee'Rick had growled and shown his teeth, Ree’Ki backed down and said nothing more, but obviously he was still amused.

     So now here he was in Cordia and still non-the-wiser but becoming more and more suspicious. He was even growing suspicious of Ja’Nil. She was full of surprises, like being a messenger for Lady Fayre. Ee'Rick knew his history and the political realities of Cancordia. He was aware of the friendship between the Queen and Lady Fayre. That friendship made Lady Fayre a power in the land. Now Queen Ten’Aj was dead. Just how was her death going to affect his mission? And where, he wondered, was Princess Lil’Li, the Queen Presumptive?

     They were mopping up the last of the stew when there was a commotion at the door. Ee'Rick looked up to see the palace usher and two soldiers pushing their way through the crowded room.

     “There she is, there she is,” said the usher, pointing at Ja’Nil. Ja’Nil looked up as they reached the table. “I told you to wait,” said the usher accusingly. “Why didn’t you wait?”

     One of the soldiers elbowed the usher aside. “These the two?” he asked.

     “Yes. Yes, that’s the girl.”

     “What about this guy?” he asked pointing at Ee'Rick.

     “Yes, him, too,” said the usher. “But it’s the girl who said--”

     “Jadµ,” cut in the soldier. “We’ll take it from here. Ya can go.”

     “Go? But Lord Raptor will want to know--.”

     “We’ll be sure to tell him it was ya that spotted them. Now get out of here.”

     The usher, looking considerably crushed, left.

     “Which one of yous wanted to see the Queen?” asked the soldier who was doing all the talking.

     “I did,” said Ja’Nil.

     Ee'Rick just sat quietly with both hands on the table where the heavily armed soldiers could see them.

     “What ya want to see her about?”

     “I have a message for her. It was private.”

     The soldier nodded. “Jadµ,” he said. “Lord Raptor, he’s taking care of things right now. If it’s a message, he’s the one you want to see.”

     “Ja’Nil looked at Ee'Rick but his face was blank.

     “I don’t know,” she said. “I think it was just meant for Queen Ten’Aj.”

     The soldier simply nodded. “Jadµ,” he said in a very reasonable voice, “Here’s what ya do. Ya go see Lord Raptor and ya can talk it out with him.” He turned to Ee'Rick, “You, too,” he said, not sounding reasonable at all.

CHAPTER 23

     Set amidst a vast park with winding paths and unexpected charming gardens, both walled and open, Cancordia’s Royal Palace was in reality three separate buildings that had been built over several centuries. All of the three buildings were connected by either stone archways, courtyards, interior hallways or, unknown to most because they were not obvious, underground tunnels. The tunnels were not meant to be secret, just unobtrusive, a way for palace servants and functionaries to move easily from one area to another. There was however, one tunnel that was known to very few.

     The three buildings were divided by their functions. The east building housed the Queen’s Audience Chamber and the Council Room where foreign dignitaries were received and hopefully awed by the size and grandeur of the surroundings; it was built to inform any who might be in doubt just how powerful and all-commanding were the rulers of Cancordia.

     The middle building, or The Middle Kingdom as it was called by those that worked there, had been so named over a century ago when the sitting ruler was a man, thus the word, Kingdom, was twice as tall as the other two buildings. It held the offices of the myriad civil servants that actually made things work in the government. That is, they made things work if they were given the right information and appropriate orders.

      Morale was low in “The Middle Kingdom.” It had been slipping for over a year now. Orders were contradicted, suggestions ignored, the wrong people put to work on things they knew nothing about. Those who protested or questioned, found themselves transferred to the far ends of Cancordia, others simply disappeared.

     In addition to the civil servants’ offices, The Middle Kingdom held the royal office, where the Queen did most of her paperwork. It was also where some favored advisors had their own apartments. Lord Raptor’s apartments were the largest and most luxurious.

     Palace security was headquartered in The Middle Kingdom. There was also an office for the use of the militia’s commanding officer. Despite the prestige, this last was seldom used, as Captain Y’Nota preferred to stay close to his men who were barracked in two large areas; one camp just outside the north gate, and the other outside the south gate. Surprisingly, since Captain Y’Nota and Lord Raptor seldom agreed on anything, Lord Raptor supported this arrangement.

     The Middle Kingdom, always full, was now bursting at the seams with visitors who had come to attend Queen Ten’Aj’s funeral and to see which way the sword of power would fall.

     The third and oldest building on the west side housed the Royal family, their servants, and any guests they might be entertaining. It was the one building seldom seen by the average citizen. Queen Ten’Aj liked her privacy. Compared to the rest of the palace, it was surprisingly modest.       

     At the moment, aside from a few cousins and a doddering aunt, the royal family consisted of a sobbing Princess Lil'Li, Queen Presumptive.

     She had been crying for hours. She was an orphan! Her mother, whom she had hated and loved in typical teenage fashion, was dead. Every once in a while, exhausted, she would stop crying, sometimes falling into a restless sleep that seldom lasted more than minutes. Upon awakening and remembering, she would start crying again. She hated it. And she hated the fact that she couldn’t seem to stop crying. It was as if someone else was in charge of her body, some aqueous person who seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of tears. Her body actually hurt from all her crying. Her throat was raw, her eyes swollen almost shut, her nose ran constantly, her hands trembled, her stomach muscles felt as if someone had been pounding on her, she had a headache and she… could... not... stop... crying!

     Even her chaperon, Lady Bel’Dor, was growing tired of her tears. “You’ll make yourself sick,” said the lady, wringing her long skinny fingers. She had been saying the same thing for over an hour. Princess Lil'Li didn’t disagree. She
was
making herself sick, but she couldn’t seem to stop the waterworks. She couldn’t stop the ache in her chest or the disgusting snot that kept running out of her nose. Most of all, she couldn’t stop the knife-like pain that pierced her very soul.

     With a gasp and a sob, she laid her head back against her pillow and fell into one of her restless, tormented naps.

***

     “Wake up. Wake up.You silly girl, wake up.” Lady Bel’Dor was shaking her roughly.

     Lil'Li sat up groggily. “I’m not a silly girl,” she said. To her surprise and Lady Bel’Dor’s also, her voice was cool and commanding

     “No, of course you’re not,” twitted Lady Bel’Dor. “My goodness, no. You’re the Queen Presumptive. Of course, you’re not a silly girl. What was I thinking?”

     Lil'Li eyed the woman suspiciously. For the first time it occurred to her to wonder why Lady Bel’Dor, a minor noblewoman whom she barely knew, was acting as her companion at this time of all times.

     “Where’s Lady Tan’Od ?” Lil'Li asked.

     “Never mind that now,” said Lady Bel’Dor. “He’s here.”

     “I don’t want to see anyone.”

     “Of course you do,’ said Lady Bel’Dor waving her skinny fingers in the air. They were really ugly fingers, Lil'Li noticed; pale, almost as white as the underside of a dead fish; skinny with sharp pointed little nails; grasping and anxious.

     Can fingers be anxious, she wondered?

     “Get up now. Wash your face and for the Lord’s sake, blow your nose.”

     Mechanically, Lil'Li stood, splashed water on her face and blew her nose while Lady Bel’Dor fluttered around her trying to run a comb through Lil'Li’s tangled hair.

     “Oh, you look an absolute horror,” moaned the tactful woman. “You need cold compresses on your eyes and your ensemble is all every which way.”

     It finally dawned on Lil'Li that Lady Bel’Dor was acting most peculiar, even for her.

     “What’s all to do?” Lil'Li asked tiredly. She felt so miserable she didn’t even realize she had stopped crying.

     “I told you,” hissed Lady Bel’Dor. “He’s here.”

     “To whom are you referring?” The old biddy was giving her another headache with all her hissing and fluttering and fussing.

     “Lord Raptor.” Lady Bel’Dor said his name as if she was announcing the coming of The Lord of the Circle.

    
Lord Raptor
. Lil'Li had never particularly liked him, but she disliked most of the government officials she had met. They were stuffy and took up so much of her mother’s time. Most of them treated her as if she were a five year old.

     Lord Raptor was a Queen’s Advisor and therefore an important functionary. She should probably see him. After all, she thought with an agonizing shot of pain, life has to go on and more importantly, so did Cancordia.

     She stared at herself in the mirror and absently smoothed down her thick white hair. Her pale green complexion was blotchy; her eyes were so bloodshot from crying they looked like two fiery coals glaring out of her swollen eyelids. At least her nose had stopped running.

     “Very well,” she said tiredly. “Show him to my receiving room.”

     “He’s already there,” hissed the woman. “He’s been waiting for you for more than a quarter hour.”

     Lil'Li shot Lady Bel’Dor an annoyed look, then straightened her back, lifted her chin, and went to receive Lord Raptor, her first courtier.

* * *

     Lord Raptor did not like being kept waiting, but Lady Bel’Dor, the woman he had assigned to keep an eye on the princess, assured him the royal brat was truly devastated. Good. Easier to handle her.

     He was staring out the window, which overlooked a particularly lovely little walled garden. If asked, (And who would dare?) he would not have been able to name a single thing visible from the window. He had other things on his mind.

     Mentally he listed his priorities. Now was the time to be both tactful and forceful.  The vulgar masses must be made to feel safe, not as if they were caught up in a coup. Certain highly placed individuals would expect favors to be repaid; most would be. The others…? Maybe yes, maybe no. He’d have to consider each one.

     Princess Lil'Li was an essential ingredient to his plans. It would be easy enough to manipulate and control her. She was just a young female and not very bright. A little coddling, a little reassurance, and a lot of flattery should do the trick. The princess would fall into his arms and into his plans with cries of relief.

     She wasn’t a bad looking creature. Of course, he mustn’t touch her beforehand, but after they were married…ah, that was a different story. He was a generous man, he assured himself. He’d teach her some techniques and positions. She would enjoy herself as much as he would.

     “Lord Raptor,” said a voice behind him.

     He turned and looked her over with disfavor. Her hair was barely combed, her eyes were red and swollen, and her clothes looked as if she had slept in them. In short, she was a mess. Still, once she got over this crying jag she would probably make quite a presentable little Queen.

     “My dear child,” he said, holding out his arms expecting, her to fall into a weeping spell so he could comfort her. Instead, she looked at his open arms and stayed where she was.