The Poisoned Throne

Chapter 35

Joshua

Outside the windows, beneath the castle, the still blazing fires of burning houses as well as the warm light spilling from taverns that entertained the soldiers lit up the city. There were screaming giggles and roars of laughter rising above it all, and off in the distance, you could see the tumble of stones that had once been the inner city wall. By morning, there would be a squat of workers rebuilding it.

The war had already been named the Five Day War. Although it had been months since Queen Evelyn entered the kingdom and declared her hostility, it had taken only five days from the time when the joined armies of Queen Evelyn, King Raynor and the Yaguars had crushed Elizabeth’s in the Branches until the Freedom Army broke down the walls of the capital. Everyone outside of the castle believed the war had ended when Queen Elizabeth died - under somewhat mysterious circumstances; there was a rumor that Evelyn had killed her with her own hands - but that was not entirely true.

When Joshua looked around him, he did not see peace. Perhaps the soldiers had laid down their swords and returned, either to their families or to their favored tavern, but the court seemed like a battlefield full of traps.

No one knew entirely what was going on, but everybody knew that whatever it was, something had happened in the throne room when Elizabeth was killed. There were plenty of rumors, of course. Some went as far as to suggest that Evelyn and Elizabeth had worked together and Alfred had seized them both for treason. Another went that Alfred had seized them both so that no one would oppose him when he tried to take the throne for himself.

Of course, no one believed the official story. No one could believe that Mary, the sweet Princess, would have ordered the killing of Elizabeth and arrest of her own sister.

Joshua hoped that things would be cleared up today. Alfred had called court - “in the name of Princess Mary, rightful heiress of Etheron” - and Cecily was attending. Meanwhile, Joshua paced their shared solar restlessly, waiting for her to return with news.

The arrests were the strangest part of it all. Queen Evelyn, of course, had been most notable, but people such as Tiraq and Sir Nicholas Rousseau had been captured, too. Even Lady Amalia Eugene had been tracked down and thrown in the dungeons.

When the door opened, Joshua jumped up from his chair. Cecily closed the door behind her and went to sit with uncharacteristically quick movements.

“How was court?” he asked, sitting down again.

She groaned, rolling her eyes. “Inconclusive.” She placed her right elbow on the armrest of her chair and let her hand dangle until a servant put a glass of wine in it. “There’s still no trace of Mary, of course, though Alfred assures us that she is where she wants to be. Apparently, she has ordered him to bring order to the court before she’ll come out.”

Joshua frowned and leaned back in his chair. “Well, that’s…”

“A lie if I ever heard one,” she finished for him, taking a deep swig of the wine. “Something is happening and he won’t tell me.”

He could tell it bothered her from the annoyed twitches of her face as she spoke and the way she threw her head from side to side.

“Something is wrong - something is very wrong if he won’t tell me what is happening,” she said.

Joshua leaned forward and tried to catch her gaze with his own. It did not work; Cecily was trained at court. She could avoid questions and cover up her feelings in a way that Joshua did not understand. “Well, he is your brother,” he said, trying to sound calm. “I remember that the last person I would ever tell a secret was my sister.”