Despite my protests, he was stony-faced. “I have my queen and my heirs on the throne. Without a suitor to appease Anwen’s court, we’ll have to send Nisien early to keep the peace. He’ll stay here with you until I return—if it comes to it.”
I nodded, trying to hide the fact that he wouldn’t be going alone, but also feeling guilty for what might’ve befallen Owain.
Fast as lightning, Emrys seized my quill, startling another squeak out of me. I loved every moment of this fresh, playful side of him. He began writing with resolute strokes. Standing to lean over him, I watched my penmanship give way to the bold strokes of his hand.
If that is cause for celebration among your ranks, temper it with this: Your gamble ends here.
The child you tried to commission is not an asset. They are ours—ours to love, ours to protect.
I am no longer your weapon. Isca, no longer your pawn.
She is my queen.
You will not touch her. You will not look toward her. You will not as much as breathe in the direction of Darreth’s walls. Your people are no longer welcome in my kingdom.
Send armies or send apologies as you wish. I will meet them all. Should you seek to claim anything that belongs to me, you will see what loss feels like.
You thought to control me through fear. But you forgot that fear is a chain, and I have broken every single shackle placed upon me.
Do not test me again, or it will be your final move in our little game.
By my own hand,
Emrys, King of Darreth, Stormdân in my own right
His signature was the final, decisive flourish.
Hand outstretched, I waited for him to return the quill. Emrys conceded but curled my fingers around it instead of letting go. Still holding me there, he pulled me into an embrace. Wrapped up in his wild scent of leather and smoke, I kissed my king, my cheeks still flushed from the joy of tonight’s pregnancy announcement.
“Your turn,” he whispered as he let go, kissing me one more time on the forehead.
I added my name to the bottom, signing it with my title—no longer borrowed.
Isca, Queen of Darreth
And happiest woman in all of Avanfell.
But the Assembly was not an enemy to be cowed with one letter, no matter how pointed the threat. They’d been playing their game for generations. And we’d just given them a new reason to move their pieces.
The End
