“What?”

            “Glynnis Fen is out of the Question. The Prince won’t be safe there. Nor would you.”

            “Then where do you propose to send us?” demanded Nan Maura. “Track is a deaf mute who knows only the western roads and I’m old.”

            “Ruse will be sent to the Gibbor as the Seer asked.”

            Nan Maura paused, but only for a moment. “Very well, but I must take more belongings. The mountains are cold.”

            “You’re staying here.”

            “I will not!”

            “I command you.”

            “Laveth, you can’t mean this! The babe can’t be seen with the Hunter. They’ll be slaughtered minutes out of the city walls.”

            Mirella spoke up. “But the Gibbor sent Oren for that very purpose. Nan Maura, Oren is very strong.”

            The Queen gave a short laugh. “Child, no matter how god-like you perceive this man to be,  he’s just a man. A large man, yes. An experienced fighter, of course. But he is one man and Elymas has dozens, perhaps hundreds of Red Robes at this beck and call. Each is an assassin, trained in ways to kill that are merciless and often obscene. The Gibbor is depending on the fact that the Earth Skyll won’t work against Jah’s will, but he is wrong.”

            “Until now, I never understood why the babe’s foot had to be kept secret,” said Mirella slowly. “I thought it had to do with pride. Or timing. Perhaps you were waiting for the right time to tell the King or maybe he might outgrow it. How can it be that his life is in danger? Even apart from Jah, he is King’s son!”

            “The King steps closer to death every day,” replied the Queen. “Some are big steps; others small, but there’s no doubt he’s near the end. The tips of his fingers are black now, did you know?”

      Mirella shook her head. 

            “Elymas is poisoning him, though I don’t know how. The physicians have drunk the same tonic to no ill effect, except for the fat leech Cyril who slept for three days. I’ve no grounds for accusations, but I know the Earth Skyll is killing my husband.” Laveth’s eyes were bleak. “The prince won’t be coming into his own for many years and unexpected things can happen, especially to a boy with a thickened foot and the title of High King. The situation is unnatural; my son is unnatural. If Ruse died suddenly, no one would turn a hair. I can hear the old hens cackling now; those like him weren’t meant to live.”

All material copyright by Joan Spilman, 2023