“Must approve what?” Ferdinand asked, still calm. He did not care that the guards had entered and that they could not ignore what he was saying. “That I plan to cede the crown to my sister, who should by any measure be queen? A crown, I recall, that was given to me without consultation from the rulers of the continent. As it stands, we have two-thirds of the rulers of the Sand and Sky standing right here.” Ferdinand looked to Luca. “Will you vote with me to allow female heirs to rule outright in your Sand and Sky?”
Luca smiled. “Gladly.”
The guards appeared at the Queen Mother’s side and she shrugged away from them, opting to remove herself from King Sendoa’s large chair herself. “Perhaps I should have you vote to grant me Basilica. I have the blood for it—my cousin can barely compete.”
“That is not how any of this works,” Satordi sputtered, not to Geneva as much as to the whole idea of this casual transfer of power. “A king cannot name a queen and step aside; a single battle does not reinstall the Otxoa.”
“Satordi, do you hear yourself?” Amarande exclaimed. “Inés just murdered two kings and claimed three-fifths of the continent over spilled wine. In this room lies her path to the other two kingdoms. It does not matter what the laws say; none of it stands. The Sand and Sky that wrote those stupid, ancient rules is no more. The future of this continent—”
With a crash, one guard and then another fell to the floor, assassin’s smiles carved across their throats, blood gushing onto the collars of their regal Ardenian uniforms. Geneva stood over them with twin daggers in her hands, both of them stained crimson with arterial blood.
Nearest to her, Joseba shot to his feet, his chair falling over in his haste. It was unclear if he meant to disarm her or escape. It didn’t matter. One quick thrust and he was down, blood blooming across the chest of his ivory robes.
Amarande and Luca both dove for their boots, knives out and ready quick as a flash. Ferdinand was even quicker, shielding them with his sword as they armed themselves, prepared to block an attack.
All could see that the two daggers that Geneva had been holding were now protruding from Satordi and Garbine. Geneva had stabbed the old woman in the heart, and she was slumped over the table, bleeding all over the papers strewn on it. Satordi she had caught in the side, missing vital organs but incapacitating him. The lead councilor struggled to stand, gasping for air like a hooked fish, before finally falling behind the table.
Completely ignoring their dying moments, Geneva bent to retrieve the swords from the dead guards and raised the twin Basilican blades with a shrug.
“They were getting in the way of our discussions. Rules and regulations and knickers in a twist over the minutiae of power transfer. You should thank me for removing that obstacle for you simply out of my own annoyance.” Geneva smiled, both King Sendoa’s scions now in her sights. “Now, children, your only obstacle is me.”
Yes, the Warlord would go out fighting. Not flee like the Runaway Queen she once had been.
“Guards!” Ferdinand called, his voice even louder than before.
This was a relief, too. Despite the show he’d put on, Luca hadn’t been fully sure Ferdinand would not turn on them.
Geneva took a step toward him, sword at a deadly angle. Luca’s eyes fell to her shoes—boots, not slippers. A dagger could be in them, or two. Perhaps even hidden in her bodice. A woman like her could easily have many more weapons hidden away.
“You would have them cut me down, Ferdinand?” The Queen Mother took another step, brow steeply arched. “After all I’ve done for you?”
Ferdinand did not relent. “You used me. Every inch of the way.”
“No, I stood with you.Foryou. And you repay my love by staring me down with a sword.”
From the hall there was a commotion, and Luca’s heart fluttered with relief.
Koldo. Ula. Urtzi. Osana. Right on time, despite the unplanned location.
“Mother, in here!” Ferdinand called again, and Geneva visibly flinched.
It was clear now that he did not want to kill Geneva, only remove her influence. Let them deal with war on their own—become triumphant or lose everything to Inés and let her deal with her contemporary, should she survive.
Geneva’s smile widened in a way that caused Luca’s heart to shrink back. “They’re not coming, my boy.”
Bile rose within Luca as his grip tightened on the knife. Next to him, Amarande was already scanning her periphery for movement beyond the heavy double doors.
But then, despite that announcement, a noise came from behind her. Footsteps and then the clanging of a lock and latch releasing. And there, entering the room from a door hidden beyond the council table, was an opponent Luca did not expect.
Taillefer.
CHAPTER61
AMARANDE’Sblade stiffened in her hand.
Taillefer.
It couldn’t be. But it was. He’d changed into the unmistakable aubergine and gold of Pyrenee. Washed his face, too, blood and grime gone. But still he sported the fox-like smile the princess had seen so much of during their journey.
