Chapter 34

I stared after Leopold's retreating figure and felt a strange restlessness. I knew I ought to go inside to check on the king, but I'd been stuck behind walls all day, a feeling I was wholly unaccustomed to. The thought of wandering through the maze of identical halls, feeling the weight of the bricks and marble and the eyes of every golden bull, made me want to scream. I needed fresh air and open spaces, room to stretch and walk through all the problems weaving in my mind.

If I'd been at home, I would have set out with Cosmos for a long ramble along the creek that wound round my property. Our walks always helped me gain clarity and see whatever troubled me with fresh eyes, in a new light.

A walk was just what I needed now.

I turned to the coach's driver. "By chance are you returning to the stables?"

"Benj?" I called, poking my head into an empty tack room. "Cosmos?"

The stables were enormous, long and narrow and housing dozens of horses. They poked their heads from their stalls, stallions and mares and even a few ponies perfectly sized for Euphemia. Each was a flawless specimen, well-toned and lustrous, with bright, intelligent eyes that peered at me curiously as I passed. Every one of the beasts was the same dazzling shade of black. There wasn't a white star or fetlock among the entire lot of them.

I heard the familiar click of claws against the brick aisle and turned to see my pup sprinting my way. Benj, the stable boy, followed him, running to catch up.

"Couldn't go a day without seeing this brute, eh, miss?" he greetedme.

"Has he been any trouble?" I asked, kneeling to scratch at Cosmos's belly and tickle his ears. He rolled and snuffed and made such a delighted fuss one of the nearby mares let out a whinny of dismay.

"Not at all. He seems so big and scary, but it's all just for show, isn't it, you giant lapdog?"

"Thank you for looking after him. It's been…" I paused, remembering the events of the day. It seemed like a week had passed since I'd woken with Kieron kneeling over me. "…busy."

"So I've heard," the boy said. He looked to be about twelve and reminded me of a younger, human version of Cosmos, with paws and ears too big for his puppy frame. "Are you feeling better now?"

"You knew I fell?" I asked with surprise.

Benj nodded. "My aunt Sylvie is a maid on the family's floor. She fills me in on the best gossip during lunch. Besides," he added with a cheeky grin, "who do you think harnessed the horses that took you to the temple?"

I laughed. "I doubt there's a secret in the whole of the palace you don't know."

"True enough." He puffed out his chest, beaming with pride.

"Benj…," I began as an idea came to me, "have you heard why I was brought here?"

"No," he admitted. "But it's not hard to guess. You're a healer, aren't you? I figure someone in the family must be sick."

"Someone in the family," I echoed.

"Well, it's not as though they'd bring in a special healer for one of us, would they? Delia's whole family had the Shivers and they didn't do anything but lock them in their rooms."

My eyebrows rose. "There's a family sick? Here at court?"

I nearly grinned at this twist of good fortune. I could pay this family a visit and discover the cure tonight. By tomorrow morning, we could begin spreading word of how to treat the Shivers. The king could send out his fastest riders and town criers and people could begin to get better. The plague would be over, thousands would be saved, and then I could kill the king with a clear conscience.

I stood up and Cosmos whined, pleading for more scratches. "I'm so sorry, boy. I'll be back as soon as I can. I need to go meet some new friends."

Benj's eyes widened, and he looked horribly stricken. "Oh no, miss. I didn't mean to suggest…The Cloutiers are gone. Dead and buried." He made a face. "Well. Dead and burned. No one really knows what to do with the bodies once they turn lumpy with the black bits."

It was as though the ground had dropped from under me. All the whirling, giddy thoughts I'd been entertaining pitched forward, toppling like a house of cards. "All of them?"

"Save for Delia. But she's not at court now. After she got better, they sent her to stay with an aunt."

"In town?" I asked hopefully, already knowing luck would not be on my side. I could practically hear Calamité's cackle.

Benj frowned, thinking. "Somewhere south, I think. She was awfully happy to leave."

I sighed, feeling well and wholly deflated. "After such a loss, it's no wonder."

He bobbed his head back and forth, neither agreeing nor disputing. "And it got her away from the princess."

"What do you mean?"

"Delia was a maid for Princess Bellatrice. When she first was getting sick, with the twitches and the, you know…" He pantomimed the spasms I'd witnessed King Marnaigne go through. "…she was getting the princess ready for the day and I guess she dropped a bottle of perfume or…what's that stuff called? The fancy stuff girls clean themselves with?"

"Eau de toilette?" I guessed.

The young boy made a helpless gesture. "She had a bad spell and the bottle fell and broke, and the princess was so mad. Said she was docking five weeks of Delia's pay. But then all the Cloutiers got locked in their rooms, so it wasn't as if they were working anyway, and now…" He shrugged as though the lost wages were a sorrow on par with an entire family stricken down.

Something about his tale poked at me, prodding me into paying closer inspection. "You're certain Delia was sick?"

"She was shivering bad that morning at breakfast."

"But she's not now. She survived."

Benj nodded and I bit my lip, feeling as though I was on the verge of a breakthrough.

"She got well again…after she was doused by that perfume…." My fingers jangled, itching to be put into action. "I think I need to pay the princess a visit."