Phillipa pitched her head up.
“Phillipa Hytooth!” Bryn repeated. “I have decided on my succession! Effective immediately, you will take over as queen of the Wollin, as I am abdicating my throne right now. Those here shall serve as witnesses!”
Phillipa blinked up in shock. “Aunt . . .”
“Sign the damn scroll!” Bryn shouted. “Marthin is incapacitated, which means the queen may sign in his stead. As serving queen,youcan sign!”
Phillipa still appeared confused, but Declan grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. “Do it, Phillipa.” His eyes went to King Salvator, who was already stalking forward to stop them. “I’ll cover you.”
Rangar smashed his sword hilt into Baron Marmose’s face, then strode across the room, taking the scroll from where Queen Karin held it out to him. Rangar set the scroll down on the table, then thrust the quill at Phillipa.
Phillipa’s shock quickly gave way to determination. She grabbed the quill and poised it over the scroll, then stopped. “There’s no ink—it all spilled out.”
Growling, Rangar sliced his blade over his arm and offered her his blood. To her credit, Phillipa didn’t balk as she dipped the quill in Rangar’s blood and signed her name to the scroll.
“There,” Bryn said, breathless, as she looked down over the wrecked library. “It’s done!”
The royals on the far side of the library paused their fighting with mixed looks of incredulity and outrage on their faces.
“Magic shall prevail throughout the Eyrie!” Bryn announced from the balcony. “For too long, magic has been seen as a sin while secretly being used among the ruling class. But for the Eyrie to thrive, we must empower all our people—not just the elite few in this room. Yes, magic can be a tool of destruction, but it also has the power to heal. We must not fear it but embrace it.” She took a deep breath before finishing. “The wolves among us shall prevail no longer!”
She gazed down upon the battle that they had won. The Viklund family had cornered King Angus of Dresel with the help of his wife, Hanna. Prince Anter and King Otto had captured King Cedric and Queen Yves of Ruma. And Mars had managed to get a blade to the neck of King Salvator, while Illiana—with her one good wrist—was poised to cast the sleeping spell at High Priest Felisian Red should he try to attack.
We prevailed, Bryn thought with a fierce flush of pride.And so did the way of magic.Her eyes fell on Rangar. Blood streaked his arm, soot smeared his face, and his hair tangled over his scars. Her heart swelled with pride that he had never once doubted them.
But then Rangar’s brows narrowed. He glanced back at where Baron Marmose’s body had fallen . . .
Only to find no body.
At the same time, Bryn felt a shadow creep up behind her.
In a flash, she realized what had happened. During her speech, Baron Marmose had climbed up the library balcony and used the bookshelves as cover to make his way to where Bryn stood.
“My queen!” Rangar yelled.
Baron Marmose descended upon Bryn with outstretched arms to push her off the balcony.
Chapter 40
ROYAL SOULS . . . death to the traitor . . . a grieving family . . . helpful memories . . . a borrowed body
Everything happened so fast that Bryn’s mind briefly traveled to another place. For a moment, her spirit and Queen Amelia’s were one. She glimpsed all of Amelia’s memories, knew everything the old queen knew. Amelia’s spirit flashed a single memory into Bryn’s mind:
Queen Amelia, barely older than Bryn was now, standing here on the library balcony, yet it was only half-finished. Workmen were installing the railing. They left a portion hinged in the event they ever needed to haul up furniture or large shipments of books, but cleverly disguised the latch so no one would accidentally unlock it.
Now, Bryn gazed down at the small divot in the otherwise smooth railing. Just as Baron Marmose’s hands closed in on her, her thumb felt for the hidden catch and flipped it.
Hold on, for the gods’ sakes!Queen Amelia’s voice rang in her mind.
Bryn curled the old queen’s wiry hands around the railing as the hinged portion suddenly swung open. She gasped as her feet left the balcony, and then suddenly, she was swinging out into nothing, dangling by her arms.
Baron Marmose didn’t have time to slow his momentum. The shock of the suddenly open section of railing made his face contort, but it was too late. He plunged through, falling past Bryn with a cry on his lips. Hurtling downward head-first, there was a terriblethudas he collided with the table below. Queen Hanna screamed. The baron gave a weak groan, filled with pain.
Out of the corner of Bryn’s eye, as she clutched the railing with all her might, Bryn saw Rangar swiftly draw his sword.
“He tried to kill Queen Amelia,” Rangar announced. “We all witnessed it! The sentence for that is death.”
Rangar brought down the point of his sword into the center of Marmose’s back, hard enough to lodge the blade into the table beneath him. With a strangled cry, the baron slumped lifelessly.
