Bearers of the Black Staff

“Yes,” Panterra responded, and she liked it that he didn’t equivocate.

“Just the four of us,” Tenerife added. “A quick survey and a solid determination of what’s happened. Once we know, we report back to the King and the High Council.”

“I don’t understand,” she said. “What’s stopping you?”

“We can’t go without the King’s permission.”

“Then ask it of him!”

There was a collective hesitation. “We hoped maybe you could do that for us,” Tenerife said finally.

She stared at him. “Why me instead of you, cousin?”

“Because we think whoever tells him needs to ask him to keep it to himself for a while and not confuse the matter by allowing other individuals to become involved,” Tasha blurted out. “Cousin.”

She hesitated only a moment. “You mean my stepmother and her lover. You’re worried about them.”

Panterra and Prue exchanged a quick glance. “‘Her lover’?” the boy repeated carefully.

“Phryne, that sort of talk can get you in a lot of trouble,” Tenerife said quietly. “Those are rumors, nothing more.”

She made a dismissive gesture. “Maybe that’s what you think, but I know the truth. I have to live with it every day. And I don’t have to pretend it doesn’t exist. My father may choose to do so, but that is his affair.”

She turned to Panterra and Prue. “I better explain, since this obviously comes as a surprise. My beloved stepmother has taken a lover. First Minister Teonette, a man in a position of power second only to my father. The choice was calculated. Their affair is a carefully guarded secret from most, but not from me. My father knows, I think, but he pretends not to. At least, that is how I intuit things, since we have never discussed the matter openly. But I see it in his eyes. He is hurt and ashamed, but he chooses not to make it public. Maybe he thinks she will come back to him someday and be the good wife he thought she was.”

She shrugged. “I’m not holding my breath. But back to the business at hand. You believe that I might better be able to persuade my father to keep your plans a secret from others, is that it?”

Tasha nodded. “In a word or two.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know that he will, Tasha. I can’t depend on him that way anymore.”

“But you could at least ask him. If we ask, he will not only stop us from going but likely refuse even to see us again for a very long time.”

“Probably true.” She thought about it. “I’m not sure I understand exactly what it is that you’re afraid of, though. What is it that you think my stepmother and the first minister might do? Why would they even care?”

“I’ve been wondering that, too,” Panterra cut in.

Tasha took a long pull on his tankard of ale and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “It’s the nature of the beast,” he said. “The lady and the man in question are ambitious and looking for opportunities to advance their own interests. This bit of news, if true, will change the lives of everyone living in the valley. All people, all Races. I don’t want to give anyone a chance to exploit that before the King and the High Council are prepared to deal with it. That’s all.”

Phryne made a face. “I find it hard to argue with your logic. Very well, cousin, I will do it—but on one condition. I’m going with you.”

She had made up her mind instantly, not bothering to think it through, just knowing that this was something she wanted to be a part of. If they wanted her to be their foil, they were going to have to make her a full member in their conspiracy.

“You most certainly are not,” Tenerife declared at once.

“How quickly do you think the King will turn us down if he finds out you’re involved?” Tasha added.

She gave them a look. “Leave that up to me. You trust me enough to speak to my father on your behalf. You’ll have to trust me enough to persuade him to let me come with you.”

They stared at one another in heated silence for a moment, their faces saying everything.

“I think it’s a very good idea,” Prue said finally, breaking the silence. “If I can go, Phryne ought to be able to go, too.”

There were all sorts of arguments against such thinking, but no one was about to make them. Tasha threw up his hands, and his brother slumped back in his chair, frowning. Panterra, entirely on impulse, smiled encouragingly at Phryne Amarantyne, and she smiled back.

She found she was liking the boy and the girl from Glensk Wood better all the time.