My uncle gave me a tight smile before pulling the chair out for Katrinka and gesturing for her to sit. Her shoulders lifted in a slight shrug as though she were sighing resignedly. But her irritation only lasted a second before she plastered on a placid look and sat down next to me. Tyrn disappeared, and then it was just the two of us.
“I’ve missed you,” I told her immediately, unable to hold back my true feelings. “By the Light, Katrinka, how I’ve missed you.”
She did not fully look at me. Instead, her eyes stayed trained on the place setting in front of her, and she accepted my declaration with a curt nod. “I’m sure, much like myself, you believed you lost your whole family.”
Finally, common ground. I reached forward and grasped her hand with mine, squeezing it tightly. “Yes, exactly. I... I have mourned you for so long. When I was told that you were still alive, I—” My words broke off as tears choked me. But this was a formal affair, and I desperately tried to prove myself in court. I would not let them fall here. Composing myself once again, I whispered, “I was overwhelmed with joy. After being separated from my family for so long, I am happy you are here.”
She nodded again and pushed her spectacles up her nose. Her gown was much simpler than mine, in the Barstus fashion—which was all practicality and simple styles in utilitarian colors. Black. Dark blues. Simple grays. Tonight, she wore a dove dress that reminded me of the Temple and what the monks had worn. Still, she shined. Her face was the face I remembered. And even though this reuniting was as awkward as possible, she was my sister. The stilted way we spoke to each other would not last.
Could not last.
“Do you—” I began, but she turned away from me and spoke to the person on the other side of her. Someone from Barstus, but I knew not who.
Caspian made an amused sound to my left. My better judgment told me not to turn toward him. Not to engage. Not to give him the satisfaction. But the wounded heart from Katrinka’s small slight, couldn’t help but ask, “What?”
“I should thank you,” he said, all smug tones and arrogant lilts.
“For what?”
“I’ve always wondered if Carrigan and I could grow colder toward each other. Didn’t think it was possible. Yet your relationship with your sister has revealed how warm and heartfelt my relationship with my brother is. Last month, when he tried to have me poisoned, it was friendly banter compared to what I just witnessed.”
I blinked at him. “Did he really try to have you poisoned?”
“Not with anything serious.” He leaned forward, shifting the conversation back to me. “I’ve heard rumors about the poison masters in Barstus, though. They’re said to be the best in the realm. Take it from me, don’t accept drink offers from scantily-clad women who spend their time in dark corners.”
I should have been able to compose myself better, but his words were so shocking. All of his words were so shocking. “I-I-I—”
Tyrn stood and clapped his hands together, saving me from a too-innocent response. No, not innocent...prudish. I turned away and hid my crimson cheeks from Caspian. But as I gave my uncle my attention, I felt my sister’s eyes fixed on me, studying me.
I dropped my gaze to hers, and she quickly looked away.
“Your presence here,” Tyrn began, saving me from awkward encounters on either side, “means a great deal. After a long sabbatical of... celebration, we’ve gathered to revel in the return of not just one but both of my nieces. Saved from obscurity and...” Tyrn’s placid gaze moved to Katrinka and then to me as he struggled to find the word he was looking for. His eyes were glossy for some reason. Maybe it was tears that made them shine like glass, but something was too far off in his stare for it to be confused with emotion. “Obstruction,” he finally finished. “They are here now, in the palace of their birth. One of them was poised to take the Crown of Nine and sit on her father’s throne. We are so...”—his dead tone dragged the wordsoout for longer than was polite—“lucky.” He cleared his throat and added. “The Light be praised.”
“The Light be praised,” was echoed around the room.
I glanced at Katrinka to see if she noticed how strange Tyrn’s address had been and found her clutching the tablecloth in her lap, her knuckles white with strain.
Tyrn raised his wine goblet and clinked it with his fork. “To our future queen,” he said with a grin. “Long may she reign.”
The room rumbled with shouts of, “Hear, hear!” Some of the monarchs even echoed Tyrn’s sentiment. But enough of them sat still, staring at me over untouched wine. I knew not everyone felt Tyrn’s sudden arousal to loyalty.
I looked around the room, desperate to catch Taelon’s eyes and have at least one faithful ally in the room. Instead, my gaze caught on Ravanna Presydia’s cold glare. She wasn’t even sitting at the table with the rest of the party. Instead, she stood in the corner of the room, wedged between servants, a wide grin pulling her crimson lips upward.
With my attention on her, she dipped her chin, acknowledging me. Then I silently clapped for what I could only assume was my future success.
I wished I could take her dramatics as a sign of concession. That whatever rivalry had been between us before had been put away forever. She might not like me, but I would one day be her queen. There wasn’t much she could do about it now.
But I knew better than that. Ravanna almost had the Seat of Power. If I hadn’t shown up when I did, she would be the future queen of the realm.
Anyone who had met her knew she wasn’t the kind of person to back down easily. Or gently.
Whatever this was between us was only just beginning.
Tyrn sat down, and the servants moved at once to the edges of the table where they began to serve the second course—a nest of brittle noodles with a golden selkit’s egg resting in the middle. When one cracked the gilded shell with the side of a spoon, the egg split open, spilling a runny yoke made red with spice. It was quite the culinary feat, and I knew Oliver would be thrilled with it.
Next to me, Katrinka made a surprised sound at the way her shell split open and then dissolved quickly into the noodles, making them instantly soft and edible.
Turning to her, I couldn’t help but smile. “Amazing, isn’t it?”
