have called upon you,” the King said to me. “Our own efforts to locate the crucible have failed. But we hope that with your magic, you will succeed—and find the culprit as well.”
If he’d demanded that I call up a mist, I could have done it.But find the crucible? He was asking for something beyond my powers. I hated to say so, however, when Wrexham was sitting right across from me.
I chose my words with care. “Your Majesty, I’m not sure this is a case where my magic is terribly useful. If I could have some time, perhaps, to consider matters?”
“My lady Chantress,” the King said with a trace of impatience, “you are too modest. I have discussed matters with my most trusted councillors, and it has been brought to my attention that you have just the magic we need.”
The King stopped short, as if he were reluctant to say more. I remembered what Nat had said about danger, and my fears began to grow. What did the Council know about my magic? Very little, I would have said. But more to the point, what had they promised Henry I would do?
I broke the silence. “What is it you expect from me, Your Majesty?”
The King regarded me with a wary look in his wide, blue eyes. “I am told that you can read minds.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
MOONBRIAR MADNESS
I stared at the King in dismay. Here was madness indeed.
“We have some moonbriar seeds here,” the King said to me. “You hear a song inside them, do you not? And once you sing it, you can read minds. So I am told.”
“Yes, that’s how it worked when she did it for the Invisible College,” Sir Samuel said with enthusiasm. “I was there, and I’ll never forget it. Amazing trick, what?”
“Amazing indeed,” the King said. “And rather disturbing as well, when it is your own mind she enters—without permission.”
So he’d heard how I’d gone into his thoughts, back in the days of Scargrave’s rule. That explained the wariness in his eyes. Had Sir Isaac mentioned the incident, or had Sir Samuel? Truly, it could have been anyone from the Invisible College. They all knew.
“It was a long while ago, Your Majesty,” I began, “and it happened by accident—”
“We will overlook it,” he said, “as long as you use your skill at my command now.”
“ No .”
At first I thought it was I who had spoken, for heaven knew it was what I wanted to say. But it was Nat who was rising from his chair, Nat who was refusing the King, Nat who stood before us all, eyes blazing. “You cannot ask her to do this.”
The words were hardly out before Wrexham was shouting him down. “You don’t say cannot to a king, boy. The Chantress will do the King’s bidding, and that’s that.”
Ignoring him, Nat focused only on King Henry. “Your Majesty, mind-reading is a danger to her. Perhaps they didn’t tell you that, but it’s true.”
The King looked at me. “Is it?”
I hated admitting to any weakness at Court, and especially in front of Wrexham. But Nat, with the best possible intentions, had made it difficult for me to do anything else. “Yes, Your Majesty. It is.”
“I can attest to that.” Penebrygg’s manner was much calmer than Nat’s, but he was just as firm. He touched Nat’s sleeve and murmured something, and Nat sat back down in his chair.
“Can you explain in more detail?” the King asked me.
I fumbled for words. Since I did not wish to reveal the workings of my magic in too much detail before men like Wrexham, I found it hard to argue my case. But a case I most certainly had, and a strong one. Yet did I dare tell them how easy it was for me to get lost inside another person? Or how dire the consequencescould be, if that person were an enemy? Of those assembled here, only Nat and Penebrygg had witnessed firsthand how close I’d come to dying that way.
As if sensing my fears and doubts, the King took a gentler tack. “My lady Chantress, I see that we unknowingly have placed you in an awkward position. You must, of course, make your
If he’d demanded that I call up a mist, I could have done it.But find the crucible? He was asking for something beyond my powers. I hated to say so, however, when Wrexham was sitting right across from me.
I chose my words with care. “Your Majesty, I’m not sure this is a case where my magic is terribly useful. If I could have some time, perhaps, to consider matters?”
“My lady Chantress,” the King said with a trace of impatience, “you are too modest. I have discussed matters with my most trusted councillors, and it has been brought to my attention that you have just the magic we need.”
The King stopped short, as if he were reluctant to say more. I remembered what Nat had said about danger, and my fears began to grow. What did the Council know about my magic? Very little, I would have said. But more to the point, what had they promised Henry I would do?
I broke the silence. “What is it you expect from me, Your Majesty?”
The King regarded me with a wary look in his wide, blue eyes. “I am told that you can read minds.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
MOONBRIAR MADNESS
I stared at the King in dismay. Here was madness indeed.
“We have some moonbriar seeds here,” the King said to me. “You hear a song inside them, do you not? And once you sing it, you can read minds. So I am told.”
“Yes, that’s how it worked when she did it for the Invisible College,” Sir Samuel said with enthusiasm. “I was there, and I’ll never forget it. Amazing trick, what?”
“Amazing indeed,” the King said. “And rather disturbing as well, when it is your own mind she enters—without permission.”
So he’d heard how I’d gone into his thoughts, back in the days of Scargrave’s rule. That explained the wariness in his eyes. Had Sir Isaac mentioned the incident, or had Sir Samuel? Truly, it could have been anyone from the Invisible College. They all knew.
“It was a long while ago, Your Majesty,” I began, “and it happened by accident—”
“We will overlook it,” he said, “as long as you use your skill at my command now.”
“ No .”
At first I thought it was I who had spoken, for heaven knew it was what I wanted to say. But it was Nat who was rising from his chair, Nat who was refusing the King, Nat who stood before us all, eyes blazing. “You cannot ask her to do this.”
The words were hardly out before Wrexham was shouting him down. “You don’t say cannot to a king, boy. The Chantress will do the King’s bidding, and that’s that.”
Ignoring him, Nat focused only on King Henry. “Your Majesty, mind-reading is a danger to her. Perhaps they didn’t tell you that, but it’s true.”
The King looked at me. “Is it?”
I hated admitting to any weakness at Court, and especially in front of Wrexham. But Nat, with the best possible intentions, had made it difficult for me to do anything else. “Yes, Your Majesty. It is.”
“I can attest to that.” Penebrygg’s manner was much calmer than Nat’s, but he was just as firm. He touched Nat’s sleeve and murmured something, and Nat sat back down in his chair.
“Can you explain in more detail?” the King asked me.
I fumbled for words. Since I did not wish to reveal the workings of my magic in too much detail before men like Wrexham, I found it hard to argue my case. But a case I most certainly had, and a strong one. Yet did I dare tell them how easy it was for me to get lost inside another person? Or how dire the consequencescould be, if that person were an enemy? Of those assembled here, only Nat and Penebrygg had witnessed firsthand how close I’d come to dying that way.
As if sensing my fears and doubts, the King took a gentler tack. “My lady Chantress, I see that we unknowingly have placed you in an awkward position. You must, of course, make your
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