“The king retains the right of high justice,” Rose informed us. High justice, in case you were wondering was what the courts called cases involving the death penalty. She continued, “In a case involving treason or a direct assault upon his person he is well within his right to bypass the Lord High Justicer and pass sentence directly upon the offender without trial.”
In a moment of exceptional wisdom I closed my mouth and tried to think things through. Obviously Sheldon had been innocent of the charge, but that was irrelevant. What really mattered was why the king had chosen to execute him after our conversation.
Marc spoke first, “You were a real inconvenience to his majesty, but after your meeting with him your circumstances changed. Now, assuming he can capitalize upon your heroic efforts in the war, you could be a great asset to him.”
“Which would tend to make Lord Arundel’s position a complete reversal of that,” Rose added.
Marc nodded, “On top of that, Edward had a rather large mess that needed an explanation…”
“And he decided to kill two birds with one stone,” she finished for him. “Though it might be better to say he killed one bird to take care of two problems.” The two of them were nodding and smiling smugly at each other, seemingly satisfied with their mutual cleverness.
I put up a hand as though I were in class, trying to get the tutor’s attention. Neither of them noticed. “What is truly amazing,” said Marc “is how quickly he came to a decision after Mort left.”
“Excuse me…” I said.
They both ignored me as Rose spoke again, “He’s been the monarch for a long time, but it really is frightening how quickly he came to such an effective choice. Most men would have blundered or hesitated.”
“Hey!” I said loudly, waving a hand between the two of them. They paused to grace me with curious looks. “Would either of you political masterminds care to explain this to me in terms an ex-commoner can understand?”
“I’ve never thought of you as a commoner,” Marc objected.
Rose pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Well he is a little common you have to admit Marcus.”
Marc chuckled, “True, but I’d never have said it.”
“You just did!” I complained. “Besides, the last time I checked being a commoner was nothing to be ashamed of, and after meeting Sheldon, being a noble certainly isn’t always something to brag about.”
Rose patted my shoulder, “Don’t act so wounded, we were just teasing. After all, you still hold the highest station here, and Marcus is the commoner these days.”
Marc winced visibly at the reminder. “What her ladyship is trying to tell you is that the king decided to simplify his situation after making peace with you,” he said, returning the conversation back to its intended course. “Returning you to the fold and rewarding you for defeating Gododdin makes you a hero and would have put Sheldon in a very awkward position. At the very least it would have created division and in-fighting amongst the nobility. Many of the other lords would have felt a lot of sympathy for Arundel after the way you abused him.”
“He abandoned his own people,” I reminded him.
“I understand that, but what you have to understand is that for many of the lords that is a small matter beside humiliating the man, abusing him in front of his servants, taking his possessions, and then sending him packing with nothing but the clothes on his back. Especially since the man that did all that was seen as a ‘commoner’ as you just mentioned,” Marc explained.
“And executing him will make them feel better about me?” I asked sarcastically.
Rose spoke up, “Not exactly. What it does is send an immediate message that the king is very serious about rewarding you. It eliminates your most prominent enemies at the outset and also neatly clears up the matter of several violent deaths that occurred within the royal palace. That will give pause to anyone that might think to create trouble, for they will know quite clearly which side of the matter the king is on.”
It all sounded very neat and precise but I didn’t like it. As usual human lives were being treated with little more concern than a player has for his chess pieces. “That’s wonderful for me then isn’t it?” I announced with a bitter tone.
“For the most part,” Marc replied.
“And what happens when I become ‘inconvenient’ one fine day?” I asked pointedly.
“That’s a possibility that all men of station have to consider. In general there are two practical strategies for dealing with it,” he said.
He paused and I gave him a flat stare, I didn’t feel like playing twenty questions. Eventually he decided to continue despite my lack of prompting.
“The first,” he said sourly, “is making damn sure you don’t become ‘inconvenient’, as you put it.” He paused again, but I merely stared at him some more.
Rose winked at me. “What is the second Marcus?” she asked gaily.
“Thank you Rose,” he told her. “The second is making sure you always use a taster before you eat, keeping a lot of men like Sir Harold there around, and always wearing a chain shirt.”
I raised an eyebrow, “I don’t recall you ever doing any of that.”
“I was never important enough,” he said bluntly. “You, on the other hand, have more attention focused on you than even the king does at the moment. It pays to be ready for the worst.”
“You’ll be glad to know that you and Dorian are in complete agreement,” I said dryly.
“You can add me to that list,” said Harold, speaking for the first time.
“How would you like to be my new food taster?” I shot back, but I smiled to let him know I wasn’t serious.
Chapter 20
I was sitting in the same private reception chamber I had met King Edward in for the first time, back when James and I had been slightly inebriated. On this occasion I was entirely sober and prepared for the worst. Harold and one of my other men at arms were waiting outside, beside the king’s own armsmen. Weapons weren’t permitted in the presence of his royal majesty, except in the case of high ranking nobility, though I had declined to wear a weapon myself, partly because it was considered respectful and partly because I really didn’t need one.
I had sent a messenger to the palace the day before, after my arrival, to notify his majesty of my presence in the capital. He had sent my man back with a summons to meet him this morning, to discuss the plans for my award and recognition ceremony. Consequently I now found myself facing him across a small table, watching him sip carefully at a cup of hot tea.
“You haven’t touched your tea,” he said mildly, looking at my own cup.
“Pardon me your majesty, my stomach has been very delicate this morning,” I replied before raising my cup to my lips. Rose had assured me that it was highly unlikely Edward would try to poison me at this point, especially under these circumstances, but I still couldn’t bring myself to drink. I tilted the cup as if I was sipping but I never opened my mouth. In fact I even kept a thin shield between my lips and the liquid, lest some contact poison were present. Was I paranoid? Perhaps, but I was beyond caring.
King Edward watched me without concern, though something told me he was well aware of my deception. He smiled before speaking again, “We are pleased that you returned so quickly.”
“I prefer to waste as little time as possible your majesty, especially when it is your time,” I answered carefully.
“Now that you’re here, we would like to hold the ceremony in two days. That should be enough time for most of the local nobility to arrange their affairs so they can be present. Ideally we should like as many of them to see it as possible,” he said.