Taste of Treason Read Online Free PDF Page A

Madam?” he asked. “To try and force the Queen to have her child before her time?”
    She sank back onto the settle and sighed.
    “I do not know, Master Ballard. I have, by my skills, been able to calm and comfort Madeleine. There is no danger that she will miscarry the child. I have further reinforced that by insisting that she and Henry come here, away from London. The delegations were glad to depart away from the sickness.”
    “Praise be to God for your actions, Your Grace, but if the perpetrator is now at Hampton Court, is not the Queen still in danger?”
    “Fool. Here I can protect her more effectively.”
    Luke inclined his head in apology.
    “Of course, Your Grace. Though I am still confused. What is my task in this matter? Which factions at court would gain any significant power with the loss of the heir or the death of the Queen?”
    “You are not using your logic. This marriage was of my making. The Spanish held sway in this realm of ours for far too long. I wanted balance.” At the word, she glanced across at Luke, a sly smile on her face. “Aye, Master Ballard. Balance, the goal of every elemancer.”
    “I do not understand why anyone would want to harm the Queen, for all that,” he replied.
    “It is...complex. Madeleine is despised by the Protestants because she is a Catholic and distrusted by the Catholics because she is not Spanish. You must remember that Katherine of Aragon was much loved by the people. Furthermore, England holds, and has always held, the balance of power between the French and Spanish empires. The peace is finely poised and there are many who would love to plunge us into war. Fuentes, the new Spanish ambassador, daily finds occasion for directing small darts of malice towards Madeleine. He merely takes advantage of the fact that the English distrust all foreigners, but the French most of all.”
    “Then surely, the most logical thing to do would be to kill the King, not the Queen?”
    She banged her goblet down on the settle beside her and Luke sensed the degree of frustration and fear she had hitherto hidden.
    “Why do you think I am talking to you, dolt? I have no idea who is at risk. I am still hated, despite everything I do. Why? Spanish Katherine could not give his late Majesty a boy and refused to stand aside so that I could. Had she the good of England in her heart, she would have done as the King wanted and gone willingly into a nunnery. Instead she and her cohorts brought England to the brink of schism, even after I had borne the son and heir. I must abide by the laws governing my talent, but what use is it to be an elemancer and not be permitted to use my powers to seek out traitors?”
    Ah, here was the nub of it. For all her authority, influence and magic ability, she could not ensure the safety of the dynasty. For someone of her intellect, the social restrictions on women would indeed be infuriating.
    “Mayhap, Your Grace, because that would upset the balance.” Luke kept his voice even in an effort to calm her temper.
    Her eyes narrowed and her top lip lifted in something very like a snarl.
    “Do not mock me, little man.”
    “In truth, Madam, you mistake me, and forgive me if I say so, but this cannot be the first time you have encountered this form of reverse.” He gathered his thoughts. “You are too close to the problem. That would distort your conclusions. Have you no further clues as to the murderer of the Brook girl?”
    He could see the Queen Mother almost physically reining in her temper.
    “You are right, Dominus. I am a queen, mother to a king and for all that, I am not as free as you. As to the dead girl, I have one clue, but it does not tell me who the perpetrator is or which faction they support.”
    Luke waited. Everything seemed clear to him. Somebody had decided to try and frighten the Queen into a miscarriage or worse. Should Madeleine die, it would give the culprit the opportunity to influence the King in his choice of a new wife,