“Those of you who are too good to lift a sword and fight, despite having powerful magic, will find that Atheria will not be welcoming of you once we win.”
“You can’t threaten us.” Another noble standing beside the first leered.
“I am your queen,” I said.
“You haven’t been crowned,” someone else shouted.
Tommy shoved forward. “Mathias,” he yelled. “You’ve been a coward since childhood, and that’s the crown you’re speaking to. You can show some respect, or I’ll let your wife know about the women you meet in my pub every Friday night when you tell her you’re working at the palace.” A grin spread over Tommy’s face as the noble went ghastly white. “Oops.”
He stammered, his nose wrinkling as his face reddened in unmitigated rage.
“Illiana is our queen,” a voice from the lesser Fae section sounded. “The rightful queen. Speaking against her is treason, especially when she’s saved us from Andras and the likes of the dark ones.”
“Once we win, if you wish to put forth the name of a new queen, we can discuss it,” I gave a small nod to the Fae who’d spoken on my behalf. “But right now, this is my blood right. I am the heir, and I will not let this kingdom fall.”
A noblewoman shoved forward, moving to the front of the nobles. “Do not think they speak for all of us,” she shouted, but blinked rapidly as if remembering herself when we made eye contact. She curtseyed. “I apologize, Your Majesty.” She paused before looking up at me again, worrying her lip between her teeth as if hoping she hadn’t overstepped.
“Keena,” a deep, powerful voice shouted, and the woman fell backward, yanked from behind. “What do you think you’re doing?”
She tugged her arm free. “I am doing what is right. You hoard your powers like you matter, yet you do nothing when it counts. I watched friends disappear to the darkness for years and you turned a blind eye every time.”
“They weren’t friends, they were lessers,” the man seethed in her face.
She raised her hand as if she wanted to smack him, but was stopped by another, lunging to grab her wrist. “Enough, Keena! You’re embarrassing your family.”
“No, you’re the embarrassment,” she shouted. The two men hung onto her arms, but she turned to look at me anyway. “There are those of us who would fight alongside of you, Your Majesty. Do not let these cowards speak for all of us in the upper districts simply because they’re the loudest.”
Her eyes flittered between my friends and then Storm stalked forward, wrapping a hand around Keena’s waist,removing the others from her. He positioned her behind him. “What kind of men belittle a woman speaking to her queen? Or lay hands on someone answering a call to protect our world?”
He backed up, glancing once at Keena before giving her space to stand on her own again. He didn’t move farther than arm's reach from her.
She raised her chin. “Frankie.” She looked at a noble standing closer to the lesser Fae than the others. “We’ve spoken about this. Marc, you too. Gloria.” One by one she called out various names and they stepped toward her. “We have wanted to make a difference for our friends, our people. If we don’t use the gifts given to us by nature, there may not be an Ellevail to save. An Atheria—” She looked to me and I nodded. I was sure saying a new name was strange. “An Atheria to save,” she said confidently.
“Listen to Keena,” I pleaded. “We can win this together. We can rise up as one and stand for good against an army, a tyrant who believes only in evil. If we don’t, we’ll lose everything.”
A few nobles stepped forward and bowed alongside Keena. The lesser Fae shouted, “We will fight!”
I looked out over the crowd. It may not be all the nobles, but it was a start. “We will work in the coming days to prepare for the battle ahead. If you need aid in this time, the palace doors are open. Any ofmyadvisors”—I swept a hand behind me at my friends, standing tall and proud—“ will assist how they can. In the meantime, thank you for believing in Brookmere. For believing in me. I will not let you down.”
I smiled, lowering my head slightly toward the crowd, and took a step back.
Voices sprang up again, discussions breaking out among others. I looked over at Keena and approached, noticing Stormstanding fairly close still. “It takes courage to speak against your family.” I smiled. “Especially publicly.”
“I’ve been speaking against my family for years.” She grinned. “This time, I just so happened to have a queen’s support.”
“I know you all may feel like you don’t have the fighting skills to?—”
Keena lunged sideways, sliding Storm’s sword out of its sheath at his side, holding it up in a ready position before extending her hand and blasting him with a gust of air. I gaped at her, and Storm flinched as his body shifted a few steps backward, his hair tugging from his loose bun. He stared wide-eyed at the blade, then the woman holding it, before cocking an eyebrow at her.
She shrugged. “We’ve practiced some for fun. I enjoy being underestimated.”
I laughed, unable to help myself. “I think we’ll get along well, Keena. If you need help with the nobles or obtaining weapons, let me know.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” She flipped the sword around, holding it by the blade with the hilt toward Storm. “Might want to be cautious of who you let touch that blade in the future.”
With that, she turned, leaving down a walkway toward the group that had stepped forward during her speech.
I looked at Storm, whose dark eyes trailed her, and shook my head. “Maybe you can train with Ian if your skills are so poor that a noble bested you.”
