Free The Haunted Wizard - Wiz in Rhym-6 by Christopher Stasheff Page B

her favorite, she would wish to see him as King of Bretanglia—but surely she would not kill her firstborn to gain the crown for her second!"
    "Brion becoming heir might not be motive enough in itself," Matt said slowly, "but if Drustan really does desire Rosamund as much as the queen seems to think he does, jealousy is all the reason Petronille needs."
    "To slay Rosamund, perhaps." Alisande turned to him with a troubled frown. "Why would she thereby have Gaheris slain?"
    "Who did Rosamund live with as long as she was engaged to Gaheris?" Matt asked.
    "Why, with the king and his family."
    "But what if the king and queen separated? Who would Gaheris live with then?"
    "With his father." Alisande frowned. "He resents his mother, as you may have seen."
    "Oedipus complex, no doubt," Papa mused.
    "Who would she live with now that Gaheris is dead?" Matt asked. "If they separated, that is."
    "Brion is his mother's darling, and would no doubt live with her," Alisande said slowly, "and if Petronille can bring about his betrothal to Rosamund …" She shook her head violently. "No! It is not possible that Petronille would have ordered her own son slain only so that she might take Rosamund away from Drustan!"
    "If she disliked Gaheris as much as everyone else does, and feels at all protective toward Rosamund, I would say it is quite possible," Papa said softly.
    "I think that is too much for any mother to consider," Mama said firmly, "even one so vindictive as Petronille."
    "Let us trust so," Alisande said with a shudder. She rose. "So! Any of them might have hired an assassin, or none of them—but in any event, I must prepare for war." She looked up at Matt. "I thank you for counseling me to build a navy, husband. We may have only ten ships thus far, but they will do to harry the Page 41
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    coasts of Bretanglia—and may distract Drustan enough to prevent his invading Merovence."
    "Be nice if we had the English Channel in this universe," Matt said.
    "You have told me of that." Alisande frowned. "A twenty-mile-wide stretch of water between the Bretanglia and Merovence of your own world, is it not?"
    "In our version of this universe, yes—only we call them 'England' and 'France' there, and they speak two different languages."
    Alisande nodded. "I can see how the speech would have drifted apart, if Bretanglia were an island. There would have been far less coming and going between the two lands."
    "Yes, Bretanglia was part of Hardishane's empire here, wasn't it? After all, he could just march in and conquer."
    "As he did in Ibile, Latruria, and Allustria," Alisande said, "overcoming evil kings who were devoted to sin and Satan. He even conquered far beyond, well into the lands of the Rus. It is small wonder we all speak the same language."
    "No wonder at all." Matt frowned. "But there was never another invasion of Bretanglia, was there? After Hardishane's empire broke up, I mean."
    "Well, the Danes and Vikings harassed their coasts," Alisande said, "and even carved out their own kingdom in the eastern counties, to both sides of the wall built by great Reme's soldiers."
    "Truly?" Mama asked. "The Vikings held land in both England and Scotland?"
    "There are Scots in the northern part of Bretanglia," Alisande acknowledged, "and it was a separate land until the Vikings came. They married into all the noble families, and Drustan's father welded them together into one kingdom. This Drustan, his son, is the sixth of his name, and still rules all one land."
    "Does he have a Viking fleet?" Matt asked.
    Alisande smiled. "The Vikings ceased sailing two hundred years ago, husband. I think Drustan may have a few warships, but nothing more. What need of them has he, when he can ride into Merovence at will?" She turned somber. "Now, though, I fear that he will come riding in earnest, with all his armies, and with fire and sword."
    "I think I might be able to find some way to