Chapter 7
An explosion woke me. I barely had time to sit up when a second, a third, and a fourth explosion rocked the castle. I didn't need to wonder what happened, I already knew. Maximillian Bedard had struck. The explosions told me what kind of an assassin he used, an alchemist.
Most of my knowledge of alchemy came from what Iderra told me. She said that certain elements mixed together could cause explosions. At the time, I dismissed what she said as fanciful thinking. Now, I knew better.
I donned a red silk dressing gown over my sleep shift and burst into the hallway. Smoke was rising from the Queen's Suite at the far end of the hall. More smoke was filtering up the stairwell from the second floor, where our guests were staying.
I ran down the hall toward the Queen's Suite. As I got closer, I could see that the heavy wooden door that led to the Queen's Suite had been blown apart. The four guards that had been stationed at the door lay face down in the hallway, pieces of the broken door lay on top of them, pools of blood lay beneath them. Edgerton, dressed in a black velvet dressing gown, crouched next to them, checking to see if they were alive. He looked at me and shook his head.
I started to dash into the Queen's Suite, but Edgerton stepped in front of me. "I'll go inside, Your Highness. You wait here."
He nodded at the two guards that had been standing in front of my door and had run down the hall with me. They grabbed me by the arms and held me between them. Edgerton turned and disappeared into Queen Catlett's smoke filled suite.
I didn't try to fight the guards, they were too big and too strong. Instead, I closed my eyes and pictured Edgerton walking into the Queen's Suite. A second later, I was floating above and behind him. As he surveyed the sitting room, I did the same. It was a mess. Furniture was overturned and broken. The door leading to the bedroom was shattered, only splinters of it remained, scattered across her dressing room.
I floated past Edgerton. The smoke was even thicker in the bedroom. The bed was destroyed and what remained of it, which wasn't much, was on fire. The alchemist must have planted his weapon beneath the bed. Amid the wreckage, I saw something else on fire, the remains of a body. Queen Catlett, my western mother, was dead.
"The queen is dead," I said, opening my eyes and looking at the two guards that held me.
Edgerton appeared a few seconds later. His face covered with shock, anger, and grief. "They killed her. Although, I don't know."
"Alchemy," I said. "Max brought an alchemist with him. He must have planted his weapons when everyone was downstairs, dining and dancing."
"Why didn't they come after you?" Edgerton said.
"Word's out that I'm a seer. If they tried to harm me, I would've had a vision warning me that this would happen. I would've been able to save Queen Catlett."
I couldn't help but wonder why I didn't have a vision warning me about this anyway, granted my life wasn't in danger, but it wasn't in danger when I had the vision of Queen Catlett being poisoned. Then again, if they had succeeded in poisoning her, maybe my life would've been in danger. As Catlett's heir, I had money, land, and manpower. If she had died before naming me her heir, I would've had none of those at my disposal.
Commodore Hubbard, Bokham, Conkling Eades, the new physician, and several other guards arrived, swords and cutlasses in hand.
"What happened?" Commodore Hubbard asked.
"Queen Catlett is dead," Edgerton said.
"How?" Bokham asked.
"Alchemy," I said. "Certain elements, when mixed in the right amounts, can cause explosions."
Edgerton turned and disappeared back inside the Queen's Suite.
"You did say Max might try something," Bokham said.
"I just didn't know what," I said.
Edgerton stepped out of the smoke filled suite carrying something. Because it was tarnished by smoke and scorch marks, it took me a second to figure out what it was, it was Queen Catlett's crown. He held out the tarnished silver crown, offering it to me.
"It's not my time," I said, lowering my voice so that only he could hear me.
"It's why I brought you here. And it is your time."
I studied the tarnished crown for a moment, then took it and placed it on my head. I couldn't help but notice that it was still warm from the heat of the explosion.
The people around me began to drop to one knee, first Edgerton, then Commodore Hubbard, then Bokham, then Conkling Eades, then the others.
"Queen Catlett is dead," Edgerton said in a loud voice. "Long live Queen Lila."
"Long live Queen Lila," the others said in unison.
Edgerton rose to his feet and the others followed suit. "What is your command, my queen?"
"There were several explosions on the second floor," I said, reminding myself that he was talking to me. "I want the guards and physician to go down there, see who's dead and who's hurt. Help those that need help, then report back to me."
Bokham, Conkling Eades, the physician, and several other guards headed for the stairs. Edgerton, Commodore Hubbard, and the two guards that had been assigned to guard my suite remained with me.
"What about Bedard?" Edgerton said. "I think we know that he's behind this."
"Give me a second," I said. "And I can tell you where he is."
I closed my eyes and pictured Maximillian Bedard in my mind. A second later, I saw him, standing on the deck of a ship similar to the Star of the Sea. It was floating down river, already several miles from the castle. Dawn was just starting to break over the Istansada River, the sun peeking over the eastern horizon. Someone was standing next to Max, talking to him, explaining about elements and explosions, and how the explosions could be hastened or delayed, depending upon how much of each element was used. That someone was his alchemist. Roehl Tharrington. The King of Kavel. The fifth Finger State.
"He's headed down river with his alchemist. Roehl Tharrington."
"The King of Kavel?" Commodore Hubbard said. "But he's an ally."
"Not any longer," I said. "He was just telling Max how the explosions could be delayed by mixing the elements in just the right amounts."
"That explains how their assassin got up here without attracting attention," Edgerton said. "Tharrington had breakfast with the queen and I just yesterday. In her suite. She complained about being cold. He fetched one of her cloaks from her dressing room. That's probably when he planted his explosives."
"I wonder what prompted him to turn on us," Commodore Hubbard said.
"Gold," I said. "As well as the promise of more power."
"Queen Catlett's flagship is in port," Commodore Hubbard said. "Should I order it to give chase?"
"Max will expect that," I said. "He probably has several ships just down river, waiting for us to come after him. We won't be so foolish as to retaliate now, when they expect it. We'll retaliate in our own time, not theirs. The first thing we need to do is get dressed."
Edgerton and Commodore Hubbard bowed to me and headed to their respective suites. I headed back to mine at the far end of the hall. As I passed the stairs, Vomeir and Patera appeared.
"What happened?" Vomeir asked.
I switched to Adan. "Maximillian Bedard used an alchemist, Roehl Tharrington, the King of Kavel, and a former ally, to kill Queen Catlett. They've already made their getaway."
"The Kings of Holt, Enid, and Tash, are also dead," Bokham said, bounding up the stairs.
I told Vomeir and Patera what Bokham just told me, then turned to Bokham and switched to the Common Tongue. "Gather up some servants and have them put out the fires and collect the dead. Tell all of our guests to gather in the throne room as soon as they're able."
"What are you going to do?" Bokham said.
"Get dressed. Then I'm going to tell everyone what happened."
I switched to Adan, then repeated what I had just said. Once I finished, I headed to my suite to get dressed. When I got there, I found Shu and the Princess Vanessa sitting in my drawing room.
"You're not hurt," Shu
said, when she saw me.
"You of all people should know that I'm not easy to kill."
Shu forced a smile that she wasn't feeling. "I'm glad of that."
"I'm glad to see the two of you are unharmed."
"We both turned in early last night," Shu said. "We went out for an early morning walk. That's when we heard the explosions."
"We tried to get to my father's room," Princess Vanessa said. "The guards wouldn't let us go inside."
I knelt at the princess's feet, took her hands in mine, and looked her in the eyes. "Your father is dead, Vanessa."
Not exactly subtle, but there's no easy way to tell a child that their father's dead. I remained where I was and watched as the tears welled up in the little girl's eyes, tears which she tried to fight.
"It's okay to cry when those we love are taken from us."
"My father said that I'm a princess, and that I must be better than others, which means no crying. That's what he said."
"He didn't mean that you couldn't cry for him. He meant that you shouldn't cry over unimportant things. I'm a princess and I cried when my mother died. I cried again when my sister Salisha died. And when there's time, I'll cry over Queen Catlett."
Vanessa threw herself into my arms and let the tears flow. I didn't cry then, although I wanted to. I just knelt there and held her. Shu knelt next to us and wrapped her arms around both of us.
When Vanessa had cried herself out, she pulled away from me. "I don't know how to be queen. I'm only ten years old."
I brushed her chestnut hair out of her eyes. "I've learned from two of the best. I'll teach you."
They had taken Catlett from me, but they wouldn't get Vanessa. I planned to see her on the throne of Holt long after Maximillian Bedard and Roehl Tharrington were dead.