Protector, protector—
“For goodness sake,breathe, Gerard.”
Avette went on in that careful, melodic way of hers, voice slightly raised over the sound of the King’s pained and spluttering gasps.
“Look at all I have accomplished,” she was saying softly. “From an unwanted heir on the cusp of disownment, to the Queen of Eisalaan. The only legitimate daughter to a stupid,vainold man who would have handed this kingdom to a cousin he barely knew, all so he could have his name live on. Oh, I know. Hesaidit was you, my heart, just as I told you. Hesaidthat I’d ruined myself and my virtue. That no one would want a Merrow’s whore for a queen. But all he truly needed was a reason.”
Word by word, she tugged the chain tighter, almost absentmindedly, sliding into a pensive, dreamy tone before she seemed to remember herself and shook her head with a soft hum.
“Well. He got what he wanted. And so did I. So yes. Iamthe Mother’s favoured daughter. And I am the Saviour of Eisalaan.”
Kai was not laughing any more.
“That pendant,” he wheezed, slow and choked yet somehow urgent. “Avette, the Mother’s undiluted power, so close to your heart—it’s not without a price. You know that, don’t you? You know it’s poisoning you, that your mind is—”
“Then allow me to relieve you ofyourpoison,” she said, light and airy as ever. And with that, she slipped the pendant over Kai’s head and held it aloft. “I will ask you just once more, my heart, where you found this crude little scrap of magic. And before you respond, I should like you to consider how I found you—and what else I might find, if I set my mind to it.”
Kai’s features tightened.
“Do you understand me?” said Avette pleasantly, for all the world as though she hadn’t held his throat in a vice of twisted silver. As though they were discussing nothing more significant than the weather.
He nodded.
She mirrored him, one elegant dip of her head; “Go on.”
And after a long beat of hesitation, he did.
“Tunnels,” he croaked. “There were surviving Merrow. They dug tunnels beneath the ice, just after the Frost began. They could not get as far as I did, but they took what they could from the depths and built a new life.”
Avette waited. “And that is all?”
Kai glared up at her from beneath his brow. “That’s all.”
Avette sighed.
“How anti-climactic indeed.” She lifted her chin, spine straight, and held the pendant out to the side, the chain pinched carefully between her fingers like she held something soiled and disgusting. “Lady Snow, a gift.”
Imogen froze beside him.
Her hand twitched in his for just a split-second, but he released her at once. Maybe it had been pity, or one last dying ember of their sort-of friendship, or repayment for how he’d helped Mareda on the balcony. Whatever this had been, whatever reasons Imogen had for helping him through his body’s impending meltdown, they both knew better than to keep Avette waiting. Ger’s neck ached to turn, to watch as Imogen made a path through the slush, to make one more pointless attempt at reading her face, understanding her. But she arrived swiftly at Avette’s side and bobbed an elegant curtsey.
“You honour me, Your Majesty,” she said, once more the honey-sweet courtier.
“It is nothing. Truly,” Avette turned her head to direct the word at Kai, “nothing. A useless piece of glass with little value. At most, it may help you work a touch faster. Now that my heart is returned, we mustalldirect our attention to the wedding.”
Kai, who had been watching Imogen from the floor with his brows tugged together, suddenly frowned deeper, wary gaze snapping to Avette.
“The wedding,” he said flatly.
He jerked back as Avette reached out, but she took his face in her hand as though he’d made no objection, and gave his stubbled cheek a loving caress.
“Yes, my heart. The wedding.”
They all watched the realisation dawn on Kai, horror rising on his face in the slow widening of his eyes. He gave another useless tug on Benan’s grip, seeming not to care when Doran’s swordpoint kissed the nape of his neck.
“You’redeluded,” he spat, still thrashing, “if you think after all you’ve done—”
“Adeline,” Avette cut in, the soft syllables too sharp on her tongue, honed by curt impatience. “You and my cousin were travelling companions, were you not? I daresay you became close on your journey to sunny Dhalias. The Eisalaan Gard have become acquainted with many sweet Dhaliaans, too. I could ask after your dear friend. Ensure she is safe. Youwouldlike to keep her safe, would you not?”
