Page 29 of The Forgotten Throne

She lifted her face streaked with blood and tears, a look of devastation written on her face as she gazed at me. “You’re sorry? My husband is dead because of you, and you dare to apologize to me?”

“Mother, that isn’t fair. Father attacked her first. She had every right to defend herself,” Gavin explained as he placed a hand on her arm.

The queen shoved him away, knocking him to the dirt in his surprise. “Don’t you dare try to justify this, you traitorous bastard. You turned your back on our family and your role as prince for her. Why should I trust anything that is coming out of your mouth!” she snarled. Phillip made a move on her other side but he got the same treatment from his mother. “Both of my children have betrayed me leaving me with no husband or sons to call my own. I am alone and I will seek revenge on those who have hurt me and destroyed my life along with my kingdom!”

Even though she was screaming at all of us, I could see it in her face that her pain was talking. She’d just lost her husband and wasn’t in any place to be reasoned with about what she was spouting at all of us. We needed to get her someplace safe and kept under a watchful eye so she didn’t hurt herself or others as she grieved. Standing I walked over to her dragon who was as distraught as her pair-bond but she didn’t lash out at me knowing that I wasn’t the one who started this.

“I need your help. We need to get her and her husband back to the village. Would you take them there? I know your pair wants to run and hide away from all of this but that isn’t what’s best for her right now. All I want to do is keep her safe.” The queen’s dragon nodded her head in agreement and sent me some emotions to let me know she was worried about her pair-bond. “I will do everything I can to help her, but it will take time.”

The dragon hummed in agreement, and I turned back to Gavin and Phillip. “She will take your mother back to the village along with your father’s body if she won’t leave without him.”

Gavin nodded giving me an appreciative look as he grabbed one arm of his mother and Phillip the other helping her to her feet.

“No, we can’t leave him!” she cried, fighting against them.

“Mother we are not leaving him, we just need to get you on Petra’s back first then we can figure out the best way to get Father back as well,” Gavin assured her.

Abbott and Dayson stepped forward and hefted up the king’s body following after the queen. They set him back down beside the golden dragon and stepped back available if they needed them but I appreciated they didn’t push the matter not knowing how the queen would react. It didn’t take them too long to get their parents settled and once that happened the rest of us climbed onto our dragons ready to head out. Gavin climbed up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his head into my neck as we took off. He didn’t say a word but I could feel his tears against my skin as Vasin took his time flying back to the village.

When we landed once again the queen was put in a room with the windows locked from the outside and two guards posted outside the door. I hated to have her as a prisoner but there was no telling what she would do right now. Each of the boys offered to stay with her but she didn’t want to even look at them so they let her be. I’d also made sure that the room was cleared of anything that could be used to harm or kill herself knowing it would help me sleep better tonight that had done all I could for her.

The rest of us were split between two homes with beds enough for each of us if we doubled up. May and Beck decided it was best to stay in my room so if anything did happen they were close. The guys all argued one of them should be in the room too but May put an end to that with a firm look. Instead one of them slept in front of my door while the others tumbled into bed just as drained as I was after the day’s events. All this trouble and I wasn’t even truly crowned their queen yet... What does that mean for the coming days ahead? Guess I was just going to have to trust in my guardians and take it as it comes.

Chapter Eighteen

Death Come for Us All

Even with all that had happened the night before sleeping in a warm place with a soft bed and a roof over my head I didn’t stand a chance. My head hit the pillow, and I was out only to be woken up what seemed like moments later by Becka.

“Cassarah, it’s time to get up, I’m sorry we can’t let you sleep longer, but it’s time to deal with the Clan Leaders,” she whispered.

Cracking an eye open I looked at her somber face. I’d almost forgotten that I’d sentenced the three out of the five men who’ve led our people to death. Slowly I sat up and looked out the window to find that it was gray and a light rain was falling. It seemed fitting for a morning such as this. Becka pulled me to my feet, and I saw the dress that was laid out for me to wear. Since the day I rescued Vasin I hadn’t worn a dress and I’d not missed them one bit, but now that I was going to be acting officially as queen, I wouldn’t be able to escape them forever. The dress was simple yet elegant in all black with silver accents properly somber for the occasion. Becka and I fell into our old habits as she readied me for the day making it oddly comforting knowing what was to come.

When I was dressed and ready to go, she slipped on a black cloak with the symbol of the dragon wrapped around the sword with a crown over the dragon’s head embroidered on the back of it. “The viceroy brought it by this morning, seems they’ve been preparing for your arrival since Zan told them about you.”

The stitching was stunning and the detail on the dragon was unbelievable. I would need to find out whoever made this and thank them personally. They would be a good person to know if I needed any other work like this done. Unable to avoid what must happen next I squared my shoulders and stepped out of my room and into the common space of the house. There I found the rest of my guardians all dressed in matching tunics that were also black with the same symbol on the back only theirs didn’t have the crown. Gavin and Phillip were also there waiting, but they wore deep purple almost black tunics that were the customary color of mourning in Norden. Both looked haggard like they hadn’t slept well and my heart broke for them.

As I stepped forward towards Gavin, Lawrence walked into the house but paused as he saw us all standing there. “My apologies, Your Majesty. I should have knocked and requested entry. Should I come back a bit later?”

Shaking my head, I turned to face him. “No, delaying this longer won’t make it any easier.”

Lawrence didn’t say anything to that, just nodded his head and gestured for me to proceed him out the door. Just outside there stood Inali saddled and waiting for me with two men shielding the saddle from the rain so I didn’t have to sit in a wet seat. Cole stepped ahead of me and knelt in the wet gravel lending me his knee to step up onto. I raised a brow at him, surprised that he would offer such an obvious cheat to getting into the saddle. How many days had they all tortured me with having to get on my horse with no stirrups? Deciding not to argue I pulled the hood of my cloak up and crossed the ground to where he knelt, grabbed Inali’s mane and pushed off Cole’s leg. Doing this move in a dress, even one made for riding, wasn’t easy explaining to me why Cole had done what he did. Looking down at him I smiled. “Thank you.”

“Of course, Your Majesty, I’m always here when you need me,” Cole answered in a low voice meant only for us. He reached up and took my hand pressing a kiss to the back of it.

Why this one small act seemed so intimate to me I couldn’t tell you, but it made my heart flutter all the same. My guardians all mounted up and surrounded me as we moved forward along with more guards from the Sheca military leading us to the spot they used for situations like this. The group was somber, no one speaking, the only sound was that of hooves on the gravel of the road that soon turned into mud as we veered off the main stretch to one that took us further back into the mountains. We stopped at a wooden stage that had a tarp pulled over the top of it to shield those under it from the rain. Many of the village people along with those I’d brought here yesterday were already gathered. They turned to watch us as we arrived, being led right to the stage, where another guard helped me off my horse.

Half the guards dismounted and stood before the stage while others stayed mounted and found places on the outer edge of the crowd. Dayson and Jade joined me on the stage flanking me every step I took as I joined the viceroy and Sal where they waited for me.

“Alsten filled us in on the events of last night,” Mathew shared once I joined them. “I’m so sorry that this happened and that our men were mixed into it.”

“Thank you, but we cannot control the actions of others, or so my guardians keep telling me,” I said with a sigh letting my shoulders sink ever so slightly.

Eleazar nodded his head. “They are wise to share such wisdom. Days like this are hard for all involved but you are doing the right thing for your people even though it doesn’t seem that way. No one wants to take life unnecessarily and those that do shouldn’t be put in power. To see how this is affecting you tells me all I need to know about you as our Queen and I have much respect for you because of it. We have been without a true leader for so long that it will be a bumpy road to start, but once they see you have their best in mind, they will come around.”

“That is my hope but I’m not sure what they will think when they see what is happening here today,” I murmured.

A hand rested on my low back making me turn to Dayson. “I need you to hear me loud and clear Cassarah. I. Do. Not. Blame. You. My father is his own man, while I think there might be more to this situation he still chose on his own to act against you our queen and the person I am charged to protect. The vow I gave you as I became your guardian was not one that I took lightly, none of us did. We promised to put your life ahead of ours even if it means against our own flesh and blood, you are the future of our people and that is to be protected at all costs.”