Conspiracies

“Princesses should not climb trees,” pronounced Lahlen, her arms stubbornly crossed.

Kish grinned as she eyed Mimi, so high up in the tree that he looked like ball of lint. Mimi meowed in fear, unable to conceive how he had climbed up in the first place.

“This princess does,” said Kish. “And I’m not going to let Mimi suffer. Wait here if you’re afraid.”

She kicked off her slippers and, crimson gowns billowing around her dusky legs, hopped up to the first branch. Below, Lahlen and Grei watched her go.

“I’m not afraid,” said Grei, pouting his red lips. “I could do it. But my mother would kill me if I ruined my clothes like you’re doing now.”

“Kitty climb up high, into the sky, the gods know why…” said Kish as grabbed the next branch. The other children looked at each other.

Kish ascended quickly, a sheen of sweat appearing on her olive skin. A few twigs had become lodged in her black hair, but she ignored them and continued upward toward the terrified feline. Below, the children held their breath.

It was before the Season of Dreams, and the trees had yet to bloom. They stood in the still, crisp air, soaking in all of the sunlight their budding leaves could gather, and the bark had already begun to secrete their tiny balls of sap, leaving sticky residue on Kish’s hands as she climbed.

Only slightly winded, Kish arrived next to Mimi, who meowed piteously at her.

“Now then,” said Kish. “Why did you have to get stuck in the tallest tree in the gardens? My father would never approve of his trees being used this way!”

The kitten stared back at her, nonplussed. Kish plucked him from his perch, deposited him in the folds of her gown, where he clung desperately, then began to descend.

Far below, heavy footsteps echoed from the garden walls. A large figure approached Kish’s friends and hands lifted in a shooing gesture. The children looked as if they were about to protest, then thought better of it and scattered, sparing only one more glance up at Kish. Kish stopped her descent and watched as the figure crossed its arms and stood beneath her tree, a foot tapping away upon the stones of the garden path. Seeing the silver lace upon the dark blue felt of the sleeves, Kish realized she was looking at First Councilor Kellick, one of few men with the king’s confidence.

Kish pulled Mimi from her gown and stroked his head, calming him down.

“Now, I wonder what he is doing here,” she whispered to Mimi as he began to purr. “Not to conduct my father’s business I suspect? Shall we wait here and see what transpires, or conspires? Will they light fires? No… that doesn’t work…”

Kish ruminated until another figure appeared below.

“Your late,” said the baritone of Kellick’s voice from below, making Mimi start, but Kish continued to stroke his head and he relaxed.

“My apologies, excellency,” said a smooth female voice. “I was unavoidably detained by your own guards. Apparently you did not see fit to inform them of my arrival.”

The woman was wearing a hooded cloak the color of pave stones. As she gestured toward Kellick, her hands looked as if they were carved from the same wood Kish was standing on.

“You are not officially here,” said Kellick, “and it will remain so. We must discuss our business quickly, for I have a ceremony to attend in a few minutes.”

“Yes, the ceremony of the sun is it? So confident are you that the newborn royal will be a prince?”

“There are no certainties, but if not, we will make do.”

They are talking about the queen’s coming baby! thought Kish. What secrets must the Councilor leave here in the garden? Conspiracies…

“Then the plan will move forward as previously discussed?” purred the woman as she stepped closer to Kellick.

Kellick retreated a step, and though Kish couldn’t see his face, his posture looked distinctly uneasy.

“Yes,” he said. “You will do as we discussed. Your payment is already stowed in a location which I will reveal to you upon completion of the job.”

“The entire family? Even Princess Kenasha?”

That’s me! thought Kish.

“Especially her! Waghrendi blood in the royal family line? Utterly detestable!”

“As you wish, Councilor.”

Waghrendi? What could he mean? He sounded disgusted!

“Not that this makes any difference, but this could cause a war,” said the woman.

“Not when I am in command,” said Kellick. “All of the palace guard and half of the army already answers to me.”

What is he talking about? This sounds like treason!

Kish had tensed up, and Mimi, sensing her mood started to mewl. Below, the woman’s body tensed ever so slightly, and her head began to incline upward toward Kish’s perch when Kellick gestured grandly.

“There will be order!” he shouted. “There will be strength! There will be a dawn of a new age of prosperity! We will expand and rule the Gilt Plains. We will take the coasts! We will-“

He stopped, and Kish could now hear the woman laughing.

“Well, I could never have imagined such greatness from… a commoner! Far be it for me to critique your plans, but I hope you consider how your legitimacy, such as it is, will be viewed by the people.”

“Watch your tone, woman! Or I’ll-“

The gray cloak glided to within a hand’s breadth of Kellick, and the councilor looked as if he had swallowed something foul and was choking.

“Or what, your excellency? Have you forgotten who you are talking to? Will the gardeners come in here and find your still cooling corpse among the trees?”

Kish was aghast. She couldn’t imagine anyone speaking to the First Councilor that way other than the king himself. Who was this woman?

After a long pause, Kellick shook himself.

“I only remind you of my position and where the kingdom will be when this is all over,” he said. “I may be a commoner by birth, but even the oldest bloodlines have humble beginnings. And know this…”

Kellick stepped closer to the woman pointed at her in a renewed show of assertiveness.

“I will remember who stood with me and supported me, who stood with the king, and who stood on the sidelines. Only one of those three will prosper.”

With that, Kellick strode away.

“Look to your own kind, Quenta, for the Season of Dreams is nearly upon us!” he said as he exited.

The woman stood where she was, and Kish imagined she had a bemused expression on her face. At that moment, Mimi scrambled out of Kish’s arms and leapt to the upper branches. In her haste, Kish gasped as she climbed up after him. When she reached the highest branch that would hold her weight, Kish saw where Mimi was headed. The branch intersected the northern wall of the garden, and Mimi lightly leapt to the stone structure. Kish looked down once more, and saw the woman looking around as if she had heard something. Kish stepped onto the branch and it groaned beneath her weight, but it being barely the beginning of the Dreaming Season, it released no leaves. She shimmied her way along, but found herself growing more confident as she went, as if walking along a tree branch dozens of feet above the ground was the most natural thing in the world for a girl of nine years. The branch held all the way to the wall, and Kish was able to repeat Mimi’s leap silently. She hurried along the wall toward the roof of the pavilion, wondering how she would get down.

What are they planning? thought Kish. They plan to do something to my family, but what? Kellick has been a loyal courtier all his life! I must tell someone, but what would I tell them?

But further down the wall, the thought occurred to her: How was I able to climb that tree so easily? Like I was a cat!

Below, the mysterious woman who Kellick had called “Quenta” looked up to the treetops and saw a branch still swaying gently from a non-existent wind.