“Josef,” he whispered, leaning toward the swordsman as they walked down the hall. “If I’m going to help you be a prince, there are a few things I need from you.”
“Like what?” Josef said, visibly annoyed by the slow pace the guards set.
“Let’s start with the princess,” Eli said. “I’m guessing you two knew each other before all this?”
Josef nodded. “She’s Lenette’s girl.”
“Lenette?” Eli said. “The queen’s maid?”
“Lady-in-waiting,” Josef corrected him. “Lenette is my mother’s confidant and best friend. Has been for years. Adela’s her daughter. We grew up together.”
“I see,” Eli said. “Your mother married you to your childhood sweetheart in the hopes you wouldn’t complain as much.”
“We weren’t sweethearts,” Josef snapped. “But otherwise you’re right.”
“Well, at least she tried to make you happy,” Eli said, scratching his chin. “That’s more than most royal mothers.”
Josef didn’t say anything to that, and they walked the rest of the way to the queen’s chamber in silence. But when they got there, the queen was nowhere to be seen. Instead, her lady-in-waiting, the lovely woman in black from before, greeted them in the queen’s entry chamber.
“Lenette,” Josef said with a stiff nod as the soldiers left. “Where’s the queen?”
“Your mother is unwell this morning, Prince Thereson,” Lenette said, returning to the little table where she’d been sitting when they’d arrived.
“Let me see her,” Josef said, crossing his arms.
Lenette took her time, focusing her attention on the leaves in the little stone grinder in front of her. “The queen’s health is a delicate thing,” she said at last, pushing the grinding wheel until the leaves were crushed into a fine powder. “Her rest is not to be disturbed.”
“I’m sure she’ll want to hear this,” Eli said, cutting in before Josef could say anything he’d regret. “Can’t you take us to see her?”
“No,” Lenette said without looking up as she emptied the freshly ground leaves into the glass jar at her elbow. “Since you’re here, I assume you mean to tell her that the prince has decided to stay in Osera and do his duty?”
Eli and Josef exchanged a look.
“More or less,” Eli said.
“Good,” Lenette said with a nod. “I’ll tell her when she wakes up.”
“Listen,” Josef growled. “I don’t care how far you’ve crawled into the queen’s ear since I left—probably more than you should have, considering you convinced her to marry your daughter into the royal line of Osera. But you’re not so important that you can keep me from seeing my own mother.”
Josef’s anger was usually enough to turn people into jelly, but Lenette remained calm and collected.
“I’m not the one keeping you from your mother,” she said. “These are her doctor’s orders. If she is to be fit enough to appear at court today, she must be allowed to rest undisturbed. If you have an issue with that, the doctor keeps his office on the third floor. Take it up with him. Now, if you still feel the need to brag about your sudden decision to return to your duties, I suggest you find Adela. As your wife, it’s her job to take an interest in whatever you have to say. She’s at the guard keep, overseeing drill.” Lenette gave him a slow smile. “My daughter is a fine guard captain and a dutiful child, which is more than I can say for some.”
Josef’s hand moved toward the blade at his hip in a way that would make anyone who knew him at all dive for cover, but Lenette just smiled and stood up, carrying her pot of ground herbs to the tea service against the far wall.
“I must take the queen her medicine,” she said, tapping a spoonful of the ground leaves onto a silver mesh strainer before pouring a measure of hot water through the leaves into the cup below. “Is there anything else I can help you with, Prince Thereson?”
Josef turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Eli followed, glancing over his shoulder just in time to see the queen’s lady-in-waiting smile as she blew on the steaming water. She was placing the cup on a serving tray when the door closed and Eli saw no more.
“Charming lady,” he said, running to catch up with Josef as the guards fell in beside them. “Has she always been like that?”
“Long as I’ve known her,” Josef answered with a growl.
“So, is she noble?” Eli said. “A cousin or something?”