Alex Bledsoe - Dark Jenny

DeGrandis did as the king commanded, wiped his face again, and continued in a much calmer voice, “That man murdered one of the Knights of the Double Tarn. We all saw it. And now we’re the prisoners, and he’s being protected by Sir Robert.”

Drake smiled. His tone was even and infinitely patient. “I understand why, if you believe that’s the case, you’re so upset. I would be as well. Now I want you to answer my questions in the same calm way. Can you do that?”

DeGrandis nodded.

“Excellent. Now-why do you think this man is a murderer?”

“We all saw him standing over the body.”

Drake nodded. “Ah. I see. But to beg your pardon, I’ve been told that the unfortunate Samuel Patrice had already fallen before this man reached him. Is that true?”

DeGrandis licked his lips before speaking. Drake’s rank, size, and paternal demeanor took the wind from the soft man’s outrage. “Well… I wasn’t watching at the time. Personally, I mean.”

“Then I’m sure you have a reliable source, someone who saw this man with Patrice before he fell?”

DeGrandis laughed nervously. “I… it’s just general knowledge, Your Majesty.”

Drake’s eyebrows went up. “‘General knowledge’?”

DeGrandis sighed, knowing he’d been defeated by the king’s logic. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

The others murmured among themselves, reconsidering their positions. It had nothing to do with my true guilt or innocence, and everything to do with staying on the king’s good side. DeGrandis was a casualty in the eternal battle for royal favor, and the mob felt no loyalty to the man who’d led them a few moments earlier.

Drake, his hand still on DeGrandis’s shoulder, shook the other man in a friendly gesture that probably rattled his teeth. “Lord Chauncey,” he said with a little laugh, “do you remember all those years ago when we put down the new law codes? You were there, I believe. You sat to my left, about two rows back, didn’t you?”

DeGrandis did not look up. He sounded like a small child. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Does ‘general knowledge’ fall under any of the categories of proof we agreed on? Especially for capital crimes?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“I’ve just arrived, Lord Chauncey. I know what Kay’s told me, and now what you’ve told me. I’ve heard what the man you accuse had to say as well. And I may ask some others to tell me what they saw. Now, this ‘general knowledge’ you mentioned must have started with someone. Whom would you recommend I talk to, to find out more about it?”

DeGrandis looked up sharply, realizing here was a chance to pass the blame to someone else. “Er… well… Lord Astamore has been the most vocal in his condemnation of that man.”

The look on Astamore’s face was enough to balance all the crap of the previous day. He looked around, but all the exits were guarded and his former friends moved diplomatically away. I made eye contact with him and smiled, just as he’d done to me the day before. I didn’t normally traffic in revenge, but, hey, when it’s handed to you by a king…

Drake nodded. “I see. Well, then, I’ll be sure and talk to him.” Then he looked over the other nobles. “Does anyone else have anything to add to what Lord Chauncey has just told me? Anyone?… Very well. I’m going to go upstairs, visit my wife, and wash off some of this trail dust. I’m sure you’ll all understand that I need you to remain here as my guests until we resolve this tragedy. Thank you in advance for your patience, and remember, this is the law, our law, at work. And the law, gentleman, is what puts the grand in Grand Bruan.”

The room bowed to him and he turned to Kay and me. In a low voice he said, “Gentlemen, let’s get out of this circus, shall we?” Without waiting for an answer he headed for the door, and we followed. No one else did.

In the stairwell, Drake paused between floors and ran a hand through his hair. Thanks to the sweat and wind from his ride, it stayed in a rather unflattering position. “What a nightmare,” he muttered.

“Sorry, Marc,” Kay said. “I tried to handle it, but nobody listens to me. They’ll only pay attention to you.”

“I know you did your best, Bob.”

Kay turned to me. “Other than running into Agravaine again, did anything else happen while I was gone?”

“I learned some more things. The poison the killer used was shatternight. That’s important for two reasons: one, it doesn’t grow anywhere in Grand Bruan, and two, it loses its potency soon after it’s picked. That means that whoever used it came straight here from some place where it does grow.”

Kay and Drake exchanged a glance. Kay said quickly, “That was the first thing I checked. She’s not here. I promise.”

“Who isn’t?” I asked.

“My sister Megan,” Drake said. “She’s… well, she has issues with me. And with my kingship. That’s why she left the island.”

“She’s a lunatic,” Kay said.

“That’s too harsh, Bob,” Drake corrected. “She has the strength of her delusions, and that makes her dangerous. But she hasn’t been seen on the island in five years. And she was never a good one for being discreet, so if she ever did come back, everyone would know it.” He looked at Kay. “Although you did check, right?”

“I checked.”

“What’s she got against you?” I asked Drake.

“That’s personal,” Kay said gruffly, and crossed his arms.

“No, that’s all right, I think Mr. LaCrosse deserves to know so he won’t think we’re keeping relevant secrets.” Drake paused a moment to organize his thoughts. “Megan is only my half sister. She believes, and sadly she may be correct, that my father raped our mother to conceive me. Only my former adviser Cameron Kern knows for sure, and he refused to discuss it with me.”

“That’s one of the reasons,” Kay interjected, “he’s now a former adviser.”

“Bob,” Drake said warningly. “At any rate, Megan is two years older than me, so she remembers how being thought of as the king’s whore affected our late mother. And on top of that, she left the island as a young woman and became a moon priestess, and we all know their opinion of men in general. Because of all that, she feels I deserve the punishment my father never received in his lifetime.”

“Awkward to have treasonous family,” I agreed.

Drake smiled with a sad little sigh. “Yes.”

“And entirely beside the point,” Kay said. “I’ll look over the guest list and see if any of them have traveled outside Grand Bruan recently, to somewhere they might acquire shatternight.”

“What about the other knights?” I asked. “Have any of them been off the island?”

“Three of them went to Sartoba to help train their army,” Kay said. “They got back two days before this incident.”

“Check it out,” Drake said. Kay nodded. To me the king asked, “Anything else?”

Your sister isn’t the only moon priestess in your family, I could’ve said. But I decided this wasn’t the best time. “I’ll let you know as soon as anything occurs to me.”

“Good. Let’s talk again in a bit after I’ve cleaned up and visited Jennifer. I owe her some private time, especially since we’ll have to hold court very soon and make some public statement.”

Kay and I both bowed, and Drake continued up the staircase. Just before he reached the next landing, he stopped. “And, Mr. LaCrosse? There’s a very good doctor here. Gladstone, I believe is her name. Go see her about that hand, and tell her I sent you. She’ll fix you right up.” Then Drake disappeared upstairs.

I turned to Kay and grinned. “Have to obey the king, you know.”

“I’ll send Gillian with you again,” Kay said. “To watch your back and such. Make sure you don’t get ambushed again.”