The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

are most observant,” she said,complimenting him. “I will be seeing the Queen shortly, but I’dlike you to relay a message to His Majesty, as well as his daughterif she is here today.”

“What message, milady?”

“It is private, so if you’ll provideme with pen and ink…,” she said, letting her sentence trailaway.

In no time at all he had brought asheet of parchment and one of the newer steel tipped pens. Shewasted no time drafting two identical notes, one for James and onefor Ariadne. Folding them she passed them to Adam’s waiting hand.“I trust you will not read them or allow them into any other handsbut theirs,” she said sternly.

“Of course, milady,” he returnedsolemnly.

“Very good,” she acknowledged. “Now ifyou will excuse me, I must be seeing the Queen now.”

“Would you like an escort?” Adam askedpromptly.

She smiled, “I know the way, and anescort would merely delay me. I’m sure the guards know me wellenough by now.”

She was, of course, correct. No onetroubled her on her way to the private part of the palace reservedfor the royal family and their closest friends and retainers. Mostconsidered her the ‘de facto’ lady-in-waiting for the Queen, thoughshe did not actually hold that position. A variety of men-at-armsbowed respectfully as she passed, but none questioned her. Shereached Ginny within less than five minutes, walking at her fastestpace to cover the distance. The palace was quite large afterall.

Genevieve smiled when she saw LadyThornbear enter the room. Gesturing to a tea tray that had justbeen brought in, she greeted her friend, “Elly! You should try oneof these scones. The cook says he’s found a new recipe and Ihear…”

Her words cut off abruptly as Elisedashed across the room to bat her hand aside, knocking the pastryshe had held to the floor.

Shocked she started to exclaim, “Whatin the world has…”

Elise shushed her with a sharp look,holding one finger to her lips. “Are we alone?” Her eyes movedsideways to indicate the sides of the room, an unspoken reminder ofthe hidden guards that kept a watch over the royal family invirtually all areas of the palace.

Genevieve pursed her lips and thenrose gracefully from her seat. She walked toward the door, lookingback to make sure Elise was following her. They passed through twomore rooms before greeting two guards as they entered the mostprivate area of the royal living quarters. Once they were insideand the door was closed she questioned her friend, “Alright, Elise,what’s got you so worked up?”

Lady Thornbear wasted no time. “As Ileft my carriage today I spotted a man I recognized, someone I knewfrom long ago, before I met Gram. I questioned the groomsman, andhe told me that he’d been working in the palace for the past fewweeks.”

The Queen frowned, “Someone from theplace where they had you working or…”

Elise shook her head negatively. “No,someone from the church itself, one of my teachers,” she clarifiedbefore adding the final nail, “their master poisoner.”

Genevieve’s eyes opened wide. “Theyaren’t even supposed to be in the city, how would they get such aperson in here?”

“I don’t know Ginny. The man has neverbeen widely known. Only his students ever met him within the churchitself, otherwise I wouldn’t even have known who he was. Frankly,I’m surprised they haven’t tried something like this before, unlessthey were worried about further retribution,” said Elise. “Butthen, Mordecai is gone now, and there’s a lot of growing supportfor the four churches with these new miracles.”

“Enough,” said the Queen. “What do youthink he might have done? We have tasters, and the kitchen staffare carefully watched.”

“I don’t know. There are a dozendifferent things they might try. Poisoning you and James are onlythe most obvious, and there are poisons that take days or evenweeks to show their effects; tasters won’t guarantee your safety,”answered Elise. “The first thing we need to do is make certain thatJames and your children know. None of you can eat or drink anythingthat has already been prepared for you, nor can you eat anythingthat is expected to reach your plates. That means dining withfriends or getting your meals in some other unexpected manner. Yourroutine sources are the ones that are most vulnerable.”

Genevieve responded, “I’ve already hadmy morning tea and that wasn’t my first scone for theday.”

“They may have been safe. We don’tknow when, where or even who they plan to poison,” said Elise. “Youmight want to empty your stomach anyway.” She gestured toward herown throat with a single finger.

The Queen grimaced but nodded. “I’llbe back in a minute.” She went to find a chamber pot.

While Genevieve was occupied Elisekept herself busy by borrowing the use of the writing desk. Shepenned another short missive before taking it to the guard outsidethe door. “Please have this carried to Sir Dorian Thornbear, myson. As of yesterday, he was staying at Lady Rose Hightower’shouse…,” she finished by giving him the address, even though shehad written it on the outside of her note.

“Forgive me, milady,” said the guard,after patiently letting her finish, “I am not allowed to leave mypost under any circumstances. There is a bell pull to summon one ofthe servants for other purposes…”

“I don’t have time towait. Find the chamberlain; tell him the queen wants this sent byrunner immediately. Notthe regular mail, she wants a runner sentnow,” she used a toneindicated she would brook no delays.

Giving his fellow guardsman a look,the fellow took the note and promptly left.

Lady Thornbear turned to the secondguard, “What’s your name?”

“Jonathan Greenly, milady,” heanswered promptly.

She nodded, “Do not report your fellowguard for leaving his post, do you understand? I know how youpeople operate. If he gets in trouble for obeying the Queen’s orderI’ll see you whipped and your commander can be damned. Have I mademyself clear?”

The man swallowed visibly, “Yes,milady.”

She gave him a gracious smile andclosed the door. When Genevieve returned from her purge Elise spenta few minutes explaining the notes, both to Ariadne and James aswell as her newest note to Dorian.

The Queen took in the informationquickly. “My daughter is going over some of the royal accounts thismorning, so she’ll probably be with the chief factor and the headaccountant. James won’t get