“Well . . . yes,” he said, shaking his head. “But what I did was unpardonable. You could have stripped everything from me. I would have deserved no less.”
Maia left her hand on his shoulder and kept her voice low. “My lord earl, then what use would you have been to me? You just had a life-altering lesson in loyalty and obedience. I trust you more now because you had the courage to return and confess your folly. I do not believe you will ever disobey me again. And to prove my trust in you, I wish to keep you on my Privy Council. For I will need you and your loyalty to face the dangers ahead. I cannot spare men nor train new ones in the short time left to us. And I believe you fully when you say you will never do this again.”
He stared up at her eyes, his look soft and compliant. “I swear it on my soul.” He gritted his teeth. “When your father died, lass, you may have been the only one left in the kingdom who still loved him. I can tell already that your rule will be quite different from his. I will serve you to my dying breath, my lady. My queen.”
Maia smiled and patted his shoulder before returning to the celebration. Her heart was suddenly heavy. For though she had been able to pardon this one man, she knew she would have to deal with the traitors to her realm much differently.
We are Naestors first and foremost. We live in a land dominated by night, cold, and darkness. We have learned to be hard like ice, and that ice is strong enough to shatter mountains. There is great subtlety in how water destroys things, drip by drip. The first Victus taught his followers that to fight and win every battle is not a matter of supreme excellence. Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting. Break their will before you break their bodies.
—Corriveaux Tenir, Victus of Dahomey
CHAPTER TWENTY
Warning from Doviur
Of all the duties that Maia performed as Queen of Comoros, the one she enjoyed the most was done in disguise. It was Suzenne who had started the scheme. The ladies-in-waiting would each take turns leaving the palace to visit the poorest quarters of the city, distributing alms, baskets of food, and visiting the poor and the sick. They were not to use their names or wear fancy gowns. If asked, and only if asked, they would merely identify themselves as servants of the queen. It was not uncommon for little beggar children to approach two cloaked well-wishers—they always left as companions—and receive silver pence in recompense. What the little children did not know was that Queen Maia herself was often one of the cloaked young women. After learning of what her friend had instigated, Maia was determined to take part.
At first, some of the ladies-in-waiting were reluctant to carry out this particular duty, but Suzenne led by example and always brought a different girl with her. The undercover visits were useful in another way—it helped Maia learn how her people felt about her and their city. Suzenne made the assignments and received the reports on who her ladies had visited and what they had learned.
Maia enjoyed making these jaunts into the city herself. One day she was walking through the city streets with Jayn Sexton after a particularly enjoyable visit with an old widower named Albert. Maia had wanted to meet him herself after learning about him from a previous report. Though he was in his nineties, he had been known for helping his friends and neighbors with everything from clearing leaves from the gutters to giving children rides on his cart, until an apple cart struck him and broke his leg.
“I hope Albert recovers from his injury,” Jayn said as they walked through the crowded streets.
“I expect he will be climbing ladders again before long,” Maia said, smiling. The street was shadowed because of the high roofs and dormer windows, but it was clean, and she saw a little girl pick up some debris that had been blown in by the wind. She paused to thank the girl and give her a silver coin.
“Will you report to Suzenne?” Maia asked Jayn, linking arms with her again. “I need to see Simon on the way back.”
Jayn’s face fell a little at the mention of Suzenne.
“What is it?” Maia pressed.
“It is nothing.”
“You looked sad for a moment. What is wrong?”
Jayn offered a guilty smile. “You are very observant,” she answered, swinging her arm a little. “I have been worrying about Suzenne, that is all.”
Maia wrinkled her brow. “Tell me, Jayn.” She had noticed Suzenne seemed more tired lately, but there had been no other signs to give her concern. “Is she unwell?”
“She is unhappy,” Jayn said with a sigh. “I am sure she would not want me speaking of this to you.”
“What has she not told me?” Maia asked, growing more concerned.
“The separation from Dodd,” Jayn said.