Page 41 of Queens Will Play

As the clatter of talk filled the room, Delilah pushed back her chair and stood, holding up her glass of milk.

“I want to say that, even though the circumstances are heartbreaking, I’m grateful to have Rozurial back with us, as well as Bruce and Iris and their children. This is your home, and my sisters, our spouses, and I always consider you part of our family.”

We all toasted, but—as the food began to make the rounds, Iris suddenly burst into tears. Bruce immediately wrap her in his arms.

Menolly moved to her side, holding up her hand. “Let me,” she said quietly. We waited as Menolly and Bruce led Iris out of the room, toward Hanna’s room. Hanna, who was sitting with us, sighed.

“It’s too soon,” she said. “Iris told me what it was like when the redcaps came through. Camille, you remember the fear when we were escaping your father-in-law’s dreyerie?”

I nodded. “I fully expected that we wouldn’t make it.”

“And so Iris was terrified that she and Bruce wouldn’t be able to save their children. It was a horrible time, and they had a couple close calls. I know she didn’t tell you yet, but she will eventually. You know her powers? The spell she cast on Vikkomiin?”

I froze. I knew exactly what Hanna was talking about. “Yeah?”

“She cast it on the redcaps that were on their tail. That let them get away, but it cost Iris everything emotionally. And Bruce and the children were right there, they all saw what she did.” Hanna held my gaze.

I felt sick to my stomach. Iris had already suffered enough. “Holy fuck. How the hell are her children going to handle that?” I asked. “Did they really see everything?”

Hanna nodded. “Now, Iris is terrified she’s scarred them for life. Bruce thinks they’ll be fine, but Iris feels so much guilt, and yet—she saved their lives. I think she also feels guilty that she couldn’t save his parents. And Bruce is in mourning…it’s one giant ball of wax. I think they need some family counseling.”

We all sat there, silent. After a moment, Nerissa spoke up. “I might be able to help. I know a lot of Supe counselors from my time working with DHS. Want me to talk to Iris and Bruce about it? I’m not as close to Iris, so it might be easier for her to talk to me about it.”

“If you would,” I said. “I think that might be a good idea. Damn it, we should have thought about how a big gathering like this might be too much for them right now.” Then, thinking, I turned to Roz. “And Roz, is this too much for you? If you need to decompress, feel free to⁠—”

But Roz smiled, shaking his head. “My sorrow’s not the same as Iris’s. If I could, I’d change places with her so she wouldn’t have had to go through what she’s going through. As for me, I’m grieving, yes, but I think…I think I always knew that it wasn’t going to work out. But I wanted to try. And Fraale…she tried. I know she did.”

I looked over at Delilah, who was staring at her plate. She sighed as she caught my eye.

“I didn’t even think,” she said.

“None of us did. It will be all right. Meanwhile, we should eat. No use letting all of Hanna’s work go to waste.” I slowly began to fill my plate, wanting to go back to Iris, but Nerissa was right. Sometimes it helped to have someone to talk to who wasn’t quite as invested.

We slowly began to eat, talking in spurts, keeping the conversation light. After another fifteen minutes, Hanna, Iris, Bruce, and Nerissa returned to the table. Iris’s face was red from crying, but she looked centered and calm. Bruce kept looking at her, as if to reassure himself that she was all right.

“I gather you all know what happened,” Iris said. “I swore I’d never again use that kind of magic but…”

Smoky turned to her. “Listen to me. You saved your family. You saved your children. You did what was necessary, and the four of you are sitting here in this house, alive and safe, because sometimes, the right choice is the hard choice. And you made the right choice.”

Iris took a sip of water. “I know. I’d do anything to protect my family. And…I did. Nerissa’s going to help us find a counselor and we’re going to make certain the children weren’t negatively impacted by this. I hope…” She paused, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I hope they don’t remember what they saw. That this all ends up being just a bad dream for them.”

“Counseling can help a lot with trauma, especially getting therapy soon enough after the incident,” Nerissa said.

Roman cleared his throat. “I know you had to leave everything behind. As soon as Nerissa finds you help, we’ll take care of the costs. And Bruce, we’ll make certain you have a job. We’ll all help you get settled back into as normal of life as we can.”

I glanced at Iris, who was beginning to look uncomfortable again. “We can talk about all this later. Let’s eat and spend the evening relaxing. Near midnight, Menolly, Delilah, and I will head out for Marion’s to help her out.”

“Delilah told me about it. I’ll be glad to help out, if I can,” Shade said. “Hanna will stay with the children.”

With things settled as much as they could be, we returned to our meal, but I thought we all looked a little worse for the wear.

CHAPTER TWELVE

By the time we were ready to leave for Marion’s, my sisters and I had time to sit with Iris privately and let her vent. She had, indeed, ripped the redcaps who were on their tail into shreds—turning them inside out. And the knowledge that she still possessed that ability, that it hadn’t actually been stripped from her, seemed to be what was bothering her most.

“I had no idea that I still could…destroy someone so violently,” she said.

“Well, now that you know, you’ll work with someone to harness it,” I said. “That’s the only way you can get over this fear, is to control the power so it doesn’t control you. Smoky was right. You did what you needed to in order to protect your children and husband. If they would have caught you, you’d all be dead. Or worse. You need to let go of guilt. In an us-or-them situation, where the stakes are the highest, you choose which side you want to end up on.”