The Queen's Dog by N.L. Holmes

Author:N.L. Holmes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: N.L. Holmes
Published: 2020-06-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

“Naheshi,” murmured the queen in a half whisper as he collected her discarded clothing one evening, “I want you to stay after the maids have left. Tell the night shift I have no need of them, will you?” She continued to ply her tapestry shuttles, sitting propped up in bed, as she spoke. No one seeing her through the crack in the outer door would have observed that the two were conversing.

“Yes, my lady.” His heart pounding, Naheshi bowed out the door and drew it shut behind him.

He tried to keep his mind on his duties for the rest of the evening, but more than once, he forgot what he was saying in midsentence and had to cover up his confusion. Agipsharri was grinning a more evil grin than usual. Let the old turd think whatever he wants. A magma of white-hot terror and anticipation simmered in Naheshi’s gut. Something was going to happen. Taddu was going to get him involved in something. She was going to do something so imprudent that they would both end up with their heads on pikes over the gate, but he couldn’t abandon her to face the danger alone. She needed him now more than ever. If he had to die, let his last memory be that divine vision of her dark hair falling down on the shoulders of the white linen nightgown as she bent over her tapestry work.

The Lady Shapshu was setting, leaving the room awash with the sun-warmed perfume of thyme and marjoram. The day maids left, and Agipsharri and the pages as well.

When the night maids knocked, Naheshi turned them away at the door with his suavest professional air. “Our lady has no need of you tonight, my beauties. I’ll watch over her. Come back tomorrow evening.”

They were only too happy to sleep in their own beds with no orders for midnight snacks to trouble them. They would ask no questions. Naheshi barred the outer door behind them. He noticed there was a guard on duty outside. That reassured him—the king’s eyes were open.

The soles of his feet were prickling with anxiety as he knocked on the inner door and entered the queen’s presence. She had gotten dressed again, still in the somber colors of mourning, and was wrapping herself in a dark, enveloping shawl.

“We’ll give it some more time, Naheshi. Then you and I are going to make a little trip to Mahadu.”

“The port, my lady!” He could not keep from gaping.

“Yes, the port. Don’t worry; you won’t have to walk. There will be a chariot ready for us outside the walls just after midnight.”

“But the guards...?”

“They haven’t been a problem yet, have they? I told you that important people were involved. They’ve taken care of everything. Just trust them, and make yourself useful.”

A chariot galloping down the port road in the middle of the night, and no one will hear? No one will see? He forced a pallid smile and nodded, afraid to say anything. He didn’t trust himself, let alone “them.

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