The princess selected a red velvet chair in front of the desk and, brushing out her dress, sat down stiffly. She was not at ease, but made an effort to control her growing fear.
Carlton presented her with a glass of red wine on an engraved silver platter. She considered how it might be drugged or even poisoned, but dismissed this notion as ridiculous. Why poison or drug me? I already made the fatal error of blindly blundering into your web. If Hilfred had defected to their side, she had only Bernice to protect her against the entire armed forces of Ghent. She was already at their mercy.
Arista took the glass, nodded at Carlton, and sipped.
“The wine is imported through the Vandom Spice Company in Delgos,” the archbishop told her. “I have no idea where Montemorcey is, but they do make incredible wine. Don’t you think?”
“I must apologize,” Arista blurted out nervously. “I was unaware I was coming directly here. I assumed I would have a chance to freshen up after the long trip. I am generally more presentable. Perhaps I should retire and meet you tomorrow?”
“You look fine. You can’t help it. Lovely young princesses are blessed that way. Bishop Saldur did the right thing bringing you here immediately, even more than he knows.”
“Has something happened?” Saldur asked.
“Word has come down,” he looked up and pointed at the ceiling, “literally, that Luis Guy will be traveling with us.”
“The sentinel?”
Galien nodded.
“That might be good, don’t you think? He’ll bring a contingent of seret, won’t he? And that will help maintain order.”
“I am certain that is the patriarch’s mind as well. I, however, know how the sentinel works. He won’t listen to me and his methods are heavy handed. But that is not what we are here to discuss.”
He paused a moment, took a breath, and returned his attention to Arista. “Tell me my child, what do you know of Esrahaddon?”
Arista’s heart skipped a beat but she said nothing.
Bishop Saldur placed his hand on hers and smiled. “My dear, we already know that you visited him in Gutaria Prison for months and that he taught you what he could of his vile black magic. We also know that Alric freed him. Yet none of that matters now. What we need to know is where he is and if he has contacted you since his release. You are the only person he knows who might trust him and therefore the only one he might reach out to. So tell us child, have you had any communication with him?”
“Is this why you brought me here? To help you locate an alleged criminal?”
“He is a criminal, Arista,” Galien said. “Despite what he told you he is—”
“How do you know what he told me? Did you eavesdrop on every word the man said?”
“We did,” he replied passively.
The blunt answer surprised her.
“My dear girl, that old wizard told you a story. Much of it is actually true; only he left out a great deal.”
She glanced at Sauly, whose fatherly expression looked grim as he nodded his agreement.
“Your Uncle Braga wasn’t responsible for the murder of your father,” the archbishop told her. “It was Esrahaddon.”
“That’s absurd,” Arista scoffed. “He was in prison at the time and couldn’t even send messages.”
“Ah—but he could, and he did—through you. Why do you think he taught you to make the healing potion for your father?”
“Besides curing him of sickness, you mean?”
“Esrahaddon didn’t care about Amrath. He didn’t even care about you. The reality is he needed your father dead. Your mistake was going to him. Trusting him. Did you think he would be your friend? Your sage old tutor like Arcadius? Esrahaddon is no tame beast, no honorable gentleman. He is a demon and he is dangerous. He used you to escape. From the moment you visited him, he calculated your use as a tool. To escape he needed the ruling monarch to come and release him. Your father knew who and what he was, so he would never do it. But Alric, because of his ignorance, would. So he needed your father dead. All Esrahaddon had to do was make the church believe your father was the heir. He knew it would cause us to act against him.”
“But why would the church want the heir dead? I don’t understand.”
“We’ll get to that in due time. But suffice it to say his interest in you and your father got our attention. It was the healing potion Esrahaddon had you create that sealed your father’s fate. It tainted his blood to appear as if he was a descendent of the imperial bloodline. When Braga learned this he followed what he thought was the church’s wishes and put plans in motion to remove Amrath and his children.”
“Are you saying that Braga was working for the church when he had my father murdered?”
“Not directly—or officially. But Braga was devout in his beliefs. He acted rashly not waiting for the church bureaucracy, as he used to call it. Both the bishop and I speak for the whole church when we tell you we are truly sorry for the tragedy that occurred. Still, you must understand we did not orchestrate it. It was the design of Esrahaddon that set the wheels of your father’s fate in motion. He used the church just as he used you.”
Arista glared at the archbishop and then at Sauly. “You knew about this?”
The bishop nodded.