Moira’s body tensed, and I put my hand on the small of her back to calm her.
“Quiet,” Stephani hissed.
Bianca frowned and walked to a wardrobe, where she grabbed a handful of dresses. “Well, it’s true. She looks at us like we’re disgusting and I’m tired of it.”
Moving toward Stephani, Bianca’s mouth twisted into an evil grin, her gaze widening until all the white around her irises showed. “We should stay. The king needs his medicine,after all. How much longer could it be, until he seeks our remedies.”
“We could taunt her into a mistake,” Noella whispered, eyeing her sister. “It wouldn’t take much for Kyros to plunge the dagger in her heart himself.
“And we can be the victims of her wrathful insanity.” Bianca giggled.
The queen trembled and fell back into me. I wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her on her feet.
Stephani stood. “One more word out of either of you andI’llslit your throat. We are close. I won’t have your ravings ruin it.”
Bianca gasped.
“You worry too much,” Noelle whispered. “Everything is as it should be. However, we have worn out our welcome with the queen. I don’t feel safe here anymore. We’ve done what we can. Let’s move on.”
“Relax, my sisters,” Stephani reached out to Bianca, who took her hand. “The king will return, and all will be well. I promise you. He cannot live without us. We’ve made sure of that. Without our potions, his dragon sickness will get worse. He needs us more than anyone else, especially his mongrel of a matriarch.”
The three started laughing, a creepy, unsettling sound.
Before we were noticed, I dragged the queen away from the cavity in the wall and back toward her chambers. Only when we were far enough where she wouldn’t be heard did I release her.
She stumbled on to the steps. Her crown clinked to the ground and she paid no attention to it, letting the jeweled piece fall onto the dusty floor.
“Your majesty!” I held her waist, helping her to sit.
Tears streaked her face, and she shivered. “I’m a fool.”
“Don’t say that,” I said, sitting beside her.
“It’s true. Oh, no. How could I have not seen it?” She held her hands to her mouth, sobbing. “Sorcha, Catriona, and Laoise are not his daughters. He owes them nothing. All I had was his promise to love and protect them and I was foolish to believe he would keep it.”
Duty would force me to stay my hand, but I refused the order and gathered the queen in my arms. I breathed her in and rubbed her back as she sobbed against me. She grabbed the front of my shirt, her fingers digging into the thin golden chain-mail. I’d let her cry and release the anguish as long as possible.
Moments passed, the queen’s cries slowly subduing until they turned into sniffles.
“Your majesty.”
She didn’t respond.
I said it softer. “Your majesty.”
Again, she ignored me, refusing to move from this spot.
“Moira.”
At the mention of her name, she pulled back and gazed up at me, her silver eyes red-rimmed from crying. She placed her hands on my cheeks, freezing me solid. “He’s a murderer and we must stop him.”
“He would not kill his own son. I spoke to the death priest. The princess choked.”
“Choked? Have you gone mad? She was not an idiot. Those witches have poisoned the king. A dragon is never meant to live in human form as long as he has. He is a toxin that must be purged from my home.” Her breathing hitched as she gripped my face tighter, forcing me closer to her face. She had never been this brazen and her touch sent my thoughts into dangerous territory. “Help me.”
“Help you do what?”
“Kill the king.”
