The Queen's Necklace (73 page)

Authors: Teresa Edgerton

As they approached the Volary, Will was struck by the absence of guards at the outer gate, and while there appeared to be the usual number of men on duty at the palace itself, the rambling structure was strangely silent. A lieutenant directed Lili and Will to one of the gardens where the king had developed a habit of walking alone in the afternoons. “I am afraid you will find him changedâalmost beyond recognition.”

And indeed, it was a sad, weary, and very much diminished Rodaric they discovered wandering amidst the rank, uncontained growth in one of the untended greenhouses. Yet his eyes kindled and his face momentarily brightened when Will placed in his hands the
small rosewood box banded in iron, and he opened the lid and saw inside the gold-and-crystal orrery nestled against a green silk lining.

Lili had done what she could, and so had the other magicians, but the tiny spheres and figures were scarcely moving. One of the guards was dispatched to Malachim with a message for Doctor Fox and Sir Frederic Marlowe. Between the three of them, Rodaric and the two professors would make the necessary adjustments.

He closed the box, passed a thin, unsteady hand over his face, where many deep lines had appeared since the last time Will saw him. “WilrowanâLillianaâI wish I could find the words to express my gratitude. I did promise you, Will, almost any reward you might care to nameâ”

“But that was under very different circumstances,” Will interrupted, rememberingâas no doubt Rodaric remembered alsoâthat the reward had been partly contingent on the queen's safety and the birth of a healthy heir. “If you please, sir, I had rather not speak of it now.”

They spent a quiet hour with the king, walking through the gardens and then up to the giddy wall-walks, during which time he described to them the events of Dionee's last days. “She felt no physical pain, of that I am certain. It was just that delivering her child took the last of her strengthâall that remained to her after all those months of anxietyâand the next morning she drifted off into a deep sleep from which, apparently, she had no desire to waken.”

“And the child?” said Will. “I have heard so many conflicting stories. That it was born dead, or died soon after, or thatâ”

A brief smile crossed Rodaric's gaunt face. “My daughter is alive and well, Wilrowan. She was born so weak and small, for a time we feared she would never survive. But she has rallied in the last few weeks and is actually thriving. Indeed, little Cleone is my one joy, my one reason for continuing on. There will be no remarriage, no son of mine to supplant herâDionee's last precious gift to meâand I mean to put this kingdom in order again, for her sake alone.” He
heaved a weary, weary sigh. “When my strength comes back to me. When I recover some sense of purposeâI hope it may not take very long.”

Will and Lili took their leave of him soon after that, but not before Will had requested a private audience for the next day. They spent the night in his quarters at the barracks. In the morning, he put on his green uniform for the last time and went to speak with the king.

“Well,” said Lili, starting up from her seat when Wilrowan finally returned, several hours later. “Did you resign your commission, as you intended?”

Will removed his tricorn hat with its gay cockade, and stood looking down at it with a puzzled frown, as though he were somehow uncertain what he was expected to do with it. “I did resign it, yes,” he said at last. “And naturally Rodaric said it must be as I wished, understanding as he did that there was nothing for me to do here now, with Dionee gone. But heâhe offered me something else.”

Lili raised an inquiring eyebrow.

“You have seen to what a state our country has come.” Will made a broad gesture with both hands. “It has all changed, and Rodaric believes, as I do, that there is no going back to the way things were. But he does feel it is both necessary and possible to reclaim
something
. He wants to send out a company of men to do all that is needful, to settle disputes, to restore orderâa sort of army, constabulary, and magistracy combined. This morning, he actually found the energy to make up a list of several good men, but he still needs someone to command them. He has offered me the commission, which carries with it the rank of colonel.”

Will tossed the hat into a chair. “I told him I had made other plans for our future, but he insisted that I spend a day or two thinking it over, and discussing the matter with you.”

Lili shook her head wonderingly. “But don't you
want
to do this?
I understand that you don't wish to live at the Volary or stay in Hawkesbridge where there are so many painful memories, but what Rodaric is offering youâI think it would suit you
perfectly
.”

He made an airy gesture, affecting to make little of it, though Lili could see very well how strongly the idea appealed to him. “Whether I like what he is offering me or not, I had already made other plans. I want to take you home with me to my father's house, as I should have done years ago. I owe you that much at least.”

But now Lili laughed. “If you have refused the king on my account, then I am very glad he had the good sense to ask you to reconsider. Oh, Wilrowan, do you really think it would please me to sit back and watch you grow more and more restless at your father's house in the country? Or that I, for that matter, after so much excitement, would welcome a return to such a quiet life?”

He crossed the room in two steps, took one of her hands between both of his. “But what is the alternative? Not another parting between us?”

“I hope not,” Lili answered emphatically. “Accept the commission that Rodaric has offered you and go wherever it takes you. I will go, too. No doubt there will be a crying need for physicians everywhere you go, and there will be plenty of work for both of us.”

A brighter look came into Will's eyes. “But what of the family we meant to start?”

“A family may come in time. Yes, Wilrowan, I really mean it. No doubt you will make an admirable father, but in the meantime I don't want to see you so bored that you get yourself into all sorts of absurd scrapesânor do I wish to be bored, either, waiting to become a mother.”

Will laughed, took her by the shoulders, and kissed her on the forehead. “Then if you really are very, very certainâI think I will go and speak to Rodaric again, before
he
has the chance to change his mind and withdraw the offer.”

“Yes,” said Lili, “that strikes me as a very good idea.”

He gave her a blinding smile, swept up his hat, and headed for the door. She could hear the light, quick fall of his booted feet as he moved down the corridor to the stairs.

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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THE QUEEN'S NECKLACE
. Copyright Â© 2001 by Teresa Edgerton. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Edgerton, Teresa.

The queen's necklace / Teresa Edgerton.

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
p. cm.

ISBN 0-380-78911-6

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
I. Title.

PS3555.D473 Q44 2001

813'.54âdc21Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 00-047617

First Eos trade paperback printing: July 2001

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