Taste of Treason Read Online Free PDF Page B

the enormous ruby ring on his left hand was testament to his love of finery. His had been the only ear into which she had whispered doubts and apprehensions regarding her new life in England. He had cajoled her into learning about Henry and her new country, insisting that it was her duty to grace her position and thus bring acclaim on her father’s court in Scotland and her uncle in France.
    Now he came forward, bowing and smiling, his dark eyes and the twist of his lips telling her that he saw her restlessness. She wondered whether to confess that Henry had broached the subject of her conversion to Protestantism when he had last visited her bedchamber.
    No, she decided. Not yet anyway.
    * * *
    “Custodes Tenebris. Treachery, death and chaos. A pretty mix,” Queen Anne said. “We must think, plan and not act with undue haste.”
    Luke marveled at her composure, coming so soon on the heels of her obvious frustration. Then he recalled the number of crises she had faced in her years as Queen. Few would forget how neatly she had turned the tables on Thomas Cromwell in the crisis of 1536. That wily politician had seldom been bested. His plan to have her executed had backfired in spectacular fashion.
    When Henry VIII was informed of the depths of Cromwell’s scheming, it had been Anne who had begged her husband to show clemency. She had waited four years before springing the trap. Long enough for Cromwell to relax and think he had escaped her.
    “So they do not hesitate to declare themselves?” she asked next.
    “It would be typical of their arrogance, Your Grace.”
    “I can see from your expression that this declaration of their presence is something that does not surprise you, Master Ballard. Tell me.”
    Luke gathered his thoughts before speaking.
    “I had a trance that left me perplexed, Your Grace. I assumed that when the enemy spoke to me, it would be Asmodeus returned for vengeance. Let us face it, Madam, when I overcame him last summer, he lost much more than just his reputation, but the voice in my trance referred to ‘us’ and ‘we’ not ‘I.’ I believe the eight legs of this spider symbol represents some new level of evil.”
    “So you believe Custodes Tenebris has already visited you?”
    “The voice called Asmodeus a pathetic trifler. It could, of course, be lying to intimidate us. What worries me most is the bruising. I have never had any kind of physical manifestation from a trance.”
    He pulled up his sleeve to show her the blue-purple contusions. She studied them in silence.
    “I have never seen this before either. It heralds nothing good. How I wish Master Dufay were not in France. Perhaps one day we will be able to link telepathically over large bodies of water.”
    “Aye, Your Grace, I understand it is the salt content of the sea that interferes with the communication.”
    “Whatever it is,” the Queen Mother snapped, “it is troublesome and a worry.” She sighed. “However, it cannot be helped. What is your counsel?”
    “We face a new unknown enemy. One who does not fear to announce his presence.”
    “You may be right, but sunderers are hunters of weakness in others. They are known for bringing despair and strife, not humility or modesty,” she replied. “I agree it is wise to assume the worst. Let us pray they are smug enough to feel that they are invincible. It may give us the time we need for the Elemagus to return. I begin to wonder if this summons from his French counterpart was engineered so that he would not be here. I miss his wise counsel.”
    “Indeed, Madam. Fighting an unknown enemy is akin to plaiting fog. I am sure we face one sunderer, a member of this inner circle.”
    “Why?”
    “Because they would not risk more than one in case of disaster.”
    “Then mayhap you should give him a name, an identity on which to focus. He will then seem less nebulous. I suggest Nimrod, the mighty hunter who founded Babylon, the city that was constantly in rebellion against