Page 78 of Her Baseborn Bridegroom

Mason clenched his jaw. “Right,” he muttered grimly. Then he saw his youngest brother enter from stage left and nearly missed his footing. “Roland’s here,” he hissed.

His brother looked irritable and like he had been dragged from his bed. When someone tried to clap Roland on the shoulder, he crossly shrugged them off.

“Steady, Mason,” cautioned Oswald, his head swiveling round. “Roland approaches the Queen. Focus on Wymer.”

Mason expelled a breath.

“This is not going to be easy,” muttered Oswald in the understatement of the century. “But you need to keep your temper.”

As they drew closer, Mason realized that Queen Armenal had leaned over and was talking to the King. He was frowning doubtfully but she seemed quite insistent. Finally, Wymer threw his arms up in the air. “Oh very well,” he pronounced irritably. “If that is what you wish.”

Queen Armenal sat back in her own seat with a triumphant smile.

“Your Majesty,” they hailed him as he approached.

So focused had Mason been on Linnet that he had scarcely noticed the fact that the rest of the occupants of the throne room had fallen into a deathly hush. Everyone was turned to face the Vawdreys and craning to listen to what was being said. Not a single person was even making a pretense of having their own conversation. Grimly, Mason resigned himself to the fact that whatever was going to transpire was going to be in front of a very packed house. Linnet’s slightly panicked gaze met his, then she turned away.

“Should not Sir Jevons be present?” asked the King peevishly. The suggestion seemed to fill even him with displeasure.

The slightest spasm passed over the Queen’s face. “I am sure that the good Lord Schaeffer has a written account of their complaint.”

She smiled cloyingly at the elderly lord who immediately turned to a footman and began instructing him where to find the relevant papers.

“I have had a very long interview with both Sir and Lady Jevons,” said Schaeffer heavily. He wiped his brow. “I was most thorough in recording the details.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” said the King drily. “In that case, I see no reason to summon them in this instance.”

The Queen stood up, looking like the cat who’d got the cream. “It is my proposal that we take this opportunity to settle this matter of the proposed dissolvent of Sir Mason Vawdrey and Lady Linnet Cadwallader’s marriage.”

Lord Schaeffer approached the throne looking very flushed and harried, carrying a sheaf of paperwork which he tried to hand to the King. He waved it towards the Queen who took it and then placed it on her chair unread.

She turned out towards wards everyone again. “His gracious Majesty the King has granted me this boon and agreed to let me preside over this decision.”

King Wymer nodded in agreement and stared thoughtfully at the back of the room. Mason inwardly seethed. He could not quite believe that his marriage was being used as a source of entertainment for a lot of bored courtiers who had nothing better to do with their morning.

“It is my suggestion . . . ” said the Queen in a carrying voice.

And she should have been on the stage, he thought savagely.

“That this ruling is made after I ask one question,” she held up one slender finger, “of Sir Mason Vawdrey.” A loud murmuring rose from the crowd.

“One question!” spluttered Lord Schaeffer. “This is highly irregular.”

“Silence!” shouted the King.

Everyone hushed.

“One question,” confirmed the Queen smoothly. She smiled serenely at the crowd as if expecting them to applaud.

XXXII

The whole morning was taking on the properties of a nightmare, thought Linnet with horror. She rubbed her naked ring finger and cast another furtive look at Mason, who seemed to have turned to stone. Finally, he nodded once as if to say he was ready. He had gone almost unnervingly still. Then suddenly she thought, perhaps this was what he was like before he went into battle?

Her nervous gaze shot past him to a tense-looking Oswald and then to Roland, the youngest brother. He was clearly a Vawdrey, tall and dark like his brothers, but with a slender build like Oswald rather than Mason’s powerful build. In truth, he looked younger than his twenty-two years, so maybe he would fill out later. Boyhood still seemed to cling to him. He looked sulky and out of sorts, his bottom lip sticking out in a pout of displeasure, his dark curly hair spilling forward onto his face. My gods. She had nearly been married to that moody-looking boy! Well, even if they annulled her marriage, she thought, her stomach knotting up. She would not marry Roland Vawdrey! She would never marry anyone but Mason.

The room was still eerily silent. Linnet turned back to the dais where the Queen had cast her eyes up to the painted ceiling as if for inspiration. It was gorgeously decorated with a scene of the heavens and was covered in clouds, stars, and angels. Linnet held her breath as the Queen spoke in a strangely chilling voice:

“A choice lies before you, Sir Mason. Two paths in a forked road. On the right hand path you can choose for your marriage to be annulled and the stain of your bastardy removed. You will be elevated to the most senior ranking commander in the King’s army and permitted to use unimpeded the sigil of the black Vawdrey panther.”