Page 19 of Return of the Vengeful Quee

“I can negotiate with my sword.” Holland turned to her, and she whipped a hand in the air to stop his next words.

“We must get that poison from Embre. Everything else fails if we don’t achieve that. And we all know the dangerous waters are the least of what awaits us out there. Rakuuna must be searching for me if there’s a bounty on my head, and they are hardly the only monster in the seas. And then there’s the fact that I have to marry Vahn Penbyrn when we reach Montevallo, or we can’t convince Alaric to lend us his army, even if we manage to rescue Tal to use him as leverage. I’m the one going.”

Nalani’s grip on her hand tightened. “But—”

“Our people have lost so much already. I’m going, and I’m leaving my heirs safely in Solvang in case I don’t make it out of this alive.” She kept her voice from trembling but had to swallow hard against the lump forming in her throat. A queen didn’t get to flinch from shouldering the hardest burdens, but still, Charis wished she could keep her cousins close instead of facing the unknown all alone.

Tears shone in Nalani’s eyes, and Holland muttered several things under his breath, but when she looked expectantly at them, they both bowed their heads and murmured, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Ignoring the twinge of loneliness that settled into her at the thought of continuing the journey without her closest friends, Charis smoothed her expression into one of serene confidence as the carriage slowed before the palace’s entrance.

It was time to tell Gareth and Vyllanthra her plans and then make sure preparations were in place to set sail for Embre.

Seven

CHARIS MADE IT back to her quarters with an hour to spare before Vyllanthra expected her for a late dinner. Nita rushed to draw a bath while Charis instructed several other maids to pack her new wardrobe into a trunk. Once she’d reclaimed Calera and driven the monsters back into the sea where they belonged, she would have to send a generous gift to Solvang’s rulers to begin repaying them for their kindness.

For tonight, a simple thank-you and the assurance that she was leaving the next day would have to suffice.

“The bath is ready, Your Majesty,” Nita announced as a brusque knock sounded on the door. Before Nita could hurry to open it, Nalani burst in, a paper clutched in her hand. Delaire followed on her heels, her lips pressed tight as her wide eyes met Charis’s.

“Your Majesty, we have a problem.” Nalani hastily performed a sorry excuse for a curtsy and then waved the paper at Charis.

“Nita, please have this trunk taken down to my ship and be sure no one disturbs us.” Charis waited until the trunk and the handmaiden were gone before reaching for the paper, her stomach clenching painfully as her thoughts skipped frantically through the options.

More disastrous news from Calera.

Allies who’d committed to her cause provided she could kill the Rakuuna were having second thoughts.

Tal was dead.

Each thought drew blood, and her hands shook as she opened the paper, silently cursing Tal for somehow still causing her pain when she should feel nothing for him at all. She scanned the message quickly, eyes skimming the words without really understanding any of them. She was simply searching for his name.

When she came to the end and found no mention of Tal, she drew in an unsteady breath and forced herself to slow down and reread carefully, hunting for the problem.

It was the long-awaited response from King Alaric, promising to abide by their treaty and help her retake Calera, provided she upheld her part of the bargain and married his oldest son, Vahn.

There wasn’t a single mention of her offer to rescue his youngest son.

“I don’t understand.” Charis raised her gaze to Nalani and Delaire. “This is exactly what we’ve been hoping for. What’s the problem?”

Besides the fact that there was no longer any reason to sail to the northern kingdom of Te’ash to rescue Tal—a fact that should have brought relief but instead left an unsettling sense of dread in her stomach.

“You can’t sail tomorrow,” Delaire said, her voice pitched higher than normal.

“Why not?” Charis turned to Nalani. “What’s happening?”

“Finn sent a message from the docks. A trio of green lights has been spotted just outside the harbor.” Nalani wrung her hands. “They can’t see the ship because of the thick fog, but it’s probably Rakuuna.”

The air left Charis’s lungs.

For a moment, she was back in the Farragins’ ballroom, the silvery blue décor of the Sister Moons Festival glittering as Rakuuna swarmed the crowd, tearing people apart just to get to Charis and her mother. Her heart pounded in sickening jolts, and the edges of her vision went gray.

“Charis!” Nalani’s warm hands gripped Charis’s shoulders firmly, dragging her thoughts away from the horror of her memories and back into the present.

“Is he sure?” Her voice was a faint imitation of itself, but her muscles felt weak, and her skin tingled as though warning her to grab a weapon and brace for attack.

“Sure of the lights, yes.” Nalani kept her grip firm. “We can’t know for certain that it’s Rakuuna until the fog lifts.”

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