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Chapter Five
After my afternoon with Arne, I was floating on a cloud, all the way into the next day. Quite a change from the murderous instincts I’d been indulging beforehand. Could I actually execute my uncle with my own hands? Maybe. But with all the business of the kingdom to conduct, even such a danger could not occupy my every thought.
At Arne’s suggestion, we were planning for one farmer’s home to be modernized, complete with insulation, solar panels on the roof, solar water, and every convenience. It was much more cheerful than our plan to reward anyone who handled Dear Uncle Bors, and equally necessary.
The local councilors and others who had their ear to the ground in their villages and towns had reported that not every one of my subjects was as enthusiastic about moving into the twenty-first century as I’d anticipated. Sure, most of the youngsters were excited, and I appreciated their support. But farmers, storekeepers, and others were often on the older side, and they’d been doing things exactly the same way for their whole lives. They thought things like electricity and indoor plumbing were expensive extras suitable to royalty and the careless rich.
I needed to do something to still the protests before they decided to organize and do something crazy like damage or destroy the new installations scheduled to begin soon. Arne had a team working on deciding who to award this great gift to, with an eye to the one most likely to cause trouble. He’d narrowed it down to three, so far, and was out right now talking with them, and trying to select the best one without their knowing why he was there. He had a great gift of the gab and would probably have even these dour citizens laughing and telling him all about their crops and the lambing season over a glass of lemonade in their kitchens.
While I waited for him to return, I decided to wander out in the garden for a little bit and clear my head. With everything in full bloom, honeybees working their way from flower to flower accompanied birds hopping along the ground in search of bugs or whatever they wanted to eat to create a peaceful atmosphere. I’d never seen so many butterflies in vivid tones of orange and red and blue and purple, even gold and silver, and I gave great credit to the old gardener who had been so loyal to my mother. He’d done his best to keep things nice even while Bors and his men constantly trampled the gardens, and now, without their destruction, he’d created a paradise for those of us in the palace. We welcomed citizens to come and picnic or walk the paths of most of them as well but not this one little haven. My mother’s garden. That was for me. And occasionally a friend or mate, by invitation only.
I was bent at the waist inhaling the fragrance of a peach and amber rose when I heard the thud of footfalls behind me and spun on a heel, prepared to evict whoever was interfering with my moment of peace. The words died on my lips when I saw Gunnar pounding down the gravel path toward me. This couldn’t be good.
He arrived at my side, winded and panting. But once he got his breath, he faced me with such a grim expression, my already-roused nerves sparked. “I sent one of my own men to speak with the scout and accompany him to where he’d seen Bors.”
My hearing was less fabulous than usual today, so I was reading his lips at least in part, and hoping tomorrow I’d be better. But this news overshadowed any personal concerns. “You thought it might be a mistake?”
“No.” He shrugged. “But I hoped.”
I hadn’t. With everything my uncle put me and the kingdom through under his regency, I always expected the worst. “And he saw him? Tell me everything.”
I cast around for a place to sit, spying a little bench I’d forgotten about, and drew him down to sit with me.
“He is with a small group of men who either escaped with him or who he’s recruited with promises of some kind.”
“I’ll just bet he did. Promises of the treasury he left behind.”
Gunnar nodded. “Or, he had some funds hidden outside the kingdom.”
“Yeah.” I turned over this new information in my head. “I have no doubt he wants the kingdom, but what if he did have a stash…just not outside the barriers.”
Gunnar blinked at me, a slow smile lifting his lips. “From all accounts, he really did rip off everyone here, practically impoverishing many. There was a lot in the treasury, and he was arrogant enough to think he could pull off the murders and the worst regency in the history of regencies.”
“He had reason to believe that. Look how long it took before anything happened at all. But I knew my uncle well enough to realize he saw all the sides of every situation. And his cleverness would have surpassed his arrogance.”
“Right.” He inhaled deeply. “But my man sat in a bar where they were all drinking and laughing and planning to kill you. So there’s that.”
“There is that,” I repeated. “But we knew that. The news is that there is probably another stash of my people’s money in the kingdom somewhere. Funds that need to be found to be put to good use, and that means before we kill him, we need to get him to tell us where it is. Change the bounty to alive only. I want my dear uncle here in the dungeon where we can have a nice chat about his little stash before we execute him.”
“Are you sure? You want him here, not dead? As you said, he’s arrogant and clever…”
I swallowed down the fear that had me wanting to say no, kill him, do not let him more than a foot over the border… “My people’s welfare comes first. I am steward of what belongs to them. The bounty is only on him alive now. Get the word out.”
“You’re the queen. I’m only your humble servant.” He gave a bow of his head and then lifted his face to me. “But your life comes first and if there is any danger, I may have to kill him and let you punish me accordingly.”
“Let’s walk for now. I expect Arne back soon with updates on his project.”
So many things to do for my people. They came before even my own life. It could be no different. I strolled the gardens again, this time arm in arm with my mate, but the peace of the day was broken and soon we went inside. It seemed not to matter how hard I tried not to think of Bors, as long as he walked this earth, that was not to be.
