Lenna’s legs felt like jelly as she began walking towards the throne, the implication that dragons dwelled below her not settling in the slightest. Merrick stayed at her side, one hand resting on the sword that he now wore at his side. His wings were tucked in tight, his posture rigid. She stopped as she neared the throne, in line with the first row of seats closest to the Regent. She could feel the eyes of the court upon her, but she did not dare look as she curtsied deep. Merrick, a step behind, bowed.
“Rise, Oracle,” Lord Magnamus ordered. “Tell us why you’ve come.”
Lenna craned her neck up to look at the Regent, and when he scowled, as if her presence irked him, her tongue became tied. She hadn’t planned what to say. Her heart hammered. “I–I came to retrieve the Prism, so that we can clear Keerian’s–um…SirKeerian’s name, and…and...bring the news to Queen Adara.” She trailed off, unsure what else to mention.
Lenna clasped her hands in front of her to try and alleviate their shaking. The Regent was far more intimidating up close. And she’d never been good at speaking in front of a crowd–even as Lady of Doortan. She always left the grand speeches to Leon. Had just stood to the side as the quiet wife. Now, here, before Lord Magnamus, she realized just how little she knew about politics. Her stomach sank.
Especially as Lord Magnamus leaned forward andlaughedat her.
“Queen Absolute Adara already knows everything about the situation between her traitorous sister andSir Keerian,” the Regent retorted mockingly. Around her, the court murmured, some chucking as the Regent had. “She would not deign to be questioned on this matter–least of all by an Oracle sountestedand from theSlate Kingdom.”
Lenna reared back, face paling. She had messed up. She’d messed thisall upso swiftly.
Laurent took a step towards Lenna, his hands still clasped behind his back, the symbol of fealty and subservience. But Lenna saw him rubbing the golden ring. “Your Highness, the laws of our lands state that the Prism of the Oracle can be claimed as any Oracle sees fit.” He spoke so confidently, so sure of himself. Lenna wished she had the same grace about her.
“And yet, we see many rules being rewritten these days,” Lord Magnamus crowed with a vicious grin, his too-sharp teeth glinting in the candlelight. He was playing with them, toying with them, before sending them out with nothing. “Her Majesty, Queen Absolute Adara, has closed the investigation into the tragic death of her parents–my brother, and his mate. To request the Prism, toquestionour good Queen’s judgement, is an affront to the crown of Irridessen.”
Laurent thinned his lips, though his demeanor stayed calm. “Lord Magnamus, we only request the Prism to clear the name of our commander, Sir Keerian–a loyal and brave soldier of the late King’s Guard. As Princess Esmeray is his mate, a death sentence for her would result in his death as well.”
Lord Magnamus cocked his head, weighing the words Laurent spoke. Merrick stayed silent but continued touching the ring on his finger. Lenna hoped whatever conversation was happening would work in their favor.
“If your commander aligned himself with the Queen of Nothing, then I hope he finds his peace in the afterlife,” the Regent stated simply, baring his teeth in a grin that did not warm his steel blueeyes. Lenna loosened a breath. She had failed her new friends. She failed them because she didn’t know the politics, the background, the centuries of history on a Kingdom she never knew existed until a few days ago.
Lenna opened her mouth to say something,anything, to fall to her knees and beg the Regent if she had to, when the doors of the throne room burst open with a now familiar flash of golden light.
Chapter twenty-two
Lenna
LennawhirledaroundasMerrick drew his sword and Laurent took up a defensive position between Lenna and Lord Magnamus. Guards standing at attention around the dais scrambled to formation around their Regent, weapons drawn.
Between the visions and the quick glimpse through the curtains in Spinella, Lenna had never fully set eyes on the exiled Princess. Until now.
Esmeray was the epitome of beauty and death. It took Lenna’s breath away and made her blood run cold.
The dubbedQueen of Nothingstrode down the aisle towards the dais. Her blue-black hair fell loosely to the middle of her back. Black wings, as dark as a moonless night, were open and out behind her, sporting deadly looking talons that curved slightly in at the apex. But it was her horns that made Lenna swallow, her throat suddenly bone dry. Thick onyx spirals, like a ram’s horns, curled from the front of her head to the backs of her pointed ears. Fear freezing her in place, Lenna couldn’t look away from the Princess. Esmeray’s pale face showcased the same sharp cheekbones as her uncle. But where his eyes were icy blue, hers wereglittering, serpentine green.
A long golden staff clacked loudly against the glass floor as Esmeray approached, fully ignoring the assembled court gathered. A few of the fae hissed as she drew near. One brave gargoyle spat, “Murdering whore,” as she passed. Esmeray ignored him.
She was dressed in similar leathers that Merrick wore, but hers were deep, bloody red and sleeveless, showing off her fully tattooed arm.
Where Merrick’s tattoos were five solid black bands around his forearm, Esmeray’s entire limb from her shoulder to the tips of her fingers was tattooed black. Esmeray stopped abruptly ten feet away from Merrick, nostrils flaring delicately. She arched one perfectly manicured eyebrow at the sight of Merrick’s sword.
Merrick snarled. Esmeray gave him a saccharine smile in return.
“Well,thisis no way to welcome your Queen,” she crooned, her wings folding in slightly as she tapped her staff against the glass again. “Uncle.” Esmeray’s gaze flicked from Merrick to the Regent, now standing before his throne, glaring at her. “Get out.”
“I will dono such thinginmyPalace,” Lord Magnamus growled. “You have no Queenship here. Guards, arrest this murdering traitor immediately by order of our Queen Absolute, Adara.”
“You forget,Uncle, that these males are not yours to command. My sister may call herselfQueen Absolute, but we all know who really rules these lands, do we not?” Esmeray murmured, ice and venom lacing her soft words, her eyes sweeping over the warriors that crept around her, swords drawn. A small group pressed closer to Lord Magnamus, their blades at the ready, even as their faces revealed hints of fear. Lenna wondered if Esmeray could sense their terror because she turned her attention to the soldiers surrounding the Regent. “Bow.”
One by one, they dropped to their knee, backs bent. Lenna covered her mouth against a gasp, realizing it was not sheer obediencethat put these males down. It was magic. Esmeray’s magic she wielded as half fae.
Esmeray’s glee was palpable as she turned to the Regent, who looked as if he would smite her himself. “You too,Regent,” she laughed, her green eyes pinning him in place as she tapped her golden staff once more. Lord Magnamus’s face twisted with rage as her magic forced him down. Until he too was kneeling before her.
As the Regent knelt, the warriors flanking Esmeray from all sides also collapsed to one knee. Lenna watched a gargoyle warrior attempt to push himself up with no success. Disgust and panic clouded his eyes as he screwed his face into a silent snarl of defiance.
“Good.” Esmeray smirked, nodded once, and the warriors and Regent regained control of their bodies, slumping forward before rightening, hastily getting to their feet. “Now that everyone here remembers what I can do–get out.” Esmeray’s sharp gaze landed on Lenna, and Lenna felt the blood rush out of her cheeks as she made eye contact with the fearsome Princess. “Except for you three,” Esmeray snapped at Laurent, Merrick, and Lenna, pointing her staff directly at Merrick’s chest. Merrick didn’t flinch, but Lenna noted the knuckles gripping the pommel of his sword whitened. “We have private matters to discuss.”
