At the Queen's Summons by Susan Wiggs Read Free Book Online

his—” He cut himself off. “I have said too much already.”
    â€œWhy are you so loyal to the O Donoghue?”
    â€œHe gave me my freedom.”
    â€œHow was it his to give in the first place?”
    Iago grinned, his face blossoming like an exotic flower. “It was not. I was put on a ship for transport from San Juan—that is on an island far across the Ocean Sea—to England. I was to be a gift for a great noblewoman. My master wished to impress her.”
    â€œA gift?” Pippa was hard-pressed to sit still on her stool. “You mean like a drinking cup or a salt cellar or a pet ermine?”
    â€œYou have a blunt way of putting it, but yes. The ship wrecked off the coast of Ireland. I swam straightaway from my master even as he begged me to save him.”
    Pippa sat forward, amazed. “Did he die?”
    Iago nodded. “Drowned. I watched him. Does that shock you?”
    â€œYes! Was the water very cold?”
    His chest-deep chuckle filled the air. “Close to freezing. I dragged myself to an island—I later found out it is called Skellig Michael—and there I met a pilgrim in sackcloth and ashes, climbing the great stairs to the shrine.”
    â€œThe O Donoghue Mór in sackcloth and ashes?” In Pippa’s mind, Aidan would always be swathed in flashing jewel tones, his jet hair gleaming in the sun; he was no drab pilgrim, but a prince from a fairy story.
    â€œHe was not the O Donoghue Mór then. He helped me get dry and warm, and he became my first and only true friend.” Black fury shadowed Iago’s eyes. “When Aidan’s father saw me, he declared himself my master, tried to make me a slave again. And Aidan let him.”
    Pippa clutched the sides of the stool. “The jackdog! The bootlicker, the skainsmate—”
    â€œIt was a ruse. He claimed me on the grounds that he had found me. His father agreed, thinking it would enhance Aidan’s station to be the first Irishman to own a black slave.”
    â€œThe scullywarden!” she persisted. “The horse’s a—”
    â€œAnd then he set me free,” Iago said, laughing at her. “He had a priest called Revelin draw up a paper. That day Aidan promised to help me return to my home when we were both grown. In fact, he promised to come with me across the Ocean Sea.”
    â€œWhy would you want to go back to a land where you were a slave? And why would Aidan want to go with you?”
    â€œBecause I love the islands, and I no longer have a master. There was a girl called Serafina….” His voice trailed off, and he shook his head as if to cast away the thought. “Aidan wanted to come because he loves Ireland too muchto stay.” Iago fussed with more curls that tickled the nape of her neck.
    â€œIf he loves Ireland, why would he want to leave it?”
    â€œWhen you come to know him better, you will understand. Have you ever been forced to watch a loved one die?”
    She swallowed and nodded starkly, thinking of Mab. “I never felt so helpless in all my life.”
    â€œSo it is with Aidan and Ireland,” said Iago.
    â€œWhy is he here, in London?”
    â€œBecause the queen summoned him. Officially, he is here to sign treaties of surrender and regrant. He is styled Lord of Castleross. Unofficially, she is curious, I think, about Ross Castle. She wants to know why, after her interdict forbidding the construction of fortresses, it was completed.”
    The idea that her patron had the power to decide the fate of nations was almost too large for Pippa to grasp. “Is she very angry with him?” It even felt odd referring to Queen Elizabeth as “she,” for Her Majesty had always been, to Pippa and others like her, a remote idea, more of an institution like a cathedral than a flesh-and-blood woman.
    â€œShe has kept him waiting here for a fortnight.” Iago lifted her from the stool to the ground.