“It shall be so pleasant when my son rules all of Great Britain. When that happens, I shall make you my personal maid.”
“Excellent,” I snarl. “Then I will have an easier time of dumping your chamber pot on your head.”
Her expression sours. Playtime is over. “What do you want, little girl? I have no desire to speak to you unless you’re here to tell me that the upstart human my son married is dead and he’s taking her spot on the throne.”
“Be grateful Queen Mary still lives,” I say in a low, cold voice. “It is only on her command that I have not taken care of Darnley personally.”
“You wouldn’t dare—”
I don’t answer. I don’t need to taunt her to plant the seeds of fearinside her heart. And she knows there’s not a damned thing she can do about it if I act on my threat. I rule the Leth, and I am not as merciful nor as willfully blind as Mary.
I think of the needle, of the way the man I killed turned to dust in front of me. I force myself to relive that moment, to steel my nerves so I can do it to Darnley if—when—the need arises.
“What do you want?” Lady Lennox asks again, this time resigned.
“The silver amulet you wear in your portrait—” I start.
“Which one?” Lady Lennox swipes at her thin, pale hair as if she were a great beauty. She was, once. But she denies her age in the worst possible way, and not even her enormous ruff can hide the way her skin sags. “I have had so many portraits made, you see.”
“Don’t act as if you’re some great muse. Anyone with money can commission an artist.” I have no patience for her false vanity. Instead, I describe the amulet, watching her through the reflection closely. It’s hard—but not impossible—for me to detect Lady Lennox’s aura.
And I can tell she’s hiding something.
“Did you give that necklace to someone?” I ask. “An English lady, perhaps?” Samson’s mother, as a bribe? I have known the Red Caps are plotting something, as is Darnley, but if this extends all the way into the other queen’s court—
Lady Lennox laughs.
“What?” I demand.
“It’s taken you this long to notice?” Her fingertips brush her lips, a mockery of being scandalized. “I know exactly what amulet you are inquiring about. And it’s in Scotland already, eh?” She lowers her hand, her smile now predatory.
“Tell me what power it has,” I demand, my voice low and cold.
“If you’re so free, come here and make me talk, child.” From themirror, I can see as Lady Lennox’s hand moves toward the goblet she was using as a reflective surface for our communication. She picks it up and dumps out the liquid, severing our connection.
14
Samson
Alythknows what this necklace means.
Which tells me Cecil was wrong. No way is Alyth a secret Elizabeth sympathizer. Cecil’s carefully protected system of signs and markers got leaked.
I’m cooked.
As I leave the hall after Alyth’s confrontation, my mind rolls back over what she said. She seemed more concerned about where I’d gotten it than what it stood for, so maybe…maybe she doesn’t know? If she did, she’d have moved against me in an instant, surely. All her distrust of the English—if she knew I was wearing a pendant that symbolized allegiance to Elizabeth, she’d be all over me. And not in the way I want.
I dig my knuckle into my temple, fighting a headache.
As if I need more pieces that don’t make sense right now.
If Alyth makes a move against me, I’m on borrowed time. And right now, I’ve got free rein of the castle, more or less.
I was given a room farther up, in a wing away from the royal quarters,and I pretend I’m heading there as I wander the castle, getting the lay of things. Servants pass, even this late, but no one intercepts me or questions my intentions, and that’s a mighty fine benefit to being known as someone on the up-and-up. In Southwark, if I’m noticed, it’s to my detriment, and I always gotta have an excuse at the ready. Here, I can just walk the halls, and as long as I don’t act funny, I’m ignored.
A few wall sconces give off light, but most of the castle is a dark cave, making it easy to “get lost” and feign confusion. So I keep my face set in an expression of bewilderment as I make my way down halls, up stairs, noting doors, any symbols on them. Cats dart in and out of the shadows, and other creatures of the night make noises that have me flinching. Guards stand in front of the royal wing, so I don’t make it back to explore those more, but the rest of the castle comes to clarity in my mind, escape routes and tucked-away recesses. More public meeting rooms but private areas too, the treasury, which is heavily guarded but might have fae magic locked within.
I need to search Mary’s rooms. But would she be fool enough to keep powerful magic so close to her? If some of it’s shit like what cursed me and she knows what it is, she’d be smarter to keep it elsewhere. And this isn’t her only residence, is it? So who’s to say she’d even have any fae magic items here? Maybe they’re all in Edinburgh or one of her other estates.
