I met Zerbel Moke a couple of days later, in a room on the castle's first floor. The room was full of parchment scrolls and handwritten leather bound tomes. Zerbel Moke was what you would expect from a scholar, short and balding, with a thick gray beard. He dressed like Edgerton, black boots, black breeches, black waistcoat, and a white cotton shirt that tied down the front.
The biggest difference between the two men was that Zerbel Moke was a lot smaller than Edgerton. In fact, he wasn't any bigger than me. He walked hunched over, probably from years of carrying the oversized leather books that filled the room's shelves.
"I've researched what you requested, Your Highness." He shuffled over to one of the shelves, pulled a heavy leather bound book off it, and set it on a table in the middle of the room. He opened the oversized book and leafed though its stiff yellow pages. Near the back of the book, he found a page with a hand drawn sketch of the man we arrested. "His name is Louis Selve. Lord Louis Selve to be exact. He's the third son of Baron Kelland Selve."
"What country is he from?"
"He's from right here in Vassa. His father's estate is south of here."
"And his father's a loyal supporter of the queen?"
"Very much so." He flipped a couple of pages in the book, to show me a sketch of the father, made when he was a young man. It listed his name, birth date, and contained a map of his lands. It also listed the name of his wife, as well as the names of his three sons.
"And you know the baron is loyal because?"
"The baron has never given us a reason to doubt his loyalty."
"What can you tell me about the two older sons?"
Zerbel flipped to another page, showing me another sketch. "The oldest son is Ellix. He helps tend his father's holdings. He's happily married with three daughters."
"No sons?"
"No sons." He flipped to another page, showing me a sketch of the second son. "This is Zane. He's married to the Baron of Reilly's daughter. He helps his father-in-law run his lands."
"I'm guessing Louis is single."
"He is."
"With no holdings of his own."
"None whatsoever."
"A perfect candidate for the Brotherhood."
"So it would seem," Zerbel said.
"Did he kill his mother?"
"His mother died under mysterious circumstances. Louis claimed he found her in the barn and that she had been trampled by one of the horses. No one disputed his claim, although the local physician said that the bruises didn't look like those made by a horse's hooves."
"Do you know if she beat her sons with a stick?"
"I know she had a reputation for being strict."
"A third born son that gets less attention than his older brothers might resent her strictness."
"That he might," Zerbel said.
"The question is: what do we do with Louis?"
"If everything I've heard is true, he did conspire to poison the queen."
"Everything you've heard is true."
"What will you tell the queen if she asks for your advice?"
I thought for a minute. "I'll tell her to say that she cannot in good conscience condemn the son of one of her most loyal supporters. She should let the father decide the son's fate."
"You'd test the father's loyalty?"
"I'd test everyone's loyalty, but I don't think Queen Catlett will."
"I don't think she will either," Zerbel said. "She trusts people and rarely questions their loyalty."
I thanked Zerbel for his time and headed back to the Heir's Suite. I didn't see the queen that day, nor did I see her the next, as she remained in bed. I learned that her being up and around, like she had been on the day of my arrival, was rare. The good news was, she was no longer taking the poison and was drinking plenty of water. Whether that would make a difference remained to be seen.
During this time, I developed a daily routine. In the mornings, I worked out with Bokham and the rest of the queen's guard. We began the day with a run around the city, then returned to the castle and practiced our sword fighting on the castle's expansive lawn. Afterwards, I would bathe, change into a gown, and eat lunch.
I would spend my afternoons with Zerbel, helping him write a text on my part of the world, a text he titled: The Barbarian Lands. We began by drawing maps that included countries, cities, rivers, and roads, then moved on to my family's lineage. A second scholar soon joined us. He specialized in languages and was overjoyed to learn that I spoke Adan, Gibean, and Talish.
My evenings were spent in the dining room entertaining guests, of which there were many these days. Most were from Vassa and the other Finger States. They came to pay their respects to Queen Catlett and see the court's newest oddity, the barbarian princess.