The Kingmaker Complete Trilogy (The Kingmaker Trilogy #1-3) Read online

  “He will be shocked to see me.”

  “Hopefully. I think that will help. He won’t be expecting any resistance.”

  “Will it work?”

  “I believe so.”

  It is the best either of them can hope for.

  Ginata

  HALFREDA HAS TOLD ME to visit with Macsen. She thinks it’s a good idea for me to tell him I am sorry for the loss of his father, and his sister, to see if he reveals his true intentions to me.

  The cloaked man told me that he would need me as an ally. Will Macsen admit that he is that same man? And what will I say to him if he does. I think I will die.

  I am frightened as I go to his room. I don’t like him. And I fear what might start between us.

  I have never wanted to be a dark witch, though there are many. Some with real power and those who pretend. I am a good witch. I want to be good and do good.

  I knock at his door and a guard opens it.

  “Ginata, the village white witch to see Macsen please.”

  He nods and closes the door in my face. I am not sure whether to stay or leave and hover for a moment before the door opens again. It is Macsen. I know he is the cloaked man the instant our eyes meet. I mask my knowledge and hope that he is not as adept at seeing duplicity as he is at partaking in it.

  I smile a solemn smile. “I heard the sad news, and I wanted to offer my condolences on the loss of your father and sister.”

  He smiles at me and invites me into his rooms, with a gesture.

  I follow him in, wondering if I will see his guard / friend.

  “It’s been a shock,” he says, taking a seat. He lifts a jug of ale. “Would you like some?”

  I shake my head. I couldn’t bear to drink something he has touched. There could be some of the death draught in there. I will never trust this man.

  “No thank you. I come to offer my services. I understand that Halfreda isn’t as well as she would like to be. And, that you will become King? That we will revert to the old laws?”

  He nods at me, almost lazily. I get the feeling that he’s sizing me up but I am also sure that he believes I am fooled by his disguise; that I do not know his true nature.

  “Halfreda is a part of our family, but our family is changing. If something awful befalls her then I would hugely appreciate you serving me. I have heard good things about your work. You are a successful, talented witch, if I’m correct.”

  “I like to think so,” I agree, watching him drink from the jug. Not poisoned then.

  “A man needs a friend. And one with your knowledge, skills and resources is priceless. You will be very useful to me.”

  He repeats the words he said to me in my little cottage and a shiver runs through me. Do I acknowledge that it was him? Do I play the game with him?

  “A poor witch would be happy with any opportunities that came her way. She would be happy to help and happy to work with a new King.”

  He smiles over the top of his cup, his eyes full of menace. He has a huge ego this man. This man who would be King. I feel happiness in my heart as I think of Everleigh becoming Queen.

  Macsen will not know what has hit him tomorrow and I am full of joy that I will get to witness it.

  “Yours to command,” I lie, as I back out of his room.

  24

  THE PROCESSION THAT heads down to the island at six is a sombre one indeed.

  Halfreda leads the way, the real grief she is feeling slowing her down more than usual. Macsen follows behind and then Millard holding on to Addyson. Archer walks with Lanorie and then Ginata, and the rest of the household and the visitors to the Realm come behind. No one who came to enjoy this week of festivities could have been prepared for their King and the Kingmaker to die. It is unprecedented and they are looking to Halfreda and Macsen to guide them.

  Halfreda has sent out messengers with the news of the King’s death. She has the herald ready to pronounce it this evening at supper. The whole Realm must know of his death, but she hasn’t officially named Macsen as his heir. She would rather people assumed it and then she can crown Everleigh with as little fuss as possible and without making a further proclamation that contradicts the first. The princes will be shown the prophecy; it should mollify Millard. Macsen will be another story. They will have to lock him in the tower at the very least. They may have to end his life. He cannot live as a threat to their Queen.

  For now, Halfreda carries on with their little play. Everleigh is dead as well as the King and Macsen will rule.

  Addyson is a wreck, she is drugged with sleeping draughts and herbs to calm her down, some ale to take the edge off and, yet, she is still dizzy with grief. Millard is finding it hard to support her, while wiping at his own tears. Macsen is stoic, and only Halfreda, Archer, Ginata and Lanorie know why.

  The tiny boat takes Halfreda over to the island and the guards have pulled out more boats for the family. Lanorie and Archer travel to the island, but the rest of the mourners and spectators stay on the land beyond the water, even Ginata.

  Halfreda looks down at the two bodies, one real and one pretend, pleased that she cannot tell the difference, and starts sprinkling white powder over them; a cleansing herb to help them on their way.

  When everyone is ready, heads bowed, tears flowing she starts chanting. She chants and cries, chants and cries and then as the sun begins to set, Macsen steps forward and pushes his father into the water. Millard steps forward and pushes Everleigh in after him.

  Addyson drops to her knees and Lanorie is comforting her as best she can. Throughout it all, Halfreda is incredulous at the duplicity Macsen can show. The composure he has over himself, knowing what he has done is extraordinary, really.

  The ceremony complete, they all cross back over the water.

  There is to be a mourning feast, but Halfreda, Ginata, Lanorie and Archer excuse themselves. Nobody questions their decision, as there is no protocol to follow in these circumstances, and they cross the courtyard alone.

  “Lanorie, go back to your room and be quiet. No one knows of our plan tomorrow so if it comes out it can only have come from you, and Everleigh will not be so forgiving a second time.”

  Lanorie doesn’t even argue, but walks off with her head down. Cook would let her off working, everyone knows how much she loved Everleigh, no one will expect her to be alright.

  “Is it safe to let her go?” Archer asks, watching her walk away. “We cannot trust her.”

  “I do not think she will speak out of turn again,” Halfreda says, aware that she has no sight now to back up this belief.

  They troop quietly back to Halfreda’s room. Everleigh and Will are sitting on chairs away from the fire. Will looks much better.

  “How was my funeral?” Everleigh asks. She is crying; cannot stop. “Sometimes I wish I had never heard of the prophecy or made that river rise.”

  “Everleigh don’t.”

  “I mean it, Halfreda. Everything’s gone wrong.”

  “And we are putting it right.”

  “Not everything.”

  “Not everything.”

  Everleigh shrugs and turns away, watching the flames. “I’m frightened.”

  “Me too.”

  There is a knock at the door. Everleigh pulls Will to his feet and helps him to Halfreda’s wash room.

  Halfreda is slow to answer, giving them time to sit quietly.

  It is one of Macsen’s guards. “Macsen would like to see you in his rooms.”

  Halfreda nods and follows him out. It is important that Macsen thinks she is on his side.

  She must do nothing to upset him at this stage.

  Lanorie

  I AM ALIVE. AND I AM halfway between thanking the gods that she found me and wishing to the gods that she hadn’t.

  Wretched is the word Cook would use.

  Everleigh is a Queen indeed to forgive me. Halfreda might not be such a bad old bint either. She has a wash room and yesterday she sent me in there, filled me a bath and gave me som
e lotions and potions to make me look and feel better. Like I said, not such a bad old bint.

  I sat in the scalding hot water and Everleigh came in. She sat at the side of the bath and picked up a cup. She wet my hair and washed it for me. It was nice to have someone look after me for a change. I wish I hadn’t had to betray her first though.

  I was awful upset, but it was like she read my mind. “It will be alright,” she said.

  “Really?” I was like a child wanting reassurance from her.

  “Yes.” Her hands were soft on my hair. “You’re like my sister, Lanny. Closer than Addy really. I see you every day.”

  “I need you to know, Queen, how sorry I am. I never meant to hurt you. I wasn’t thinking about you. Stupid as that sounds. But it was about me. Someone listening to me. Oh, I don’t mean that you don’t listen, but he was handsome and funny and a good kisser.”

  We ended up laughing and it felt good. I like having Everleigh around. She is like a sister to me. And she is good. Better than I deserve.

  She rinsed my hair and then Halfreda brought me some food. I was proper starving by then. Halfreda knows her stuff, I suppose. It was just meat and bread but it was like I’d never eaten before. It was bloody lovely.

  The tears started again and Everleigh laughed. “Enough now, cry baby.”

  I snorted and then coughed and spat out some meat into the water. “Time to get out.” Everleigh helped me out and placed a drying cloak over me.

  She wrapped me up and we joined the others by the fire. Will had woken up while we were in the wash room. He looks awful. But he’s alive. It was good to see him, truth be told.

  “Lanny.” He looked happy to see me. He is a nice bloke, Will, a fool in the making for sure. But I’ll take all the friends I can now.

  So, this morning we had to pretend Everleigh was dead. I had to go with Halfreda and she was horrible to me. I’m not asking for pity; I know that I deserved it. Deserve worse than some horrible words. But it hurt. My tears were real enough.

  Then in strolls Macsen acting all sad that his sister is dead, like that wasn’t what he wanted. Like it wasn’t him that did it. Of course, he doesn’t know that he didn’t do it.

  What a snake! All these years I have stuck up for him when Cook says he’s useless.

  And he’s a murderer. Killed his own father.

  It’s a shocker I can tell you. Worst scandal to ever hit this castle, I can tell you. I just wish I could tell someone. Oh, I’ve learned my lesson, don’t you worry.

  And poor handsome Millard, he was right heart broken when he came in. I wanted to hold him, but I would never. He’s so gorgeous, my heart broke again for him. He’ll be glad when Everleigh is Queen.

  And we had the funeral as well. I forgot how quick they like to throw people in the sea around here.

  Oh, it was sad. I was sad for the King, but mostly for Everleigh. I had to keep remembering that she’s not dead.

  Well I am happy that we only have to wait till tomorrow, then she can be Queen and I can rest without all the worry of something slipping out again.

  And never fear, I won’t be kissing anyone ever again. Unless it’s Millard. I’d take it back for a smooch with him!

  25

  IT IS SATURDAY. TODAY, Macsen will try to take the crown and Everleigh will claim it as her own. The atmosphere is strained as the five of them sit before Halfreda’s fire breaking their fast.

  Will is looking and feeling so much better. He will be able to help today. He is hoping to play the fool and cause a distraction when he gets the nod from Archer. His wounds have been cleaned and dressed again and with his bandages bound tightly, he can move freely around. He is on the mend.

  Halfreda is hungry and eats more breakfast than anyone. She is convinced it will be her last meal on this earth and she is resigned to dying. She wants only one thing; to see her beloved Everleigh with a crown on her beautiful head.

  Ginata is worried. She cannot see the crown on Everleigh’s head. She has been having faint visions since she woke, tucked up with Halfreda, and she cannot see straight. She sees the princes and Everleigh at the coronation but she cannot see Everleigh with a crown. She says nothing and eats silently. She will be there to help in any way she can.

  Archer is watching Everleigh. She’s not eating, just holding onto a piece of bread. He is ready for today. The biggest day in his life as a knight of a Queen, watching her be crowned and fighting on her behalf. He knows that Macsen will not go down without a fight. Halfreda muttered something yesterday about locking him in the tower. He knows that won’t work. He will have to kill him. Macsen didn’t hesitate for a second when he believed he was killing his own sister and he killed his own father quite happily.

  Archer is ready to kill him, happy to do so.

  Everleigh is sad. It is her birthday but no one has remembered. Her father is dead. Her brother is a murderer. Instead of the sweet joy of living and ruling she is burdened with the difficult task of battling her brother for a crown she never even wanted in the first place.

  Halfreda clears her throat. “I don’t know how appropriate this is, Everleigh, but we all wanted to give you something.”

  Archer leans over and kisses her cheek. “Happy birthday, Queen Everleigh.”

  Everleigh is crying as she pulls him towards her for a hug. “You remembered.”

  “Of course. We all did.”

  Ginata passes her a small box. Everleigh thanks her and opens it. It is a little bottle of perfume.

  “It’s tiny,” Ginata says. “But it will last a long time. You need but one drop and the scent will last all day.”

  Taking off the tiny lid, Everleigh squeezes a drop on to her wrist. It smells of roses. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

  Will passes her a box next. “Will. You shouldn’t be worrying about me, only getting better.” Now that she knows no one forgot her, she feels a bit silly. Today of all days she shouldn’t be worrying about presents.

  She opens the box. Inside is a beautifully carved wooden quill and a bottle of ink. “For signing your royal declarations,” he says, pulling a funny face at her, needing to diffuse the tension.

  “It’s perfect Will. Thank you.”

  Halfreda passes her a package next. Everleigh opens it. It is the prophecy, framed in a delicately engraved wooden frame, words still glowing.

  “This is your proof. Your birth right.”

  “Your teacher gave it to you? Is he still here?”

  “No, he left this morning, he is devastated at the loss of the King. And upset that he didn’t see it coming, couldn’t save him. We have all had our vision clouded this week, somehow.”

  Archer nods his head. “I accompanied his carriage to the top road. I was worried about him, but we talked and he’s fine. He will visit again when you are Queen, he said.”

  Everleigh smiles at that, she likes the teacher. Feels safe with him. And it stands to reason that he has more knowledge, power and experience than even Halfreda. That is bound to come in handy.

  She traces her finger over the prophecy’s words. “I’m ready,” she says.

  Archer puts a hand on her arm. “One more present.” He passes her a small velvet pouch, tied closed with a ribbon.

  She takes it off him and undoes the ribbon. She opens the pouch. Inside is a tiny replica of a crown, in solid silver, set with a ruby, an emerald and a sapphire. “A brooch for you to wear, until the real crown is on your head,” he says.

  “It is so beautiful. It must have cost you a fortune?”

  “It was worth it. And I had a little help.” He grins at Halfreda and then pins it on Everleigh’s dress.

  “Are we ready?”

  They all stand up.

  Halfreda is wearing a cleaner, less shabby version of her usual robes; for a coronation, she will need to look a little more presentable than she normally does.

  Archer has his sword, bow and arrow and two daggers about his person.

  Everleigh is dressed in her mo
st beautiful gown; one fit for a Queen. Halfreda took it from her room yesterday. She will stay in Halfreda’s rooms until Archer collects her.

  They are all nervous. There’s a lot that can go wrong today.

  Halfreda

  THE MOOD IS A STRANGE one this morning, mine and the others.

  When I woke with Ginata beside me, my mind was empty and panic filled me. It has stayed the same since. I can talk and I can think and I can remember but the colours and sounds of my mind, the ideas and intuition are all gone. I have no feelings, no inkling, no sight left.

  I know one thing for sure and that is all; I will die today.

  I am not frightened. I am tired. If I could lay down in front of my fire and slowly fade away with it, turning to ash and dying with the embers I would be happy, but I know that is not the end chosen for me.

  I must face this final day with the bravery I expect to see from Everleigh and Archer today. I also must face this day as though it is any other: Macsen cannot know that there is anything amiss. He is quite unstable and I fear the same madness that took his mother has settled in him. We all assumed it was the knowledge of Everleigh’s role as Kingmaker that addled her mind but I wonder now if it was addled anyway. Such afflictions can run in families, and I cannot look at Macsen without seeing the boy he was and the man he has become. Something has gone wrong and maybe it is something that was always inside him.

  The quiet of my mind is disconcerting to me; I have a feeling that this is how a normal mind views the world, but it is not what I am used to and I feel incomplete.

  I eat my breakfast unhappily and then try to put on a brave face as we give Everleigh her birthday gifts. I think it’s going to be a birthday she will never forget, this day that she turns seventeen. I think it will be a long and bloody day. I may not have my sight any more but I would wager that I will not be the only one who dies this day. I think of consulting Ginata; seeing what she sees, but truth be told, I am upset enough. I cannot bear knowing if worse things than my death are coming, but I will pass my authority over to her before I go to Macsen.