Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin 1)

Dunois glances uneasily at Duval. “Because they feel powerless and wish to take some action, even if it is not the right one. ”

when Duval speaks again, it is as if he dredges up the words from some great hollow pit inside himself. “And that is the true danger,” he says. “They will think they have addressed the threat when they have not. whoever planned that attack will be free to act again. ” He looks up and meets Dunois’s gaze. “Thank you for the warning. ” Something solid and bittersweet passes between them.

when Dunois leaves, Duval rises to his feet and begins pacing in front of the fireplace. I wait for him to speak. when he doesn’t, I cannot keep silent. "Why did the chancellor not explain the reasons behind your actions to the counc

il?”

Duval shrugs. “He is a wily old fox and plays a deep game. Perhaps he did not want the others to see his own hand in this and cause them to direct their accusations and suspicions his way. who would be left to see to Anne’s safety then? Or perhaps he simply knew he was greatly outnumbered and did not wish to fight a lost cause. ”

“It was he who told me of your breaking your oath,” I blurt out.

Duval stops pacing and snaps up his head. “He told you of that? when?”

I shrug. "When I was in his office after the meeting of the estates. ”

“And yet you said nothing. ”

I shrug again, not sure I can explain my reasoning. Not even to myself. “I did not ask you because it was clear that he wanted me to. ”

Duval barks out a laugh. “My little rebel. ”

I ignore the small flush of pleasure his words bring. “But it also seemed to me that I had no right to ask you of your saint when I have refused to tell you anything of mine. ”

The look he gives me is long and considering.

“And,” I am compelled to add, “the duchess herself told me of the incident. But later. ”

“Did she?”

“Yes, when I was tending to her after d’Albret’s attack. ”

Duval’s eyes stay on mine a long moment before he pulls himself away and heads for the chessboard. I join him there and together we look down at the meager forces left protecting the white queen.

"What will happen if they remove you?” I ask.

Duval studies the board intensely, as if trying to conjure secrets from it. “Then there is no one left to speak on Anne’s behalf. Beast cannot do it, nor de Lornay. They are not high enough in rank to sway the council. ”

"What of Dunois?”

“Captain Dunois is as solid and loyal a man you could ask for, but politics and treaties and the games of kingdoms are not his gifts. Leading men in battle, grasping tactics and strategies of war, those are his strengths. ”

I stare at the board, thinking of the poor duchess surrounded by an entire council that has so little interest in her personal welfare. “Then you must not be taken,” I say.

“But if I leave, it ensures the same result, does it not? It is a brilliant plan they have concocted. Perhaps they even wished for Dunois to speak with me. whether I am arrested or leave of my own accord, the result is the same: I am unable to help Anne. Unless . . . ” Duval begins tapping at his chin with his finger.

“Unless what?” I ask impatiently.

He turns to look at me, his face alight with a touch of unholy glee. “Unless there is some way to remove myself yet not. what if they think I have left, but I haven’t?”

“You mean to disguise yourself? Surely your face is too well known — ”

“No. I will hide under their very noses. ” Duval turns to stare at the fireplace. More accurately, the wall beside the fireplace. “The castle holds a number of hidden passages. with our country so often at war, the ducal palaces have always had escape routes out of the castle. ”

“You would live in those tunnels and passageways?”

He shrugs. “It cannot be worse than being imprisoned. And it will give me a chance to finalize the agreement with the Holy Roman emperor’s envoy Herr Dortmund and send him on his way with a signed contract. I fear that is Anne’s last chance if she does not wish to end up in the arms of either the French or d’Albret. ”

“But will you not need the privy councilors’ signatures?”

“I will forge them. This is only the preliminary agreement anyway. Hopefully, when the final document is ready, Anne will have been crowned and can act on her own behalf. ”

It is a desperate plan but the only one available to us. we spend the next several hours working out the details, trying to anticipate all the obstacles that could lay waste to our strategy.

Duval will continue to visit my chamber each night. He does not think the council will go so far as to post sentries at my bedchamber door. I am not so sure.

while he is in hiding, I will pretend to mope and will ask for my meals in my room, which will make it easy enough to set aside food for him.

"What shall I tell the others when they ask where you have gone? For Crunard, at least, will surely question me. ”

“Simply tell them the truth. You do not know where I am. For you will not. I could be anywhere in the castle, I could even leave it, and no one — including you — will know where I have gone. ”

“And the duchess? what will she think when you disappear?”

“The passageways open up into the royal bedchambers. I should be able to get to her. But it would not hurt for you to try to get a message to her as well. ”

"What shall I tell her?”

He looks down at the chessboard again. “Tell her we no longer know whom she can trust. we will keep her apprised as we learn more. ” He glances at the window, then back at me. “I have a few preparations I must make before I go. ”

we are close enough to kiss, and for a long, heart-stopping moment I think that he will do just that. Instead, he runs his knuckle along my cheek. “Until tomorrow night, then. ”

I shiver. “Until tomorrow. ”

He turns to leave, then stops and snatches the white queen from the board, wrapping his fingers around it as if to keep her safe.

It is not surprising that I cannot sleep that night. I lie awake and think of Duval crawling around the hidden tunnels of the castle like a rat trapped in a wall. I think of the duchess abandoned by every one of the guardians her father appointed for her. But mostly I think of the council, of Chancellor Crunard and Marshal Rieux, and wonder who is telling the truth and who is lying.