Maid of Secrets by Jennifer McGowan Read Free Book Online Page B

alone. A secret order. And one only you can complete.”
    Yes. My nerves tightened in anticipation, but I kept my voice steady. “Yes, ma’am,” I said.
    The Queen raised one of her hands to fuss delicately with her crown, and finally, I understood. She was hiding her mouth, ensuring that her words could not be deciphered by prying eyes.
    “Look down at your hands,” she directed, and then continued once I did. “You have noticed, without question, the distractions of the court these past months,” she said. “The outbursts among the courtiers over some secret revealed or another, the petty thievery, and all of that.”
    I nodded, biting my lip. In truth, it had been great fun to witness the frequent disruptions, to realize the court was not just made up of perfect little puppets. And if I’d contributed to a few baubles being temporarily misplaced, well . . .
    The Queen’s next words caught me up short. “The Crown is under siege, Meg. From those who wish to see me fail.”
    I froze, still staring at my hands. “Your Grace?”
    “These disturbances to the court began when I formally rejected King Philip’s marriage proposal, and not a moment before.” She paused, pursing her lips, and I attempted a sage nod. I knew the history well enough by now.
    King Philip of Spain had been married to Elizabeth’s half sister Mary, the former Queen of England. The two women had not been friends. For one, Elizabeth was Protestant, and Mary had been Catholic. For another, their father, King Henry VIII, had divorced Mary’s mother so he could wed Elizabeth’s mother. The fact that Henry had gone on to behead Elizabeth’s mother, so he could marry his third wife, hadn’t seemed to mollify anyone.
    But the third and perhaps most damning reason for the two royal sisters’ enmity was this: The devoutly Catholic Queen Mary had been very ill. She’d feared she would die before having the one thing that could keep the Protestant Elizabeth off the throne forever—a baby. All of the Catholics in Christendom had prayed for Mary to conceive, but it was not to be. Queen Mary had died childless, leaving the throne to Elizabeth.
    The staunchly Catholic King Philip had immediately proposed marriage to the new Queen, which had made perfect sense to everyone . . . except the new Queen. Instead, Elizabeth had ascended to the throne alone, had declared Protestantism the official religion of the land, and had dashed the hopes of Catholics everywhere.
    “First the disturbances were benign enough,” the Queen now said bitterly. “The ladies’ sodden gowns, the accursed rats. Soured milk in the evening’s ale. But it has gotten so much worse. Royal missives finding their way into the wrong hands. Brutal attacks on members of the court. The burning of Protestant vestments in the Lower Ward. It is not to be borne.”
    I looked up sharply. “Brutal attacks?”
    The Queen ignored me, her words dry and stony. “If I were a young and callow girl, I might think that I could not manage my own court. That I have need of a husband to help me rule. Such a course would be the safer choice, I am told; such a course would please the people.”
    She turned to me then, her eyes a hard green jade. “However, I am neither young nor callow, and the people need only a strong monarch to rule them, not a male one. And I need no one but myself to rule.”
    “Of course you don’t,” I breathed. I may as well have not been there, for all the notice she paid to my defense of her Queenship.
    “As an actress, you are a trained deceiver,” she stated instead.
    This was starting to not sound very good. “That is correct, ma’am.”
    “And you can discern the lie on another’s lips, I wager?”
    I began to find my own fingers fascinating again. “Yes, ma’am.”
    “And you have no fast friends among the court.”
    I winced. “No, ma’am.” My fellow maids were not my enemies. But no one could truly call them my friends.
    “I thought not. Starting