No casual observer would have mistaken the minstrel Velasquez as Don Juan de Gallegos y Orduņo, as he skulked about the grounds of Los Alcazar de Los Lobos. The night was dark and moonless, as the rainstorms of Octavus had chased away almost everyone but the guards on duty. As Don Juan, he could have asked for an audience with the Queen, rather than risking arrest or worse if he was caught, but the news he brought were for the Queen only. No one must see him visit her. He thought she might still be awake, for a small light still burned where he thought her window must be.
The grounds were too well patrolled. He would be caught before he could make his way to her chambers on the upper floor. Reluctantly, he parted the shadows with the Nacht sorcery learned from the Black Crosses, and navigated his way through the other world. As he stepped out on the other side, he saw with relief that he had not miscalculated; he was in fact in the apartments of Sara Yanez y Grijalva de Sandoval, Queen of Castille. The Queen was by herself, standing at the window and looking sad. She was wrapped in an exquisite robe, and looked as beautiful as when she had merely been Doņa Melisandre, Don Juan's travel companion.
As she seemed lost in thought and oblivious to the intrusion, Juan rapped softly on a dresser to attract her attention. She whipped around, reaching for her sword, which was kept at hand. Juan raised a finger to his lips, pleading for silence. Upon seeing him, the Queen's expression softened and relaxed.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in a low voice, eyebrows arching quizzically.
"Just passing through," Juan answered.
The Queen's eyebrows raised a bit further. "Through my bedchamber?" she asked dryly.
Juan shook his head, looking a bit mortified. "I have news that I can give only to you. I regret that I cannot reveal how I obtain them, but I have found documents which prove that King Sandoval was not killed in the attack of Sextus 1669." He pulled a sheaf of vellum from an inner pocket and proffered it for the Queen's examination.
The Queen's demeanor immediately brightened. She examined the documents, even as Don Juan explained that they were letters from one Inquisitor Vindico to the late Cardinal Verdugo, confirming that King Sandoval had been spirited away and was held prisoner at the agreed location. Although Juan could not give details on the methods he had used, he said, it had taken him much effort and five years to obtain this.
Queen Sara immediately resolved to assemble her old friends and look into the matter. She asked Don Juan to seek out Don Ferdinand Valiente in La Reina del Mar, and at first light she would send messengers to Doņa Constanza Orduņo and Seņor Lucas; they would all meet in a week. Don Juan suggested that perhaps King Javier should be informed of the documents, but the Queen firmly decreed that she would do so in good time.
Doņa Constanza was the first to receive the Quuen's message since she happened to be in Ciudad Vaticine. She immediately presented herself, and learned of the new information. She had misgivings about not immediately informing King Javier of the situation, but bowed to the Queen's wishes. She researched the name of Inquisitor Vindico through every scrap of paper retrieved from the Inquisition in the last five years, but could find no reference at all to him, which in itself seemed odd.
Queen Sara's messenger found Seņor Lucas just as he was returning from another trip to Avalon. He promptly re-packed his bags to head for Ciudad Vaticine. Meanwhile, Don Juan traveled post-haste to La Reina del Mar, where he found an unhappy Don Ferrdinand wrestling with financial matters and the administration of his estates. Don Ferdinand was only too happy to throw himself into action, and the two returned to Ciudad Vaticine at breakneak pace.
At the appointed day and time, Doņa Constanza, Don Juan, Don Ferdinand, and Lucas presented themselves for their audience with the Queen. The reunited heroes discussed the situation. The documents confirmed Doņa Constanza's long-held belief that King Salvador de Sandoval had survived the attack and fire. She thought Cardinal Verdugo had intended for him to be killed after the abduction, or he could just as well have done the deed in the capital. The Cardinal's dying words had indicated that he had not been able to bring himself to have the young king killed, and so Sandoval might still be alive, held prisoner somewhere.
Queen Sara decided it was finally time to inform King Javier of the situation. The brief message she sent him was urgent enough that he arrived within minutes. He listened to the story with attention, asking a few questions of Don Juan. At last, he turned to the Queen. "There is no help for it your sister must be found if you are to involve yourself in this." He added that he knew full well that Sara-Melisandre would sneak away at the first opportunity to go adventuring with her friends. "Do you honestly think I could stop her?" he asked. A stand-in would be needed.
Don Ferdinand was despatched to Don Tobias de Ramirez' estate where it was hoped that perhaps some news of Sarina could be had. Juan disappeared, claiming he would check with his contacts. It took Ferdinand several days to travel to Don Tobias's lands, where indeed he found Sarina. But she refused to trust him long enough to accompany her to Ciudad Vaticine, and Don Tobias assured Don Ferdinand that he would let the young woman be captured. Ferdinand returned to the capital empty-handed.
Lucas went to check on Los Vagos' information network and paid a visit to Don Hector de Ontivaros. Don Hector did not know much about the recent whereabouts of Sarina, but Los Vagos had kept an eye on her from a distance. He believed that she had been traveling with none other than Sebastiano Biancastro! Don Hector was amazed by Lucas's news that the was proof of Good King Sandoval's survival of the Palace of Wolves Massacre. Lucas also learned that Don Hector had been breeding horses for speed and strength, as an asset for Los Vagos; Don Hector gave Lucas a marvelous stallion of that breed, asking in return that Lucas bring back his king.
Queen Sara sounded her own contacts. First, don Estevan de Grijalva, assured her that he did not know where Sarina was. Next, the Oracle, who knew nothing of Sarina but told Sara-Melisandre that she must soon leave, that once more the Fourth Prophet might be about to rise.
For her part, Constanza continued working through the King's Guard, examining every piece of paper ever retrieved from suspected Inquisition lairs and listening to her network of informants. One night as she was retiring, she was attacked in her chambers by a very fast, very blurry opponent wielding a simple club. She discharged a pistol and wounded the assailant, who fled by jumping from her fourth floor window! No trace of his landing could be found by the Guard, but a small fire had been started in the library during that fracas, destroying some of the papers that had been brought by Juan. Contanza, who had just been working on them earlier that evening, was able to reconstruct their content and break the cipher. This yielded a list of geographical coordinates, most of which turned out to be for the Inquisition hideouts discovered over the past five years, but one of which had been hitherto unknown.
Meanwhile, Ferdinand had returned and explained the situation to the Queen. She penned a letter for Sarina and asked Lucas to go with Ferdinand make a second attempt at convincing her sister to come to Vaticien City. Baited by her sister's lavish description of the easy life awaiting in Vaticine City, Sarina relented but demanded to be accompanied by a gardian of her choice, which of course turned out to be Sebastiano. On the way back, sailing across La Boca de Cielo, Sarina made a playful effort to seduce Lucas, but the ship was followed by a seal that Lucas knew must be Seldane. During the trip, Sebastiano asked Ferdinand to deliver a message to the Queen, to tell her that he was guilty and that she must give him up rather than endanger herself any further by trying to protect him.
Ferdinand, Lucas, Sebastiano and Sarina reached San Cristobal, then rode on to Vaticine City; Sebastiano disappeared as soon as the approached the capital. Ferdinand and Lucas disguised Sarina and brought before the King and Queen, and Queen Sara explained her offer to trade places for a while. Sarina, or rather Doņa Sofia, thought the offer quite appealing, despite the conditions placed on her; King Javier promised to slit her throat himself if she did anything to endanger Castille or the Queen. Sarina also grinned when she learned that the King and Queen did not share a bed, and hinted that she ahd other ideas.
As soon as he could speak privately with her, Don Ferdinand delivered Signor Sebastiano's message to the Queen. She gave him a response message; she asked him to tell Sebastiano that she didn't care.
Melisandre, Ferdinand, Constanza, and Lucas dressed in the robes of the Queen's Order of Hospitallers and rode east out of town. Soon after they had left Ciudad Vaticine, they were joined by Sebastiano Biancastro, and Melisandre and him made their peace.
(To be continued.)
