As it turned out, the other duchesses were split evenly, with the older women, Tamyra of Prentarlo and Rashel, opposed, and Ajy of Kinsarta and Naditia in favor.
Olesya made no effort to mask her surprise. “It seems a majority of you wish to honor Kearney’s request.”
“What about you, Your Highness?” Alao asked. “You were inclined to refuse him a short time ago. Surely your wishes in this matter carry more weight than our own.”
“You’re right, Lord Norinde. I did intend to refuse. But I find myself swayed by the arguments I’ve heard here, just as was Lord Brugaosa.”
“I fear you’re making a grave mistake, Your Highness.”
“I share your concerns, Alao. I’m not blind to the dangers. Which is why I intend to send only five hundred warriors from the royal army. We’ll add six hundred from the armies of Brugaosa, Norinde, and Macharzo-two hundred from each of you. That gives us a force of eleven hundred in all.”
Vasyonne frowned. It seemed she was eager for this fight. “What about the rest of the houses, Your Highness?”
“It would take nearly half a turn to get messages to the Southern and Eastern houses and then await the arrival of your soldiers. As it is, we’re already well into the waxing and Kearney sent his request at the start of the previous waning. I don’t wish to delay any longer.”
“Then perhaps you should take more soldiers from the three houses you named.”
“To send a larger force would be to leave the realm vulnerable to attack.”
“Eleven hundred may not be enough,” Vasyonne said, shaking her head.
“It will have to be.” Olesya faced the master of arms again. “Choose five hundred of your best riders and prepare them for the journey. And inform the quartermaster. Tell him to provision the force as best he can without slowing us down. What he can’t provide, we’ll gather ourselves as we ride.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Ohan bowed, then strode from the chamber.
“Alao, Edamo, Naditia, the three of you should leave at once. Return to your homes, choose two hundred of your finest warriors, and provision them as best you can. We’ll meet in Brugaosa as soon as possible and leave for Eibithar from there.”
The three nobles stood and bowed to her, even Alao, who still didn’t look pleased.
“Your Highness,” Vasyonne said, before the others could leave the chamber. “What about the Qirsi? Will your ministers ride with you as well?”
Olesya’s eyebrows went up. Clearly she hadn’t given any thought to this. Since Kreazur’s death there had been little doubt that the conspiracy had indeed come to Sanbira. And as Diani and Sertio grew more convinced of the first minister’s innocence, it became clearer to them, and to the queen, that there were still traitors at large, perhaps even in the royal court. The white-hairs had been excluded from the councils and kept under constant watch. The nobles still weren’t certain who remained loyal and who did not, and Diani couldn’t decide whether it was more dangerous to take suspect ministers into battle or to leave them here, where they could work their mischief in the absence of the queen and several of her duchesses and dukes.
“I think they’ll have to come with us,” Olesya said after a time. “I don’t wish to leave them where they can’t be watched.” She glanced at Diani. “And other remedies are unacceptable.”
After the attempt on her life, Diani had been so wary of her Qirsi that she had had every sorcerer in Castle Curlinte imprisoned. When the queen heard of this, she ordered Diani to release them all, but the duchess still believed it was the best way to ensure that any traitors among the ministers could be controlled.
“Your Highness-” Diani began.
“We’re talking about four Qirsi, Lady Curlinte. Abeni, and the first ministers of Norinde, Brugaosa, and Macharzo. And we’ll have over a thousand warriors guarding us. It won’t be a problem.”
The duchess looked away. “Yes, Your Highness.”
“Go now,” the queen said, looking at the three nobles standing near the doorway. “I’ll see you at Castle Brugaosa.” The three left, and Olesya turned to the others. “As for the rest of you, you should return to your castles. Be watchful, not only of your Qirsi, but of your borders and shores as well. I believe that Eibithar needs our aid, but I fear for the realm.”
Vasyonne stood. “Gods keep you safe, Your Highness.”
The others stood as well, all of them invoking the gods before they began to file from the chamber.
“Lady Curlinte, Lord Curlinte,” the queen called before Diani and Sertio reached the door. “A word please.”
Olesya waited until the last of the duchesses closed the door behind her. “Have you learned anything more about the Qirsi in my court?”
Sertio shook his head. “Still nothing, Your Highness. The traitor-”
“Or traitors,” Diani added.
Her father merely glanced at her. “Whoever it may be, this person has been quite clever about hiding his or her treachery. We’ve neither seen nor heard anything that would indicate that there is a traitor in the court.”
“Is it possible that we’ve been wrong about all this?” Olesya asked. “Perhaps there are no traitors in Yserne.”
Clearly the queen wanted to believe this; it was written on her handsome face, in the hopeful look in her dark eyes. But Diani knew better. The conspiracy was everywhere, infesting the land like some pernicious weed, spreading its tendrils through all the houses in the realm, insinuating itself into every court. It would take some time to prove this, perhaps more time than they had. Which was why they had to expose the traitors in the queen’s court as quickly as possible. This was where the evil was rooted-she was certain of that, as well. Kill the thing here, and perhaps the tendrils would wither and die.
“The conspiracy is real, Your Highness,” Diani told her. “And it’s here, in Yserne. Whoever had Kreazur killed was thoroughly familiar with this castle and this city.”
Olesya had heard this from her before, but still the words seemed to pain her, bringing a grimace to her lips and leaving her looking bent and frail.
“I’m too old to be fighting two wars at once.”
“You’re not fighting either of them alone, Your Highness.”
The queen forced a smile. “I know that, Diani. Thank you. And thank you, Sertio. I wish you could have learned more, but I know that you did what you could.”
“Your Highness,” Diani said, sensing that Olesya was about to dismiss them, “I’d like to ride with you to Eibithar.”
“Thank you, Diani, but our force will be large enough with the soldiers from the northwest houses, and we really can’t delay.”
“Forgive me, Your Highness, but you misunderstand. I don’t want to lead my army to Eibithar, I merely wish to accompany you myself.”
Sertio looked at her sharply, drawing breath to object.
“To what end?” the queen asked, before he could.
“To keep watch on Abeni and the other Qirsi. You’ll be occupied with the war, as will Naditia and the others. But since I won’t be leading an army, I can give my full attention to the conspiracy.” She faltered, but only for an instant. “Besides, this all began with the attack on me. I’d like to see it through to the end.”
“This war may be only the beginning, Diani. It may be quite dangerous to allow yourself to be driven by vengeance.”
She hadn’t said no, at least not yet. Diani pressed her advantage.
“Vengeance has nothing to do with it, Your Highness. You’ve decided to grant Kearney’s request because you see in this war the hand of the conspiracy. We saw it as well in the attempts on my life, and who knows how many times we’ve failed to see what should have been obvious to us. Our enemies may be all around us, but they won’t show themselves until we’re most vulnerable. If this war is a Qirsi feint, shouldn’t someone be with you, watching for the hidden blade?”