“Then you won’t mind my saying, frankly, the inhabitants of the Court of Sirena are known to be rather, let’s just say, well...” Hefeigned reluctance.“Simple.”He practically whispered it, as if he didn’t want to say it. Some of the Lambana courtiers stifled laughs.
So this was what they were talking about earlier. Amador had put him up to this. I decided to play innocent and almost bat my eyelashes a little bit. Fight fire with fire. “Oh? What do they mean by that?”
“You know,” he said, waving his hand around like he was trying to catch a word. He hesitated before speaking. “Rustic. Provincial.”
“Ignorant,” Amador happily chimed in. “Some would even say dirty. Or, you know,fishy.” She smiled as if she had made a clever pun.
“Oh, I see, is that because my people came from the sea?” I exclaimed, as if they’d enlightened me. “But I suppose that’s better than, say, what the Court of Sigbin is known for?”
“And what would that be?” Amador sneered.
“Chaotic, disorderly, arrogant, spoiled, and useless?” I smiled and let my words hang in the air.
I felt triumphant, but Elias’s eyes were wide with horror. Some of the courtiers were scowling.
Amador’s lips pursed, and her eyes narrowed. “In any case,” she said, quickly changing the subject, “we’ve come to discuss the relationship between our two courts, haven’t we?”
“That’s my understanding,” I answered.
She went right in. “As you must know by now, there was a treaty signed by our ancestors many years ago, uniting the kingdoms and vesting the leadership in the Court of Sirena. However, I’m sure you’ll agree that the terms of that treaty have become untenable. In fact, I’ve been told that you only fulfilled theagreement under great duress. And there’s no reason for you to suffer if we all want the same thing.” She smiled widely at me.
“And what is that, Duchess? That we all want, I mean,” I asked her.
“Please, call me Amador.” She flashed me another empty smile, then leaned forward a little bit and lowered her voice, as if we were having a private tête-à-tête. “You’re not equipped for this, Princess. It’s so obvious. And you shouldn’t have to be. No one should be forced to do something they don’t want to do.” She glanced around and lowered her voice even more. “If we nullify the old agreement, you can have your life back. I understand you left your mother behind. I’m sure you miss her. Biringan will still be safe. Everything is solved.”
“And then what?” I asked her, not bothering to be quiet. “Who would take my place?”
“As princess of the Court of Sirena, or—”
“As the heir to the throne of all of Biringan,” I corrected her. I didn’t appreciate being manipulated or treated like I was clueless. Even if she was right about how I hadn’t wanted to come there, she was wrong if she thought I was going to let her call the shots and boss me around.
“Oh, that won’t be a problem,” she assured me. “There’s always someone ready to take it on.”
“And I suppose you intend that person to be you and your insurgents?”
The courtiers in the room gasped in shock. Elias was glaring at me. Warning me. He was suspicious of the Court of Sigbin, but as he explained, not enough to warrant any official accusation.
“Are you accusing us of treason?” Amador said with steel in her voice.
I had to back down. Or else I was in danger of openly declaring war. “You said it, not me,” I said sweetly.
She shrugged slowly, as if she was just now considering it. “Of course not. We are loyal to the Court of Sirena, as we always have been. I was only saying that if you chose to vacate your position, someone else could fill it.”
“You, I assume.”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not. All depends on how it shakes out.” She flashed me yet another broad, phony smile.
“I’ll take it under consideration,” I told her. That was diplomatic, right? “In the meantime, I intend to do what my father wanted of me. After all, we don’t have the luxury of playing games, Amador.”Cut off the discussion while you’re ahead.“If there’s nothing else...”
Amador and Lucas looked stunned at my dismissal. At least they knew how to take a hint. “Well, then,” she said, the indignation rising in her tone. “I understand you’re in a strange place without the first clue about how anything works or who you are dealing with, so we’ll leave you to get some rest. For now. Youclearlyneed it.” She stood up and pulled her skirts around her to straighten them out. Lucas stood as well next to her. I smiled up at them with my hands clasped on the table.
“I look forward to seeing you at the council meeting,” she said before twirling around and heading for the exit, Lucas at her heels, just as Nix had drawn the first day. As she reached the door, she added, “I suggest you come prepared.”
11
“Oh! good morning,Your Highness.” Jinky curtsied and placed the breakfast tray on the bedside table. “You’re already awake.” She handed me my cup of champorado.
“Thank you,” I said, taking the chocolate rice porridge from her. “Yes, I’m really looking forward to formally meeting the council.” More like, I was energized by rage at everything that happened the day before. In fact, it kept me up half the night, tossing and turning, various plans running through my head. I was also nervous. I tried to tamp down the flutters in my stomach.Reveal no weakness,I reminded myself. No time for that. I was on a mission. I wasn’t going to have another disaster like that one. I wasn’t going to be dressed like a katipunero this time.
