Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1)(110)

“I was born there, you know,” the duchess says. “The night I came into this world, my father carried me to those very ramparts and held me aloft so I could behold my kingdom and so his subjects could behold their next ruler.” She sounds bemused, as if she cannot quite understand how she came to be here while her enemies are there.

“That gate,” she says. “See? That far one? That is the very gate through which Duval carried Isabeau and me to safety nearly eight years ago.” Her voice catches in her throat. “I wish he were here,” she whispers fiercely. “If ever I had need of his counsel, it is now.” She sends me a stricken look. “I had thought he would ride out and meet us on the road. Dunois will not honor the call for his arrest; surely he knows this. why did he not come, Ismae?”

As I stare into her unflinching brown eyes, I find I am unable to keep secrets from her any longer. It is exactly what her other advisors do, and I do not wish to repeat their mistakes. “He is ill, Your Grace. Gravely ill.”

Her hand flies to her mouth. “The plague?”

I shake my head. “He is being poisoned.”

Her eyes grow round with horror and she takes a step back. “Poison?” she says faintly.

“Yes, but not at my hand,” I rush to assure her.

"Why did no one tell me of this sooner?” she demands.

“Because he did not wish for you to know, and I was hoping to find an antidote or cure before having to give you such dire news.”

“But I take it you have found no cure.”

“I have not.”

She is silent as she stares down at the city below us, gathering her courage to ask the next question. “Is he dead?”

“Very likely he is by now, as he was at death’s door when we left Guérande.” Remembering how I left him fills me with a nearly overwhelming urge to grab the nearest horse and ride back to Guérande to protect his unconscious body from Crunard’s further machinations.

She turns on me then, her voice harsh with anger. "Who would do such a thing?”

I take a deep breath. “Chancellor Crunard, Your Grace.” And then I tell her all the ways her most trusted guardian has betrayed her.

The next day, Anne sends an officer to Nantes to request that she be allowed to enter her own city so that she may talk with Marshal Rieux. She chooses de Lornay to carry her message into the city. He is well liked for his beauty and smooth manner, and she hopes he will turn the people of Nantes to her cause.

We ride out with de Lornay as far as a small ridge that overlooks Nantes. From this vantage point we watch him ride down to the city gates. “You don’t think they will slay him unheard, do you?” I ask Beast.

His brows fly up in mock surprise. “Do not tell me you’ve developed a soft spot for our Lord Dandy.”

“Not at all,” I say coolly. “I merely want to be certain the duchess’s message has a chance of being heard.”

“Ah,” Beast says, but he is not fooled. “Since Rieux and d’Albret hope to use Nantes as leverage to force the duchess to accept their terms, I think they will be more than willing to speak with de Lornay.”

Just as Beast predicted, one of the city gates opens and a small party rides out to meet de Lornay and the two archers that have accompanied him. It is a distressingly short meeting.

when de Lornay returns there is thunder in his eyes, and my heart sinks. “Marshal Rieux will not discuss terms with me. He insists on meeting the duchess face to face and will speak only with her. He suggests noon tomorrow. we are to meet him on the field below. we may escort her as far as the field, but only the duchess and ten archers will be allowed into the city. Neither Captain Dunois nor the Baron de waroch nor myself are to accompany her. Neither is the assassin.”

It takes a moment to realize he means me.

“I do not like it,” Captain Dunois says at once. “It stinks too much of a trap.”

“Then we will just have to make sure he does not catch us unawares,” the duchess says. “Tell Marshal Rieux I will meet with him then.”

The next morning dawns crisp and clear. Captain Dunois was afraid that the mists would move in and obscure our view of the city, thus hiding any treachery Rieux or d’Albret have planned, for he is sure that they are planning something. But the gods have smiled on us in their choice of weather for today. The duchess has her heart set on speaking to Marshal Rieux.

She has even decided to apologize to him for appearing to dismiss his counsel. It is a big step for her, but she wants him to see that she is willing to bend on some things.

Our entire party rides with her into the valley. we stop a short way from the city walls and wait. At noon exactly, the city gates open, and Marshal Rieux rides out with an escort of four men-at-arms. we all draw around the duchess, waiting to be certain it is not a trap. when no more riders appear at the gate, we give way so that Anne and the marshal may talk.

Marshal Rieux reins his horse in a few feet from the duchess. “Your Grace.”

“Marshal Rieux.”

“If you will leave all but ten unarmed archers behind, I will

be happy to escort you into the city.”

Dunois has made her promise she will not enter the city without her full guard in attendance. “But it is my city, Marshal, my men, my home. I will be received in the manner befitting a duchess, not snuck in like some thief in the night.”