“Who to send with such a request; ah, that would be the hardest question,” I pointed out. Surely she could see the difficulties of sending a sick old man off on a journey to the Mountains in winter. He could not go alone. “The man that went would have to be very trustworthy and strong of will.”
“Such a man sounds like a woman to me,” Kettricken quipped, and Hopeful laughed merrily, more to see the Queen’s mood lightened than at the witticism. Kettricken paused with her cup at her lips. “Perhaps I should have to go myself, to see the thing done right,” she added, and smiled when my eyes widened. But the look she gave me was serious.
There followed some light talk, and a recipe of mostly fictitious herbs from Kettricken that I promised to do my best to find for her. I believed I took her meaning. When I excused myself and went back to my room, I wondered how I would keep her from acting before Chade could. It was a pretty puzzle.
I had scarcely refastened all my door catches and bars before I felt a draft up my back. I turned to find the entry to Chade’s realm standing ajar. I climbed the stairs wearily. I longed to sleep, but knew that once I lay down, I would be unable to close my eyes.
The smell of food enticed me as I entered Chade’s chamber, and I was suddenly aware I was hungry. Chade was already at the small table he had set out. “Sit down and eat,” he told me tersely. “We must plot together.”
I was two bites into a meat pie when he asked me softly, “How long do you think we might keep King Shrewd here, in these chambers, undetected?”