Part 29 (1/2)
”We're alone, Allie. n.o.body can hear us.”
”That's not the point. If you keep making comments like that, one day somebody will hear you, and then where will you be?”
”I'll be fine,” she shrugged. ”It's your scrawny little neck on the line, my queen, not mine.”
”You are truly the most terrible person I know, Jacinta D'Orlon,” she said with a grin. ”No wonder n.o.body wants to marry you.”
Jacinta smiled at her cousin, glad to see she had eaten most of the eggs.
”That's just the way I like it, too,” she agreed. ”Finish your toast.”
”You're a bossy old cow,” Alenor grumbled as she took a bite.
”And don't you forget it,” Jacinta warned as she rose to her feet to answer a knock at the door. She opened it to find Dimitri Bayel standing outside.
”The queen really isn't ready to receive visitors, my lord.”
”This can't wait, my lady.”
She stood back to let him enter, knowing the Seneschal would never intrude upon Alenor in herrooms so early if it wasn't important.
”We've already had word about the Tsarina docking this morning,” she informed him as she closed the door.
”A minor inconvenience in light of the news I bring, my lady. Good morning, your majesty.”
”Good morning, Dimitri,” Alenor replied. ”You haven't come to bully me about how much I eat, have you?”
”I wish that was the only concern I have, your majesty. I would undertake the task gladly. The news I bring is much graver. I've just received a bird from Avacas. They have appointed the new Lord of the Suns.”
”Lord of the Suns?” Jacinta asked. ”I thought we were expecting a Lady of the Suns?”
”We were, my lady. The new Lord of the Suns is Dirk Provin.”
”That's ridiculous,” Alenor laughed. ”Who sent you that message, Dimitri? They are pulling your leg, I'm certain.”
”No, your majesty, I fear the message is genuine.”
”How did that happen?” Jacinta asked with a frown.
”Paige Halyn's will named the man or woman holding the position of right hand to the High Priestess of the Shadowdancers as his successor. Dirk Provin is, or was, the holder of that position at the time of Lord Halyn's death.”
”But the Lord of the Suns was a.s.sa.s.sinated. Surely the appointment of the new prelate should have been done by election?”
Dimitri seemed surprised Jacinta had known that. ”He died more than sixty days after he was wounded, my lady.”
Jacinta looked at Alenor, who had gone very quiet. ”He's quite a piece of work, this cousin of yours, Allie.”
”What do you mean?” Alenor asked in a small voice.
”I mean we have a Dhevynian ruling the Church of the Suns for the first time in history,” she explained.
”Dirk Provin's nationality does not seem to have influenced his actions thus far,” Dimitri pointed out.
”I don't see he has much concern for our needs.”
”This can't be an accident,” she concluded. ”The coincidences that would imply defy logic.”
”Which makes his appointment all the more disturbing, my lady.”
”What should we do?” Alenor asked. The news seemed to have rocked her to the core.
”You'll have to send an envoy, Allie. To officially extend your congratulations and a.s.sure the new Lord of the Suns of your undying loyalty to the Church.”
”The Lady Jacinta is right, your majesty,” Dimitri agreed. ”You must send someone. And the sooner the better.”
”Who?”
”I'll go,” Jacinta volunteered.
”But I need you here.”
”You need to find out what Dirk Provin is up to more than you need me standing over you to makesure you eat breakfast, Alenor.”
”Once again, the Lady Jacinta speaks the truth, your majesty. And I'm inclined to support her suggestion she represent you. She is your cousin, and as such has sufficient rank to do so without insult, and she, at least, can be trusted not to be corrupted by the taint that surrounds Dirk Provin.”
”Why, thank you, Lord Bayel,” Jacinta said graciously. ”That was very kind of you to say. Not to mention very dramatic. The taint that surrounds him? I do believe adversity brings out the poet in you.”
Dimitri smiled sourly. ”In truth, my lady, I fear it usually brings out my gout. But I do think you are the best person for this job. From what little I know of Johan Thorn's b.a.s.t.a.r.d, he's neither easily fooled nor easily thwarted, but in you, I think, he may meet his match.”
Jacinta wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not.
”I wish you wouldn't call him that, Dimitri,” Alenor said. ”You make him sound so... evil.”
”Perhaps he is, your majesty. I suggest we won't know until the Lady Jacinta has seen him at work.”
”Please let me go, Allie,” Jacinta begged. ”I want to do this for you.”
”You want to run out on me just when I need you the most,” Alenor objected. ”Kirsh is sailing into Kalarada Harbor as we speak.”
”You can handle Kirshov Latanya,” she a.s.sured the queen. ”Besides, you've been ill. You can get away with swooning and fainting for months if you have to, whenever you don't want to deal with him.”
Alenor thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. ”All right, you can go, I suppose. I think we'd better find out what Dirk is up to and there's no way I can go myself. I was away far too long the last time and I refuse to leave Kirsh in Kalarada on his own. But I have one condition.”
”What's that?”
”That you find me another lady-in-waiting before you leave.” The queen smiled and added, ”One that isn't a bully like you.”