Page 82 of The Priory of the Orange Tree

“Indeed.”

Many royals had sought the water of life. Playing on the fear of death must be a lucrative business—and there had long been rumors at court that Sabran feared the childbed. Roos had preyed on a young queen, dazzling her with his knowledge of science. A charlatan.

“Niclays was no fraud,” the Dowager Duchess said, as if she could read Ead’s mind. “He truly believed he could make it for her. The elixir was his passion for decades.” There was a note of sadness in her voice. “Her Majesty gave him great lodgings and a workshop at Ascalon Palace—but from what I understand, he lost himself to wine and gambling. And used his royal pension to pay for it.” She paused to let a page top up her glass. “After two years, Sabran decided that Niclays had swindled her. She banished him from Inys and decreed that no country that craved her friendship could give him refuge. The late High Prince Leovart elected to send him to Orisima.”

The trading post. “I assume Her Majesty has not relented on the subject of his exile.”

“No. He has been there for seven years.”

Ead raised her eyebrows. “Seven?”

From what she understood, Orisima was a tiny island (ifislandwere not too grand a word for it) that clung to the Seiikinese port of Cape Hisan. Seven years there would drive a person mad.

“Yes,” the Dowager Duchess said, seeing her face. “I beseeched Prince Aubrecht to have him brought home, but he will only do so if Queen Sabran pardons him.”

“Do you . . . not believe he deserves to be in exile, Your Grace?” Ead ventured.

After a hesitation, the reply came: “I believe he has been punished enough. Niclays is a good man. If he had not been so deep in mourning for Jannart, I do not think he would have behaved the way he did. He wanted to lose himself.”

Ead thought of the name on Truyde’s little book of heresy.Niclays. Had the girl intended to use Roos in her plan?

“I suppose your granddaughter also knows Doctor Roos,” she said.

“Oh, yes. Niclays was like an uncle to her when she was young.” The Dowager Duchess paused again. “I understand you have some sway with Her Majesty. As one of her ladies, she must hold your opinion in high regard.”

Now Ead understood why this noblewoman had come to speak to her.

“The Teldan of Kantmarkt understand commerce,” the Dowager Duchess said, her voice soft. There was a lit cinder of hope in her gaze. “If you speak for Niclays, I can make you a rich woman, Mistress Duryan.”

This must be what happened to Roslain and Katryen. A hushed request, a sweetener, a whisper to Sabran. What Ead could not understand was why it was happening to her.

“I am not one of the Ladies of the Bedchamber,” she said. “I do not presume to have Her Majesty’s ear.”

“I think you are far too modest.” The Dowager Duchess smiled a little. “I saw her walking with you in the Knot Gardens just this morning.”

Ead took a sip of wine, buying herself a moment.

She could not get involved in dealings like these. It would be folly to speak for someone Sabran despised when the queen had only just shown an interest in her.

“I cannot help you, Your Grace,” Ead said. “You would be better served asking Lady Roslain or Lady Katryen.” She stood and curtsied. “Excuse me. I have duties elsewhere.”

Before the Dowager Duchess could press her on the matter, she made her way toward the doors.

The Royal Bedchamber in Briar House was much smaller than its counterpart at Ascalon Palace. The ceiling was set low, the walls paneled with dark linenfold oak, and crimson drapes surrounded the bed. Ead was early, but she found Margret sitting inside.

“Ead,” she said. Her voice was thick with the cold that had buckled half the court. “Now you’ve spoiled the surprise. I hoped to have arrayed the bed before you got here.”

“So I could continue making idle conversation with nobles I scarcely know?”

“So you could dance. You used to love to dance.”

“That was when the sight of the Night Hawk did not make me as bilious as it does now.”

With a sound of distaste, Margret rose, a letter in her hand. “Is it from home?” Ead asked.

“Aye. Mama says that Papa has been asking to see me for weeks. Apparently, he has something important to tell me, but I can hardly go to him in the middle of all this.”

“Sabran would let you.”

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