***
When Iderra finished designing her new ship, she brought the sketches to my study to show me. Commodore Hubbard, the shipwright, and the Princess Vanessa joined us.
The first thing I noticed was that the deck of Iderra's ship looked like that of any other caravel, with a raised foredeck, a low middle deck, and a raised afterdeck. There were three masts. The keel contained a dorsal fin in its middle. She added two small wings to the keel's fin. I also noticed the ship's bow was narrower than a caravel's bow. As a whole, the ship looked like it would carry a lot less cargo than your standard caravel.
"You didn't ask me to design a cargo ship," Iderra said, when I mentioned that to her. "You asked me to build a ship that would be faster and more maneuverable than anything afloat."
I looked at Commodore Hubbard and the shipwright, to see what they thought.
"We built a model of your sister's ship," the shipwright said. "And compared it against an identical sized model of the standard caravel."
"And?"
"Your sister's ship was significantly faster," Commodore Hubbard said. "But those were models. The only way to tell if a full-sized version will work is to build it."
"Why wouldn't it work?" Iderra asked. She launched into a detailed explanation about how scale models could predict the performance of full-sized ships. When Commodore Hubbard's eyes, not to mention those of the shipwright, started to glaze over, I held up a hand to silence her.
"Let's build her ship," I said. "When it's done, we'll test it against the Queen of the Sea. If it's as good as Idy says, we'll name it the Queen Catlett. Then we'll build a second, a third, and a fourth ship. The second will be named the Edgerton Hooks. The third will be named the Princess Vanessa."
That brought a smile to Vanessa's face, which I thought it would.
"We should name the fourth the Rose of Adah," Commodore Hubbard said. "If you remember, Your Majesty, Queen Catlett was going to build a new ship and name it the Rose of Adah."
"I remember, but in light of recent events, it would seem more appropriate if we named the fourth ship the Lily of Vassa. Lily's were Catlett's favorite flower."
Commodore Hubbard bowed. "As you wish, Your Majesty."
"I wish," I said.
"If the Queen Catlett wins the race against the Queen of the Sea, we won't need the carvelle anymore," Commodore Hubbard said.
"The Queen Catlett will win easily," Idy said in a matter of fact tone.
"If the carvelle loses the race, we'll sell it," I said. "It has a large cargo hold, plenty of merchants can use it. Selling it will also help defer the cost of our new fleet."
I dismissed Commodore Hubbard and the shipwright. Princess Vanessa went with them, having been promised the model of the ship that would bear her name.
"I sent a message to the King of Kavel," I said, when Idy and I were alone. "Inquiring as to whether he survived the brutal attack that killed Queen Catlett."
"Didn't you say that he was the alchemist responsible for the attack?"
"He was, but I don't want him to realize that I know that."
"You're telling me this because?"
"Because I just got a reply from him."
I pulled out a piece of parchment that contained a letter Roehl Tharrington had written me and handed it to Iderra. She read it. "He's invited you to come visit him at his castle on the Western Sea."
"I'm thinking of going."
"Is it safe?"
"Of course it's not safe, but I promised our friends and allies that I would avenge the deaths of their kings. And that Roehl Tharrington would die by my hand."
"Didn't mother ever tell you not to make promises that you can't keep?"
"I intend to keep that promise," I said.
"How do you intend to kill him?"
"I intend to invite him into my bedroom and just when he thinks things are getting interesting, I'll strangle him."
"I have a better idea," Idy said. "Awhile back, I read about a plant that would paralyze someone when dried, ground up, and mixed into their food or drink. They can't move a single muscle in their body except their eyes."
"How much of this plant would he have to ingest?"
"Very little. Its effects are quite powerful."
"How long do the effects last?"
"They're permanent."
"Could you make this compound from plants found in this part of the world?"
"I don't believe so."
"Then why are you telling me this?" I asked.
Iderra was dressed similar to me, black riding boots, black leather breeches, a silk shirt, and a leather waistcoat. Where my shirt was red, hers was emerald green. She reached inside her emerald green shirt and pulled out a large gold locket. Engraved on the outside of the locket was the royal seal of Adah, the body of a lion with the wings of an eagle and the head of a woman wearing a crown, in this case, the woman was Iderra. It was the same seal found on the signet ring that I still wore, with the exception of the woman's head.
"I have some of that powder inside this locket," Iderra said. "Enough to incapacitate three people."
The number of people that she could incapacitate wasn't lost on me. I tried to remember when I first saw her wearing that locket. Near as I could remember, it was around the time mother took ill.
"You were planning on using that on us?" By us, I meant, Bedonna, Salisha, and myself.
"I toyed with the idea of slipping it into your dinners. Night after night, for one full month, just before mother died."
"Did Bedonna and Salisha suspect anything?"
Iderra scoffed. "I never worried about them figuring it out. Just you."
"I never suspected. I never imagined you wanted the throne that much."
"I didn't want the throne. I just thought I should get you guys before you got me. The thought of having to assume the throne was what kept me from using the powder."
I couldn't suppress a shiver from coursing up my spine. I always knew Iderra was smart, but I never knew she was dangerous. Of course, she never actually tried anything. If she had, I would've had a vision warning me.
"Now, it's time for you to confess," Iderra said, forcing a smile that didn't quite mask the guilt on her face. "What nefarious plans did you have for getting rid of Bedonna, Salisha, and myself?"
"I had no plans for getting rid of any of you. The last thing mother ever said to me was 'save your sisters.' My plan was to ride west and seek the support and protection of General Dacus and the Army of the West. I knew he liked me better than the rest of you, and thought that with his support, I might be able to get Bedonna and Salisha to lay down their arms."
"That's one of the reasons mother made you the heir hopeful. She knew the rest of us were plotting against our sisters and it angered her. She even knew what Bedonna and Salisha had planned. She admitted that she didn't know what I was up to, but she knew that I had something up my sleeve. She told me as much."
"Bedonna's plan was to have the palace guard round us up and toss us in the dungeon as soon as mother died. You've told me about your plan. I've told you about mine, such as it was. What was Salisha's plan?"
"Salisha tried to convince some of her suitors to assassinate us. Why do you think Vomeir left her?"
"He said he left her because she accused him of being one of Bedonna's spies."
"Not true," Iderra said. "He left her because she asked him to kill you. Not only did he refuse, he told her that he would kill any assassins she sent after you."
"Why didn't he tell me that?"
"Perhaps, he didn't want you to think ill of your sister. Perhaps, he thought you wouldn't believe him."
Suddenly, I felt very naive. I knew Iderra, Salisha, and Bedonna had been planning and plotting. I just never realized they had taken so many steps to carry out their plans, and that their plans had been so devious. I was beginning to understand why Bedonna had been so angry the day she killed Salisha.
"Say something," Iderra said, when I just
sat there.
"I feel like a fool. One of the advantages of being a seer. I guess. You can afford to be a naive fool."
"If it makes you feel any better, I feel like a fool for even thinking about committing such a dreadful act. Especially after all you've done for me."
"That does make me feel a little better. Although since mother died, you've harmed no one. I on the other hand, have strangled a powder witch, cut the hand off an assassin, plunged my cutlass through the chest of Vanessa's uncle, and sent two men to a prison camp in the snowy north."
"You've got nothing to be ashamed of," Iderra said. "Defending yourself against people that want to hurt you isn't the same as plotting to destroy a sister that's done nothing but love and admire you. Mother was right. Out of the four of us, you're the only one qualified to be a queen."
"It's hard to feel good about myself when I'm sitting here plotting to kill Roehl Tharrington."
"Think of him as a murderer, because that's what he is. Queen Catlett invited him here as a friend, and he repaid her hospitality by taking her life, not to mention several other lives. Someone has to be the sword of justice, and it would appear the One God has selected you for that position."
Personally, I thought it dangerous for anyone to start thinking of herself as God's sword of justice. Not that I thought that way about myself. If anything, I considered myself to be a naive fool.
"Here's what you do with Roehl Tharrington," Iderra said. "When the Queen Catlett is ready to sail, you take Roehl up on his invitation and sail the Queen down river. When you reach his capital city, you invite him to tour your new ship. When he boards the ship, you sit down for a glass of wine, maybe even dinner. When the drug is coursing through his blood, you lean down and whisper in his ear, telling him what you did to him and why. He'll have the rest of his life, such as it is, to lie there thinking about what he could've done, should've done, different. Best of all, no one will know that you're responsible. You can call his physician in and his physician will think his heart betrayed him."
"It's a good plan." I picked up the pendant and locked it in one of my desk drawers.
"I can see that I've shattered your imagine of me as a loving sister," Iderra said.
"Just a bit."
"Everybody has a dark side, Mouse."
"I know. I said the same thing to Edgerton not so long ago." It was just that knowing everyone has a dark side, and coming face to face with that dark side, were two different things.