Year of the Reaper

“Why did I lie to you?” Another glance at her husband. “To everyone? It was foolish. I’m aware. I knew . . . I knew that if I told you about the coins, you would blame Mari. And you would be wrong.”

Cas did not understand. Who else could it be besides Lady Mari? He turned to Ventillas. “You’ve seen these before?”

“Yes.”

In the alcove, King Rayan turned his head and looked at his friend. Ventillas stared straight at the floor.

“Do not blame Ventillas,” Queen Jehan said. “His only crime was in not wanting to call me a liar in front of others. I put him in a wretched position, and I regret it.”

Cas said, “Your Grace, how can you be sure Lady Mari died in Gregoria?”

“We went back for her,” Queen Jehan said. “When it was safer to travel, we sent men to look for her. There was no death record, no grave marker. Nothing. But you did not see her when we left her there. She could not have survived.”

King Rayan spoke at last. “And yet Cas did. He is standing right here, against every odd.”

Silence. Lena slipped a little farther down in her seat.

Cas tried to work through his thoughts. “Your Grace, you left Lady Mari with the coins, and there is no absolute certainty she died. Not only that, she is an expert with bow and arrow, as you are. Shooting the nurse on the bridge would not have been difficult for her. We know from Master Dimas that the archer spoke Oliveran as though it was not the language of her birth. She spoke a formal, perfect version.” A dull ache rolled over him. Cas pressed a hand against his side and felt Lena’s eyes on him. Master Jacomel’s salve was wearing off. He finished, “That is how you speak our language, Your Grace. You speak it better than we do.”

Queen Jehan turned away, toward Abril.

Something else bothered Cas. “Where would she have found the dress? Was it left with her?”

When no one else spoke, Lena said, “It wasn’t. But I found my grandfather’s list by chance. She could have found another carriage the same way.” Lena held out a hand to Cas, who gave her the coins. “The inventory didn’t list a dress. Just the bolts of cloth. Jehan, did Lady Mari know how to sew?”

“No,” Queen Jehan said without turning. “She was terrible at it.”

Lena turned a coin over, studying both sides. “Then someone else made the dress. I wonder who.”

Her voice muted, Queen Jehan said, “Lord Cassiapeus, the woman on the horse . . . why did you chase her in the first place?”

Cas looked at Abril, all alone atop the altar. He crossed himself. “Because she was smiling,” he explained. “Abril was being taken away, and she was the only person in the crowd who looked happy about it.”

Queen Jehan’s entire frame had stiffened. Across the chapel, the king’s eyes remained fixed on her.

Cas said, “I don’t want to upset you, but my brother was part of your cortege—”

Ventillas stirred. “Cassia . . .”

“Don’t ‘Cassia’ me, Ventillas. You are not invincible, however much you think it.” Cas counted to five, long enough to rein in his annoyance, and spoke to the queen’s back. “Your Grace, I want Lady Mari found, before my brother ends up with an arrow in his heart or poison in his throat.”

Queen Jehan spun around to face him. “This is why I said nothing! You see Mari, only Mari, and your minds are closed to all else. Mari does not murder people and smile about it afterward, Lord Cassiapeus. The notion is absurd. Mari would not hurt me. She would not hurt Faustina. I will never believe it. However wretched this looks, there is another explanation.”

“People change,” Cas said. “The pestilence changed people. It changed me.” Lena had said something similar, just the other day.

“Did it truly?” Queen Jehan countered, her color high and rising. “By all accounts, you left Palmerin a good person. You returned a good person. The essence of you has not changed. I believe the same of Mari.”

Going to hell, am I? I’ll take you with me.

Cas spoke quietly. “With respect, Queen Jehan, you don’t know the things I’ve done.”

The ensuing silence was deafening.

King Rayan came forward. Gently, he took his queen’s arm. “Sit, Jehan.” When she did so, beside Lena, he said, “Everyone is upset. Whoever she may be, Mari, not Mari, there’s nothing we can do about it tonight. Cas, Ventillas has offered additional escort back to Elvira. He will ride with us. I understand you were hurt today, but I hope you will come as well.”

King Rayan’s request seemed to surprise everyone. Not just Cas. When he had returned home, mere days ago, he had not intended to leave for a very long time. Instead, after a glance at Lena, he found himself bowing, however painfully, and saying yes, of course, he would be pleased to come.

“Good,” King Rayan said. Just then, the chapel doors opened. Father Emil came in, followed by Master Jacomel and several dozen women. The weavers Abril had spent her days with. King Rayan added, “Now. We are here to say farewell to Abril, a daughter of Oliveras, who honored us with her gifts. Everything else can wait.”

“I feel terrible,” Lena said.

“Why?” Cas asked. “What did you do?”

They had left the chapel together, headed to the main part of the keep. The path took them outdoors and past covered archways. No one else was about in the dark, quiet night.

Lena said, “Rayan was nearly betrothed to someone else before. Did you know?”

Cas looked at her quickly. “To whom?”

“Lady Rondilla. Yes, I know,” Lena said at Cas’ strangled cough. “It looked like an excellent match on parchment. Her brother is high councilor, and they are richer than the moon and the stars. The exchequer would have had enough gold for the next ten generations.”

“What happened?”

“Jehan’s father proposed a truce, with marriage to his daughter as a condition. He had never been open to a truce before. Rayan leapt at the offer.”

Cas whistled softly. “Bad luck for Lady Rondilla.”

“Good luck for me,” Lena said. “I used to visit him sometimes at the palace. They weren’t even betrothed yet, but Lady Rondilla was already there, ordering the servants about and redecorating the queen’s chambers. She can be unpleasant.”

He halted. “To you?”

Lena tugged his arm long enough to keep him walking. “My mother was a king’s mistress. One of many. Lady Rondilla was only horrid when Rayan was not around to hear, and she did not say anything I had not heard before.”

Cas stopped again, outraged on her behalf. “Did you tell the king?”

Another tug. “Of course not. It is the last thing he needs. The only reason I mention it is because Jehan is nothing like her. From the very beginning, she has treated me like a sister. I hate that I’ve caused trouble for them.”

“All you did was show them your grandfather’s list.”

Lena was quiet. “I don’t think Rayan believes her. I don’t think he believes Lord Ventillas, either.”

Cas had seen the way the king looked at his queen and his closest friend. There had been anger there, and hurt. “Do you?”

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