I look back down to the hands in my lap, but soon, his voice filters over.
“My my, I didn’t realize our daughter would be the only queen in attendance tonight.”
“Oh, stop,” Fektir’s wife says.
That makes my head snap up.
The lord is grinning with a feral look in his eye—the look of triumph. The curve of his lips tells the tale of a man who got his way.
And what did he want?
One of his daughters to marry into royalty.
The night in the library returns to me.
Rholker had threatened me, yes. But perhaps telling me I would be his comfort woman was also his sick way of assuring me of my continued presence in his life after he was married.
It makes sense why he hadn’t come to me in a few days. He was wrangling his bride.
Which is why… tonight…
I staunch the panic, trying to claw its way out of my body by taking several deep breaths. The music clashes with voices, but there is a gaping silence in my heart. There is no mating song. I am totally alone.
My mother was right—there would be no way to kill Rholker tonight unless I went to his room. And even then…
I think of my promise to the girls and ball my fists.
The will of the many over revenge.
I will kill him later with Teo at my side.
Right then, King Arion of the elves makes an entrance, still without a queen and ignores me entirely. I see his people takeup several rows, in addition to the swamp ogres lining the walls without a proper place to sit.
The Six are not in attendance, which is strange since I know they are still in Zlosa. Perhaps they will be at the feast.
When the song changes, everyone goes quiet and stands.
I keep my head bowed, not wanting to give Rholker the satisfaction of seeing me stare at him as he struts down the aisle. It isn’t until he ascends to the throne that I see he is not alone—a second pair of feet is at his side. There is no throne for her so she stays standing at the bottom of the steps. A priest of Khuohr, the giant god of war, comes over, and only then do I look up.
Rholker is dressed from head to toe in white while his bride wears blood red that matches the makeup over her eyes. Gold and silver are decoratively stitched over his battle garb, and he carries a large ax. His hair is neat, but every visible tattoo has been darkened, in addition to a new tattoo on each of his hands.
Giantese is shouted throughout the space, echoing off the walls and emboldening the giants to shout terrible war cries as drums beat to the rhythm of my pulse. I understand enough to make out the bloody promises. Time drags on as the priest holds up a crown and speaks bloody blessings upon Rholker’s head.
It isn’t until the crown is placed firmly on Rholker’s brow that the giant men in the audience stand and retrieve shields from under their seats. They beat them in time with the drums as the priest’s attention turns to Lord Fektir’s daughter.
I remember her sniveling next to the throne, and now she stands there, sneering at me as if I were a smudge on her perfect silk dress.
“Lady Aska, bow to your husband, High King Rholker, and rejoice in your secured queenhood. May you produce heirs quickly!” the old giant calls out, in the common tongue, supposedly for the comfort of the invited guests.
She nods graciously as she falls to her knees, the first to bow to her husband.
Rholker leans down to take her hand and pull her up, then a circlet is placed on her head. It’s nothing in comparison to the diamond jewels embedded in his crown.
The coronation is finished just as soon as it started, and it takes little time for the new royalty to exit the throne room, hand in hand.
When I look at Fektir again, he grins at me like a champion. I don’t know exactly what he thinks he’s won. If it’s Rholker, I would’ve given him gladly. If he thinks it’s victory over the Enduares, then he is the greatest fool of them all.
I let go of the hold on the lyre string of my magic, and it stretches out, expanding further than it ever has while the gem in my chest starts to shine. I imagine myself a burning star in the sky, my power mixing with Teo’s to entomb him in a casket of lava. The cushion under my feet starts to smoke under the heat of my body.
