“She lives,” Hunt said. His Acacian—with its clipped formality characteristic of the urban residents of Aos—contrasted with the coarse farm laborer’s garb he currently wore. He looked almost as out of place in it as King Grae and his brother. “That would be bad enough, but she now charms the people with her good works. The streets of Aos are a-buzz with it. When I sailed from Alyth a troupe of players was acting out her magical deeds. I believe they were paid by the city officials to do it, but, still, people were watching.”

“Street performers!” Lady Shenk complained. “They’re as fickle as the weather.”

“Yes, but they’ve voiced our message to the people more often than not,” Barad said. “Elaz, you were closest to the queen recently. Tell us what you observed.”

The former warehouse manager from Nesreh set down his spoon before he spoke. “I did as you asked, Barad. I joined the throng following the queen’s caravan. It was a small group at first, sycophants and beggars, but their numbers grew as tales of her deeds spread. She had made her way across northern Talay, and everywhere she went she left miracles in her wake. She made dry wells gush with water.”

“Through what trick?” Renold asked. He was a scholar newly defected from the academy at Bocoum.

“I know not. I have seen the water flowing in the Bocoum canals. It’s real water. Not a cloud in the sky. The air dry as a desert. And yet she filled them. The landowners were ecstatic. The peasants got drunk on the stuff, jumping and swimming the irrigation canals. I can’t explain it, but everything I’m describing I witnessed. If it wasn’t the queen’s work, I’d think it a great blessing to us all.”

“If it wasn’t the queen’s work, it would be a blessing,” Hunt said, “but we know she does nothing without her own purpose. To fatten a pig, a farmer will feed him well. The pig must think his life a paradise, never knowing he gorges himself so that he will be fatter for the knife later on.”

“You compare the queen to a pig farmer, then?” Ganet asked.

Hunt shrugged.

“Pig farmer or not,” Elaz continued, “she has worked miracles, without a doubt. Children come out to her caravan as it approaches new towns. Even old women with tear-filled eyes call out to her. I’ve seen this myself. Young girls from the villages threw wildflower petals at her feet. They’ve taken to calling her ‘Mother of Life.’”

“She made the title up herself!” Lady Shenk said. “She’s wily, Barad. I’m not sure that you’re a match for her after all.”

The large man furrowed his brow. “It is not a matter of my being a match for her. It’s the will of the people that must best her.”