33
Mariel
“Ican’t believe he would attack his own city.” Mariel’s brother stood beside her, staring out the windows at the burning city. She had yet to leave to join the battle. When she’d tried, the lords had blocked her way out and had refused to let anyone else in. Only Mavis had been given free rein to join her in her quarters.
They feared for their future queen’s life.
“I must say, I have misjudged him horribly,” Mariel muttered, swallowing down the bitter twang in her mouth. She thought of the letter, the one she’d allowed Lord Neil to burn. Thane had offered surrender, and yet she’d ignored it, certain he would never go so far as to kill his own people.
“You said you met him.”
“Aye.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “He seemed honorable and kind.”
“He fled the realm. He hid.”
“He was cowardly,” she replied. “That’s a far cry from what he is now.”
“We have to stop him,” Mavis said fiercely, pointing at the distant glow near the gates. “The entire city will burn down if this doesn’t end now.”
“How do we stop him, Mavis?” she asked, turning toward him. She stared up into her brother’s tense face. She thought of Drunkard’s Pit, of her old tavern she’d abandoned to come play at courtly life. And for what? To lose the entire city to an angry king who had turned out to be far more vicious than even his own father?
She had done all this tosaveTairngire. Instead, she had doomed it to utter destruction.
“Aren’t there more warriors?” he asked. “Shouldn’t there be more fighters?”
“They’re not here.” Mariel’s lips flattened. “The ones we have are already at the walls. We thought it would be enough to protect us from the Ice Court.”
He pointed out at the battle. “That’s not the Ice Court.”
“Thatisthe Ice Court. And the Sea Court. They’re both out there.”
A knock sounded on the door, but it swung wide before Mariel could cross the room to open it herself. Several of the courtiers strode inside, their faces flashing with anger.
“Mavis,” Mariel said, flinching at the fearful edge in her voice. “Why don’t you go find me some good wine? I have a feeling I’m going to want a drink shortly.”
Mavis frowned, but he did as his sister asked. As soon as he left the room, the courtiers turned on her with daggers in their eyes.
Lady Regan lifted a finger toward the window overlooking the city. “Do you know who I saw out there?”
Mariel’s heart thumped. The time had come. She had known it would eventually.
“High King Thane Selkirk, the ruler of this realm.” Lady Regan shook her head with a bitter laugh. “He’s alive, and he’s come to claim this city as his. Did you know about it? Did you know he’d come?”
Gritting her teeth, Mariel stood her ground. There was no sense in weaving her words. These courtiers already knew the truth of it. They just wanted to hear it come from her own mouth.
“I did.” She kept her chin held high. “I thought it didn’t matter.”
Lord Neil cleared his throat. “Mariel, love, you should have told us. This changes everything.”
Shock punched her in the gut. Her eyes met his across the room, though he suddenly seemed a stranger. She opened her mouth to choke out her words, to shout to the others that he knew, but then she snapped it shut.
It wouldn’t help. Pointing the finger at someone else would do her little good. They would be angry at her regardless of who else had been involved. It wasn’t as though she would have chosen to tell them anyway.
“He is not a good king,” Mariel argued. “He abandoned his kingdom when they needed him the most. He fled. Kings do not flee.”
Lady Regan pressed her lips together and strode across the floor. She settled a heavy hand on Mariel’s shoulder, reminding her that while they might have stood behind her once, they did not now.
Mariel did not hold the Seat of Power.
