Free The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Page A

his father. The minister of war bent forward to put a hand under his son’s armpit and lift him to his feet. “Bedtime, I think,” he said. “We can discuss messagesfrom the gods when we’ve had some sleep. Things,” he said, looking at the queen, “are sometimes not as they appear.”
    The queen left, and the minister helped his son to bed with a minimum of words. He pulled the overshirt and undershirt over Eugenides’s head with a sharp tug, then directed him to the bed.
    “Sit,” he said.
    Eugenides sat, and his father pulled off the rest of his clothes and dropped a nightshirt over his head. Then he pushed his son down onto the bed and pulled the covers over him.
    “You can wash in the morning,” he said.
    Eugenides lay with his head on his pillows, looking up at the ceiling.
    “Do you need to eat?” his father asked.
    “I ate the ceremonial bread in the temple.”
    His father shook his head in wonder. “No lightning bolts?” he asked.
    “Not one,” said Eugenides.
    “How fortunate.” He went to the door and stopped. “That business of going to the Peninsula to study…”
    “What about it?”
    “It was a reasonable idea.”
    Was? Eugenides wondered as he fell asleep.

C HAPTER S EVEN
    I N THE MORNING E UGENIDES SLEPT late. When he woke, his room was full of light, and the magus of Sounis sat in the chair at the foot of his bed.
    “What are you doing here?” Eugenides asked, not pleased.
    “I didn’t think I’d get a chance to visit again soon, so I came up. You know I like Eddis.”
    “The country or the queen?”
    “I prefer my country,” the magus admitted.
    “And my queen,” said Eugenides. “Well, you can’t have her.”
    The magus smiled. He had done his best to maneuver the unwilling queen of Eddis into a political marriage with his king and failed, largely because of Eugenides. In spite of the difference in their ages and their goals, they had a great respect for each other.
    The magus was privy to the reports of his king’s ambassador in Eddis and had read them carefullythroughout the fall and winter, his personal desires in conflict with his political ones. His king had been delighted at the outcome in Attolia. The magus had grieved, but he’d gone on with the plans he’d thought in the best interest of his country. He was cautious, though, and he’d come to see Eugenides for himself before he encouraged his king toward open conflict with Eddis.
    “What’s keeping you busy in Sounis that you think you won’t be back soon to ogle my queen?” Eugenides asked.
    The magus had been prepared for apathy but not for ignorance.
    “Sounis will declare war on Eddis by summer,” he said.
    Eugenides stared.
    “Maybe you also don’t know that your country has been at war with Attolia since the fall?”
    “That’s not possible,” said Eugenides flatly. “Why would we go to war with Attolia?”
    The magus pointed one finger at Eugenides’s right arm.
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” Eugenides snapped, and got out of bed. He pulled his robe from his wardrobe and threw it around his shoulders. “If this is your idea of a joke, I will kill you,” he snarled.
    “You were returned to Eddis with the understanding that the waters of the Aracthus would be restored. Didyou know that?” the magus asked calmly.
    Eugenides sighed and dragged his desk chair around to sit facing the magus. “Yes,” he said, and waited for the magus to continue.
    “Your queen agreed to open the sluice gates on the reservoir above the Aracthus. She simultaneously ordered confiscated the property of the next ten Attolian caravans through the pass. Attolia protested. Eddis described them as reparations. Attolia called it an act of war and demanded the contents of the caravans be returned. Eddis suggested arbitration by the Court of the Ten Nations, but Attolia refused. She sent an ultimatum that Eddis return the caravans or consider herself at war.”
    Eugenides waited.
    The magus sat back in his chair and