The Oracle Queen

Check out our episode here! (Or watch it FREE on our Patreon!)

The Oracle Queen by Kendare Blake

Eldest triplet queen Mirabella sits having her hair braided by Midwife Willa as her two younger, but not by much, sisters, Arsinoe and Katharine, chase each other around, playing and getting dirty, as most five-year-olds are wont to do. Willa taught them a song earlier in the day that the two playing sisters are chanting about the last Oracle Queen, Elsabet, who went mad and killed three entire houses of people. She was locked away in a tower for twenty years, but Mirabella wonders how true the song is.

Some 500 years previously, the Black Council waits for Oracle Queen Elsabet to arrive. War-gifted Sonia Beaulin, Elemental Catherine Howe, sight-gifted Gilbert Lermont and Poisoner Francesca Arron, the Black Council, wait impatiently for their queen, but she is still getting settled in her role, though, after three years, shouldn't she be settled? Francesca thinks so, and she also thinks she should have been named as head of the Black Council already. Finally, the Queen arrives with her Commander of Queensguard, war-gifted Rosamund Antere, and her ungifted but favorite maid, Bess, at her side. The queen begins hearing what her people have to say until she begins to cough, and Francesca has to hide her smile.

Later, in the garden, Elsabet plays cards with Bess and Gilbert, her foster brother, with Rosamund nearby. Bess gives Elsabet some tonic for her illness but she does not want to take it as it is very bitter and she's not ill, she just has a headache and a slight cough. Bess and Gilbert both want to keep her safe, so she drinks the medicine. Soon, Elsabet’s king-consort William  arrives. She gets all swoony because he's so handsome and flirtatious, but her mood sours as he leaves shortly after delivering flowers to her because he immediately starts flirting with another girl. Boys will be boys though, apparently, and soon enough, Elsabet's friends distract her with talk of the Volroy, the queen’s great fortress, that has been in construction through several Queens now. She knows it will be completed during her reign, though, because that's how she saw herself as Queen. She declares that her time as Queen will be peaceful, because the island of Fennbirn deserves it.

Francesca watches Queen Elsabet playing a game with ambassadors from Valostra, one of the mainland countries, and worries about the state of her clothes, her dress slightly hiked up to better play the game, knowing that the Valostrans will gossip about the Queen and potentially bring war to their shores. Sonia expresses doubt because surely the sight-gifted Queen would see an impending war. Francesca isn't so sure. She knows the Queen's gift is waning. Sonia questions what they, as her advisers, should do, especially when she rarely takes their advice. She reminds Francesca that Catherine said to let her settle in more, but Francesca scoffs because Catherine and Rosamund have always been smitten with the Queen. Just saying that makes Sonia upset, as Rosamund is her rival. 

That night, the Queen laments because Willam, her king-consort, does not come to see her, and doesn't come to see her as often as he once did. Instead, he flirts with people all over the place, but again, boys will be boys. Soon there's a knock at the door and Elsabet’s heart quickens, but it's just Gilbert with more tonic. Elsabet is restless that night and stares out the window for a while. What is she expecting? A vision from the Goddess? When she finally sleeps, she dreams of a handsome, common young man with paint on his fingers who does nothing more than say her name.

The next day, Elsabet cannot focus on her council meeting because William is brazenly flirting with a young lady, laughing with her and twirling her hair around his finger. She finally snaps, asking what's so funny, and then abruptly ends the meeting and asks for a horse so she can leave for the market, Bess and Rosamund at her side. When she is gone, Sonia seems shocked at the Queen's outburst and Francesca sees to it that the young woman is banished from court for a season. 

At the market, after some comments about Rosamund and Sonia always being at odds and threats to beat William, Elsabet tells her friends she is afraid her gift is waning. They don't think so, surely it's just that it is not needed now that she is Queen. Later that night, William sulkily comes to her and gaslights her into forgiving him. Rosamund should have been given leave to beat him. 

A little while later, the time for the Midsummer Festival nears. Elsabet wants to have the festival on the castle grounds, which isn't done, but she wants to do it anyway, to show the people that the unfinished fortress is slowly becoming finished. Of course this bothers Francesca and Sonia. Petitioners come to offer their services to the Queen for the festival and Francesca nearly sends one, a painter, away, but Elsabet agrees to sit for a new portrait painted by Jonathan Denton who appeared to her in her dream.

Jonathan sets to work and he and Elsabet chat. She learns that he is a poisoner, but obviously not from the Arron line. The Dentons are poisoners, too, but they are less well known. Jonathan asks about Elsabet knowing she would become queen with her gift and she says she saw herself wandering around the completed West Tower. Elsabet wants her painting to be joyful and Jonathan promises to make it seem that way. To ensure the painting's accuracy, Elsabet insists he attend the feast.

Francesca is greeted at her home by Gilbert who has come to retrieve more tonic for Queen Elsabet. Gilbert, though once Francesca’s lover, questions giving the tonic to his friend, but Francesca insists that dulling the Queen's gift is for her own good. It will teach her that she must rely on the Black Council, and herself in particular, but she doesn't say that part out loud, still angry that she has not been made leader of the council. After Gilbert leaves, William arrives. He is currently Francesca's lover, though she sends him out to flirt outrageously with everyone to distract the Queen so she doesn't pay attention to what the council is doing.

At the midsummer feast, Rosamund is bothered by a member of her Queensguard who is dozing instead of protecting her Queen, but Elsabet is less than concerned. Who would think to harm the Queen? William would, as he is currently in his cups, flouncing about with two women, one of whom nearly has a boob out. Bess again says not to think on it because boys will be boys, but seriously, come on. Elsabet is definitely bothered by his drunken display and Rosamund wants to stab him just a little, but Elsabet just loudly calls to him, letting him know that she's definitely been watching him, and makes him take over his king-consort duties for the feast. Then she spots Jonathan Denton and asks him to accompany her to her chamber. *wink*

Really Elsabet just wanted him to show her how he is progressing with her portrait, and now she feels bad about using him to get back at William, but what's done is done. They chat about her sight gift a little, about how she can see ghosts and where deaths have occurred in addition to seeing the future sometimes. She drinks from her tonic and grimaces, and Jonathan asks about it. The Dentons are poisoners, but they focus more on the healing side of it than the killing side, and so he is curious. He tries the tonic and is immediately worried about who gave it to her because he doesn't think it's helping her at all. He asks her to stop taking it and let him test it, and she agrees, but she does not think that Gilbert would harm her.

Later, Elsabet and Bess are out for a stroll and Elsabet asks about the rumors going around about her attitude with William and all his lovers. Obviously she knows that everyone is gossiping about her, but she's worried that people will think she's going mad. She instructs Bess and Rosamund to find out who William is sleeping with, and Bess suggests they ask Catherine to help them find that out because she has many spies in her employ. 

Jonathan has brought the painting to show Elsabet and she is very pleased with it. It's not quite finished yet as Jonathan wanted to know what she wanted to do with the unfinished fortress in the background, but she says they'll have plenty of time to figure that part out. He then asks her about her gift and if it is waning, sure that that's what the tonic is actually doing to her. She denies that she's losing her gift because she had the dream about Jonathan before they met, and again, surely, Gilbert would never harm her, especially her gift, since they share the same one.

Bess, Rosamund and Catherine meet at Rosamund’s family home to discuss what Catherine has learned from her spies, and it is not good. She has determined that William is sleeping with Francesca and that Francesca is using him to undermine the Queen and make her look unstable and frivolous. She and others on the Black Council are already upset that Queen Elsabet is doing things her own way instead of leaning so heavily upon the council, and now Francesca's using William to purposefully make matters worse. Rosamund plans to tell Elsabet and will arrest Francesca as soon as she is permitted to do so. 

Francesca meanwhile is lurking outside the Queen's chamber, waiting for Jonathan. As he leaves, she approaches him and taunts him about being the Queen's new pet, but he doesn't fall for it. He does get angry though. He says he thought that Francesca would appreciate the Queen taking interest in a Poisoner, but she laughs at him, thinking a Denton is any kind of Poisoner compared to an Arron. She also laughs about him seeking a spot on the Black Council, but obviously that's not what's really happening. He then mentions the tonic and that Elsabet now knows it is not for her health, thanks to him. As they part ways, Francesca wonders if Jonathan can be bought… or threatened. Francesca and Sonia meet later at an inn because Francesca is worried that the Queen will soon come to suspect them poisoning her and decides they must act quickly. They have to get ahead of what is about to happen and turn everything around. 

Later that night, Jonathan receives a knock at his door. It's Bess. She knows that things are about to go badly with Francesca, but instead of asking him to help or mentioning the other Poisoner by name just yet, she asks if he and Elsabet are lovers. No, but they are friends and he cares for her a great deal. He volunteers to help and tells her of the tonic and suspecting that Francesca is behind it. Bess wants to tell the Queen this right away and makes Jonathan stay behind, worried about them being seen together. He doesn't want her to go alone though, so follows behind a few minutes later.

When Bess leaves Jonathan's house, she is struck down by an arrow and killed. This is Sonia’s doing at Francesca's behest, but she meant to kill Jonathan, not Bess. Francesca uses this mistake to her advantage though. She starts whispering among the onlookers that, oh no! That is the Queen's maid! And she's leaving the Queen's lover’s house! How awful! The jealous and erratic Queen must have found out about their tryst and had her murdered! Gasp! Jonathan rushing up to Bess’s body, worried, makes the rumors even worse.

When Bess is brought to the Volroy, Elsabet tries to get healers to help, but it's to no avail. Rosamund, Jonathan and Gilbert are with her, but she sends Jonathan away in hopes of keeping him safe. She has realized that Bess was killed because whoever was responsible thought she was Jonathan. With him hopefully safe, Elsabet turns to Gilbert. Maybe if he hadn't been dulling her gift with his tonic, she would have known what was going to happen. He blames Francesca who made him do it and bought him his seat on the council with her poisons. Elsabet sends him away too, not knowing what to do with him yet. Now with only Rosamund left, the Queen sends her Commander to arrest Francesca for murder. 

Unfortunately Sonia steps in with the majority of Rosamund's Queensguard and instructs them to take the Queen away to the West Tower and lock her away. She and Francesca have turned nearly everyone against the Queen by suggesting that she had Bess killed for being found at Jonathan's house, and she had several entire houses killed as well. Here Sonia mentions that Catherine’s family house has “accidentally” burned down and then she says that Rosamund's family has already been dealt with. This was a mistake as now Rosamund has no reason to surrender. She and Sonia fight and Sonia is definitely the weaker of the two war-gifted fighters, but she is also so disgraceful and despicable that she makes the Queensguard join in. What was once a one on one battle became so many knives in Rosamund's back that she could no longer stand. 

When Jonathan reaches his home, he finds everyone inside already dead, his mother, his father and his sister. As he holds his sister's still warm body, he hears a sound behind him, which means the killers are still there, waiting. 

After a full day and night alone in the West Tower, Francesca visits Elsabet. Elsabet demands to be set free because she is the Queen, but Francesca has convinced everyone that Elsabet is mad and that she had Catherine, Rosamund and Jonathan's entire families killed without reason or investigation. Elsabet will never be released from the tower, for her own good as well as everyone else’s, but she will still get to see her king-consort of course, because she must be the one to bear the next set of triplet queens. She will get to see him when he isn't with Francesca, that is. 

Gilbert is furious with Francesca, Sonia and William after he learns about his friend, his foster sister, his Queen, being locked away in the tower. He tells them they won't get away with it, but they already have. Francesca has twisted everyone into thinking that the Queen went mad with revenge against Bess and Jonathan and so began to mistrust everyone and therefore had to have them all killed. She will remain in the tower because everyone still believes that the Queen’s role is sacred, so at least she will be kept alive and cared for, at least until the triplet queens are born. Gilbert questions Francesca, wondering if she poisoned him and his sight-gift just as she did the Queen's since he also did not see any of this happening, but no. She likes to think that the goddess made everything happen just as it was supposed to.