The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox

Chapter 87: Queen's Friend

"Yes, yes."

"But why – what – Surely not for thy grandmother or father?!"

I couldn't understand his sudden panic.

"Nay! Nay! Pip is here to help me redeem – she said – she said – oh. Oh...."

I saw the precise moment when Lodia recalled that I'd never answered her question as to whether the queen had planted me here to test the Kohs' loyalty. I'd redirected the conversation, and she'd drawn her own conclusions.

She shriveled up like an un-watered plant spirit. "'Twas a trap, wasn't it? Sending the mirror cover to Lady Anthea? 'Twasn't a 'good opportunity.' 'Twas a trap, or a test, for me, and I failed."

Stars and demons, what was going on with this family? It wasn't the happy, blessed, and functional household that I'd assumed, was it? I really should have spent more time piecing together those cryptic comments about Lodia's mother, instead of charging ahead with my plan to send the girl to court. Suddenly, the memorial name plaque on the household altar took on a sinister glow. Could Lodia's mother have been executed for treason?

No, no, no more jumping to conclusions. What did I actually know about this family?

It had a mother who had run afoul of the crown in some unspecified manner. A grandmother who served as Mage-Architect to the ruler of this fief. A father who worked at the mint.

Oh. Oh. Was the Lady of the Lychee Tree planning to challenge the queen for her throne, with the aid of the Kohs? But why? Tree spirits couldn't travel, which made it nearly impossible for them to rule vast territories. From what I'd seen, they were content as long as they controlled the land under which their root networks extended. But in that case, why mint her own coins?

What is the Lady of the Lychee Tree plotting?

Katu cut in before Lodia could answer. "Plotting? Now see here, spirit, that is no way to speak of Her Ladyship!"

His indignation was genuine, but I was more interested in the half-defiant, half-guilty look on Lodia's face.

I was not asking you, Len Katulus. I was asking Koh Lodia. Well? What is the Lady of the Lychee Tree plotting against the queen of South Serica?

She shook her head frantically, twin plaits swinging. "He speaks truth, noble spirit! There is no plot. We are all faithful servants of the Crown."

Are you, now?

"Yes, noble spirit. My mother swore on all our ancestors and the heads of my brother and me that she never breathed a word against Her Majesty. 'Twas slander."

"'Tis true," Katu confirmed. "I knew Mistress Koh my whole life. She was gentle and fair and kind, with nary an ill word to speak of anyone."

Could any description get more generic? If the woman had been that insignificant, why would anyone have bothered slandering her?

I cocked my head at Lodia, inviting her to elaborate.

She twisted a plait around her left forefinger. "It grieved Mother that Her Majesty would believe she would turn against her."

Turn against her in what way? This was the problem with pretending to be a queen's spy: I was supposed to know all the details already. Ugh! Maybe pretending to be a spy hadn't been the best idea after all. Was it too late to tell them I wasn't one?