I considered telling him about the King’s private stash, but that would have required explaining why Darriana and I had smashed most of the bottles.
I raised my glass to him. After all, Jillard had any number of infinitely more unpleasant ways of killing me, if that were his aim. A sip revealed that the Duke was right: the wine did have the faintly bitter aftertaste I’ve come to associate with cheap wines and poison; I’d become something of an expert at both. ‘To your health,’ I said.
He nodded graciously. ‘Well, Falcio, we have played our little game and decided not to kill each other yet again. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?’
‘Aline.’
Jillard frowned. ‘Please tell me you’re not about to start on your usual litany of threats?’ He made a show of glancing around the empty room. ‘I fear I am too poor an audience for what I have no doubt will be a grand speech on Ducal overreach, the nature of venality and innocence lost.’
‘No speeches,’ I said, then hesitated. ‘I need a favour.’
‘Falcio, if you’ve come here believing I can somehow elevate the girl to the throne of my own accord, then I fear you’ll be sorely disappointed. What influence I once had with the other Dukes has largely faded away.’
‘Really? Why?’
‘The boy, of course. Hadiermo and Erris have already met with him privately, and have taken the liberty of assigning him “councillors” and “advisors” to enable him to navigate the more esoteric aspects of the laws and protocols governing questions of royal lineage.’
Saints. Why couldn’t Trin have had the decency to at least rid the world of those two arseholes during her last attempt to overthrow the country?
‘Oh, and in case you’re wondering,’ Jillard went on, ‘that Margrave, Rhetan? The one you made the most powerful noble in Baern apart from Ossia herself – and the man now almost certain to replace her when she can no longer hold her Duchy? He’s already made overtures to . . . how did he put it? “Our rightful and glorious King”.’
Well, fuck me. You can’t even trust men who murder their own relatives any more.
‘Oh, don’t look so surprised, Falcio. If it makes you feel better, I’m sure Rhetan can be persuaded to change sides for the right price. Probably a little more land and a lot fewer taxes.’
‘What will it take for Hadiermo and Erris?’ I asked.
He looked at me quizzically. ‘What will it “take”? You mean, to buy their votes to put Aline on the throne?’ He shook his head. ‘You will never have their support; they are far too delighted at the prospect of a male ruler. Their inexhaustible determination not to have a woman on the throne is the closest thing either have to a principle.’
‘Fine. I don’t need them if I have you, Ossia, Meillard and Pastien. Ossia will certainly support Aline, and I’m fairly sure Pastien can be bought. That leaves you and—’
‘She will never be Queen, Falcio,’ Jillard said quietly. Before I could protest he raised a hand. ‘It is through no machinations of mine, I assure you. Given the choice between her and Patriana’s puppet, I have no doubt that Aline is the best hope the country has for stability.’
‘Then—’
He interrupted, asking, ‘How many Queens have we ever had ruling Tristia?’
‘Three,’ I replied. I’d checked.
‘Describe them for me.’
‘Well, Illenia the First was—’
‘No, no, not their names: tell me of their rule. What great and grand things did these Queens do?’
The question took me aback – I’d sought only to make sure that a Queen could hold the throne, not study their economic or military achievements. ‘I’m not sure I understand—’
‘You understand the question perfectly, Falcio. The few Queens we’ve had sit the throne, some prettily, some less so, have done nothing to change the country. They allowed the Dukes to rule as they saw fit; they made no major changes to the laws or the government – in fact, they largely stayed out of politics altogether. Now, does that sound like Aline to you? Does that sound like the girl who – before she was even on the throne – repudiated more than a thousand years of royal prerogative by telling the common folk that they need never again kneel to the monarch?’
I didn’t smile; I didn’t want Jillard to mock me for my pride in her, but she’d been so brave, so brilliant. In a moment when the whole world expected her to take vengeance on those who’d set themselves against her, she had instead given them not only forgiveness but hope in a single command: Rise.
‘You are a damned fool!’ Jillard said, smashing his wine glass on the floor. Apparently I’m not as good at hiding my emotions as I think I am. ‘You see the world in such sweet dreams, Falcio – that alone should tell you that you’re asleep!’
‘You’re saying Hadiermo and the others won’t tolerate a strong Queen.’
He waved a hand. ‘The hells for the Dukes; I would kill them all myself if I thought it would do any good. It’s not just them, Falcio. It’s all the nobility: the Margraves and Margravinas, the Viscounts and Viscountesses, the Lords and Daminas: none of them will let her do the things she will want to do. Go amongst the Lords Caravaner and the wealthiest of the merchants and ask about your little Queen – in fact, speak to the peasantry. You will find the same thing, Falcio. No one wants a fourteen-year-old girl telling them how to live their lives.’
He stared at me as if he expected me to deny his logic, to shout at him or threaten bloody murder, but I did none of those things.
‘Ah,’ he said. ‘I have underestimated you. You already know this.’
I nodded.
‘And you think you have a solution.’
Again I nodded. ‘Before I left for Avares, we had been discussing marriage for Aline.’
‘Falcio, that ship long ago left its port. You cannot hope to—’
‘A Duke,’ I said, cutting him off. ‘What if she were to marry into one of the Ducal lines?’
Jillard looked taken aback, and I didn’t blame him. A month ago I would have cut off my own foot with a rusty blade rather than even think about what I was about to suggest.
‘Pastien?’ he asked. ‘He’s young and . . . malleable, but I’m not convinced he can be trusted.’
‘I wouldn’t trust that little shit with passing the salt,’ I said. ‘Not Pastien.’
‘Then I’m afraid you have a poor set of choices, Falcio. Hadiermo and Erris would be monsters to her, Meillard is already married and Ossia is . . . not of the appropriate persuasion, even if Aline was. Which only leaves . . .’
This was the part that really made me want to cut my own tongue out. ‘You,’ I said. ‘What if she married you?’
I’d never seen the Duke of Rijou taken by surprise before and I felt I should press the advantage. ‘You’re unmarried, your Grace – Tommer’s mother died in childbirth, didn’t she?’