“We knew that it would. We couldn’t remain immune forever while the other realms suffered.”
“No, Your Highness.”
“What do you propose we do about it?”
Diani blinked. “I–I’m not certain, Your Highness.”
“Well, you’ve placed your Qirsi in Curlinte’s prison tower. Should we do the same in all the courts? Should we end the Festival until the threat has passed? If no Qirsi can be trusted, then doesn’t it make sense for us to keep watch on all the Qirsi in Sanbira?”
The duchess seemed to weigh this for some time. “You still want me to release them, don’t you?” she finally said.
“You see where your actions lead,” Olesya said, ignoring the young woman’s question for the moment. “If what you’ve done is the answer in Curlinte, then it must be in the other duchies as well. If we were all to think as you do, then even a single Qirsi who is allowed to remain free represents a threat to us all. Soon, every Qirsi in the Forelands would be imprisoned. You must see the injustice in that.” She leaned forward. “I don’t like saying this, child, but if the conspiracy is determined to make another attempt on your life, they will find a way to do it. We must be vigilant. We must warn Sanbira’s other nobles of the danger. But we must never forget who and what we are.”
Diani gazed back at her, looking terribly young and so frightened that for a moment Olesya thought she might cry. “They almost succeeded,” she whispered. “The healer said that the arrows came within a halfspan of killing me. And the other man. .” She stopped, shaking her head.
The queen shuddered, but forced a smile. “It seems the gods were with you.”
“Or maybe I was just fortunate.”
“Perhaps you were. But from this day on, you’ll be more wary. They’re not apt to surprise you a second time. That’s to your advantage.”
The duchess nodded. “Yes, Your Highness. I’ll send the message at once.” She started to stand, but Olesya stopped her with an outstretched hand.
“Sit for a time, child. You can send your message shortly. First, I’d like you to answer the question I asked you earlier. What should we do about this? I do agree with you that the conspiracy may have been behind these attacks. But how do we combat an enemy that smiles at us, even as he slips a blade between our ribs? Imprisoning all the Qirsi is no solution, but there must be others.”
“I can think of none, Your Highness. As I said before, other realms have been faced with attacks from the Qirsi far longer than we have, and they’ve thought of nothing.”
“What is it that the Qirsi want?” Sertio asked, drawing the gaze of both women. “Assuming for a moment that the conspiracy did try to have Diani killed, what would her death bring them?”
“My wrath,” the queen said immediately.
“You forget the colors on their arrows,” Diani said. “They wanted your wrath to be directed at the Brugaosans.”
“So it’s civil war they want.” Sertio was looking from one of them to the other.
Diani shrugged. “That would follow from all we’ve heard of their activities in the other realms.”
“I agree,” the queen said. “But it seems to me that the more they rely on this tactic the less effective it becomes. After a time, all the Eandi courts are bound to stop blaming each other and start looking to the Qirsi.”
“Then perhaps that’s what we need to do,” Diani said, her voice brightening. “I believe you should call together die other nobles, Your Highness. Tell them what’s happened in Curlinte and see if we can all agree to band together against the conspiracy.”
“You mean a treaty, within the realm?”
She nodded, actually smiling now. “In a sense, yes, that’s just what I mean. The conspiracy seeks to weaken us. What if we find a way to keep that from happening, to use the attack on me against them?”
Olesya glanced at Sertio, who was fairly beaming with pride. “It’s a fine idea, Lady Curlinte.”
Diani blushed, a small smile on her lips. “My thanks, Your Highness.”
“Indeed,” the queen went on, her mind suddenly racing, “we may want to take it a step further. I believe we should make overtures not only to the other houses in Sanbira but also to the other realms of the Forelands.”
“The other realms will resist, Your Highness,” Sertio said. “You may convince the Caerissans, and I hear that Kearney, Eibithar’s new king, is a reasonable man. But the emperor won’t listen, and neither will the Aneirans. And of course the Wethys have little regard for anything that comes from the Matriarchy.”
“I know it won’t be easy, Sertio, but to be honest, neither will getting our own nobles to agree. Edamo may see in the turmoil created by the conspiracy an opportunity to end the Yserne Dynasty, and if Brugaosa opposes us, Norinde is certain to do so as well. But still we have to try. We don’t know where or when the Qirsi will strike next, and it seems to me that Diani has given voice to our only hope of defeating them.”
There was a knock at the door.
“Enter,” the queen called, rising from her chair.
The door opened and Abeni stepped into the chamber.
“Yes, Archminister. What is it?”
“There is food for our guests in the great hall, Your Highness. I thought they might be hungry after their journey.”
“You’re right, of course. I should have thought of it.” She indicated the door with an open hand, looking first at Diani and then at Sertio. “Eat, and then rest. We’ll speak again later.”
“I’ll dispatch a messenger at once, Your Highness.”
“After you eat, Diani. I’ll have my archminister make the arrangements so that a rider will be ready as soon as you’ve composed your message.”
Abeni looked at her, a question in her yellow eyes, but the queen gave a quick shake of her head. She would explain later.
“My soldiers will escort you to the hall. I’ll be along shortly.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Diani and Sertio both bowed to her and started toward the door. After only a step of two, however, the duke stopped, facing her again.
“I apologize for my behavior before, Your Highness. I didn’t understand.”
“Think no more of it, Sertio. You’re a wise and honorable man, and you wish only to guide your child through this most difficult time. It’s no wonder Dalvia loved you as she did.”
The man’s eyes welled and he swallowed. “Thank you, Your Highness,” he said softly.
Bowing a second time, he left her chamber, his footsteps echoing in the corridor.
“A messenger, Your Highness?”
The queen glanced at Abeni, then walked to her writing table. “Yes, we’ll actually need quite a few before the day is out.”
“Will they be going far?”
“Some of them will. I intend to summon the leaders of all Sanbira’s houses to Yserne to discuss the Qirsi conspiracy. I also wish to speak of this matter with the rulers of the other realms, though I realize that will be a bit more difficult.”
Abeni said nothing and after several moments the queen looked up from the papers before her. “No response, Archminister? Don’t tell me I’ve finally silenced you.”
The Qirsi woman smiled, though only for an instant. “I’m merely surprised, Your Highness. What’s happened to bring this about?”
The queen briefly recounted her conversation with the duchess and her father, describing for Abeni the attempts on Diani’s life. “It seems,” the queen said, “that the conspiracy has finally come to Sanbira.”
The minister raised her eyebrows. “I see. I’ll find riders right away, Your Highness.”
“Yes, and use the usual merchants to get the messages to the other realms.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” She hesitated. “Seven riders, Your Highness? One for each of the houses other than Yserne and Curlinte?”
“Actually eight. Lady Curlinte needs to send a message to her castle.”
“Ah, yes, so you said.”
Olesya couldn’t help but grin. Abeni hadn’t forgotten this, of course. She merely wanted an explanation.
“In the wake of the assassination attempts, the duchess has imprisoned all the Qirsi who live and work in Castle Curlinte.”