PART I Chapter 1

Misha hummed while she flitted about the castle kitchen, searching for the ingredients for a cake. What was it to her if the kingdom was under attack? Surely her life under a different ruler would be no different than her life under King Rafe and Queen Ashanta. It was all the same for people like her. Clean the floors, cook the food, wash the clothing and the bedding. Be available from before the sun came up until long after it went to bed, especially in the winter, when they, by which she meant the people like her, had to make sure that the royal family was warm, which meant getting up every hour through the night to poke at the fires in the royal bedroom and put more wood on it.

Now, at least, there was some sort of a break. The king was at some sort of a assembly with the nobles of the kingdom, in the hope that they would be able to find some way of holding off the attacks of the barbarian Kreigns. At least, Misha assumed that they were barbarians. Everyone else seemed to say that they were barbarians, and who was a lowly servant to say otherwise? In any case, while the king was gone there would be no feasting, and no celebrating. The queen would eat her meals in her chamber, accompanied perhaps by a few of her ladies in waiting, and since most of the knights had gone with the king to the meeting, there were only perhaps a half hundred other mouths to feed, not counting themselves, of course. Misha sighed and got back to her work. Whether there were half a hundred mouths or hundreds and hundreds of them, dinner was still served promptly at sundown, and the sun was quickly making its way down the Western sky.

****

Up in the royal apartments, Ashanta yawned sleepily. The queen never slept well when King Rafe was away, and on this particular trip he had taken all of his personal guard with him. She had felt exposed the night before; open to attack. Only the previous month someone, she didn't know just who, had climbed through the window of their tower apartment and tried to stab Rafe in his sleep. Fortunately the guards had stopped the perpetrator before he was able to do any harm, but they had failed to capture him. Somehow, he (or maybe it was a she, the head guard seemed strangely silent about the whole matter) had managed to get out through the window before anyone could lay a hand on him.

Ashanta shivered. What would have happened had the assassin (for surely that was what he had been) had managed to stab Rafe? There was not yet an heir to the kingdom, and Rafe had been the only son of the previous king, who had, in his turn, been the only son of his father. The royal blood was hopelessly diluted in the rest of the populace, and there was no clear heir should something happen to Rafe. The last thing the kingdom needed was to be torn apart with infighting over who their ruler should be at the same time they were enduring the attacks of the Kreigns. It was because of this attack that Rafe had decided to bring his entire guard with him. Of course that meant that Ashanta was guarded only by the regular household staff, but perhaps with Rafe gone nobody would be interested in attacking the castle. That, at any rate, was the hope.

In any case, it was important that the castle retain some sense of normalcy while the king was away. They had decided that it was best if as few people as possible knew just how many of the castle defenders and guard had gone with the king to the assembly. Of course, they couldn't keep it entirely secret, and it seemed likely that the word would get out eventually, but that was no reason not to keep the secret for as long as possible. After all, it seemed likely that as soon as the Kreign realized that the castle was defended by only a few dozen men at arms, rather than the hundreds that were normally stationed there, they would somehow manage to attack the castle. Ashanta railed silently against the fools who had chosen to build the castle far to the north of the kingdom, almost up under the edge of the Kreign border. If the castle were further south, closer to the center of the kingdom, things would be less fraught when the King travelled.

Abruptly, she made a decision. If normalcy was what was wanted, normalcy was what everyone would have. And, unfortunately, that meant proper dinners in the main hall, with the long trestle tables and the head table and. . .. Her thoughts trailed off. And that would mean alerting everyone to just how depleted the castle defenses were with Rafe gone, which could mean disaster. Of course, most of the people who actually lived at the castle were already well aware that he had brought most of the defenders with him. There was some hope that they might leave directly from the council and strike a blow at the Kreign. Not that that seemed particularly likely, but it was good to cover all the bases Ashanta supposed. So then, what she needed was something that would look like normalcy to an outsider, regardless of whether it actually was normal. So then, what would someone from the outside expect if they were to visit the castle? And who exactly might come visiting? Someone who was familiar with the castle would be harder to trick than a stranger, she knew. They could pretend that the castle was under quarantine, and just refuse to let anyone in. But that might be seen as a threat to the King Rafe, and there might be unrest among the people. Ashanta sighed. She wished she had someone to help her figure all of this out. Apparent normalcy? Feigned illness? What was the best course here?

She started at the sound of a tap at the door to her chamber. "Yes? Who is it?"

"I'm sorry I startled you, Highness," Misha stood in the doorway. "Will you be dining in your apartment tonight? How many places shall I set?"

Ashanta smiled wanly. There would be time tomorrow for puzzling out the solution. She hadn't noticed the sun, slipping down now so that it was barely visible over the far rampart of the castle walls. "I shall dine in my apartment," she replied, and, after a moment's thought, "set the table for five tonight."

"Certainly, Highness," said Misha, bowing, and left.

Now, who will I ask to dine with me, Ashanta mused. Do I want to be entertained, or do I want to solve this problem that has been bothering me. She strode over and pulled the cord that summoned her maid, and also the one that summoned the head of the royal guard, or at any rate, the man at arms who was currently playing the part of the head. She sat down again on to await their arrival, acutely aware that she must appear calm and at ease to them, no matter how anxious she felt. The wait seemed interminable. Surely it should not take so long for them to make their way to her apartment?

At last she heard foot steps in the corridor, and Thara tapped lightly at the entry to the chamber. "Highness?" she asked, "you called for me?" Did she seem worried? Surely not. Ashanta must take care not to project her own fears onto the servants, who, poor things, had no hope of understanding what was at stake.

"Fetch my best pen and parchment," Ashanta directed, "and then wait while I address notes to some of my friends. Make sure that they receive them immediately."

Thara nodded and set off down the corridor to the study where the queen kept her writing tools. With the king and his guard gone, it was simpler to keep the queen safe if she remained in her own apartment. Less area to cover, and fewer people to keep track of, but it meant that Thara spent an awfully lot of time running the sorts of errands that the queen could easily have taken care of on her own. She passed the man at arms on her way to the study, and nodded to him. Perhaps she should have bowed, but Thara knew perfectly well that he wasn't really in the royal guard, but was only getting to pretend that he was while the real guard was away with the king. Why, it was only a few months ago that Firth had been an ordinary squire, always getting in the way of them as made the castle run. And that, as Thara knew all too well, was not the people who everyone believed were important. The important people would be completely helpless without their help.

Firth went speedily onward to the queen's chamber where he found Ashanta pacing back and forth in front of the fire. "You called me Highness?"

"I am asking some people to dinner," Ashanta began without preamble, "and I wish to ensure that you and the rest of the guard will be well away from this part of the castle while we are dining. It is of critical importance to the future of the realm that our discussions remain private. Bring the castle dogs up to the antechamber to provide protection."

Firth looked shocked. "Leave you completely unguarded, Highness? But the king will have my head if something happens to you. You know that you can count on my discretion, Highness."

Ashanta was firm. "We must have complete privacy for this, ah, discussion. The dogs will provide sufficient security, as you will certainly guard the passage to my apartment. Go now, and notify the guard."

Firth bowed, "If you are certain, Highness. It will be as you demand."

Now, thought Ashanta, I need to figure out who to invite to this meeting of mine. Who will be able to help me plan this, diversion, shall we say, this attempt to fool those who might come to the castle into thinking that there are more of us around than there really are.

Thara's return broke into her reverie, "I have the parchment, Highness, and the pen. Do you want me to wait to deliver the notes, or would you prefer to summon me again when the notes are ready?"

Ashanta bent immediately to her work. "Wait here, Thara," she ordered. "It should take but a few minutes to write these." Quickly she wrote directives to the head cook, the gatekeeper, the court jester, and the high priestess, and handed them to Thara to deliver.

Thara looked at her questioningly, "Highness?" she ventured, "these are not the sort of people you would normally invite to dine with you. Would you not prefer that I invite the ladies of the court to lighten your mood while King Rafe is…" Ashanta's look silenced the maid, and without another word she slipped silently into the passage.