Page 96 of Return of the Vengeful Quee

Tal laughed derisively. “Really? That’s the best you’ve got?” He turned to face the room, one hand pressing the bloody napkin against his wound. “Every person in here knows better than to believe that someone as smart as Charis would put a plan like that in writing.” He turned back to the Everlys. “You are pathetic. Charis worked night and day to discover who was sinking Calera’s ships, and then she unveiled Lady Channing’s treachery at the Sister Moons Festival.”

“She had her co-conspirator killed.” Ferris cleared his throat and then continued. “And then she ran away while her people suffered under the Rakuuna occupation.”

“Why?” Charis asked, noting Ferris’s flushed face with interest. “Why would I run if I’d just achieved what I wanted?”

He tugged on his collar as every eye in the room fell on him. “Let’s ask Queen Bai’elsha. She’s the one who made the deal with you. Isn’t that correct?” He aimed the question at the Rakuuna queen.

“Yes.” The queen’s high, cold voice captured the room, and more than a few shivered as she swept her gaze over those assembled. “We are here because we were told that killing the royal family and occupying Calera was the only way to get King Alaric to agree to supply the serpanicite we need.”

“And who told you that?” Charis asked, raising her voice to make sure the entire room heard her. “You had to send a ship of warriors to capture me and return me to Calera. If I’d made a deal with you that benefitted me, why wouldn’t I have stayed here to reap the rewards?”

“Because you needed it to look as if the Everlys were behind it.” Bai’elsha met Charis’s eyes without hesitation. Charis had to admit, the queen lied as if she was being paid to do it.

Which, of course, she was.

“You see?” Lord Everly sounded solemn. “The Rakuuna queen admits Charis’s involvement and bolsters our testimony that she is behind Calera’s pain and suffering. And you all saw what happened tonight. Her assassins attacked us—”

“You shut your mouth right now, you haggard old fool, or I will shut it for you.” Holland rose from the floor, his tearstained eyes wild.

Lord Everly hurried to stand behind his chair as if it would protect him.

Ferris cleared his throat. “Queen Bai’elsha has stated that Charis arranged for the Rakuuna to invade our kingdom.”

“Look around you!” Tal gestured at the entire room. “We’re surrounded by Rakuuna ready to rip us to pieces if we step out of line. Now, who, I wonder, do they obey? Charis?”

“That’s a good question.” Charis looked to Bai’elsha. “Do you obey me?”

Bai’elsha hesitated, looking from Ferris to Lord Everly as if hoping for a lifeline.

“You should have admitted your guilt,” Ferris said. Really, his face was the most unbecoming shade of red. “I warned you what would happen to Tal if you didn’t.”

Charis’s entire body trembled as though she were a plucked string, and her voice rose, filled with the icy rage that burned so brightly within her. “I don’t give in to threats, Ferris. I issue them. And I’ve grown tired of this farce. You and your family colluded with Lady Channing and the Rakuuna to bring death and disaster upon this kingdom. You arranged for assassins to be present tonight in an attempt to make me look guilty, but you made a grave mistake when you ordered them to kill people I love.”

She locked eyes with Bai’elsha. “I sentence Ferris Everly to death for the crime of treason. Have one of your guards kill him immediately.”

“You can’t sentence my son to death!” Lord Everly thundered.

“Wrong answer.” Holland leaped across the table, collided with Lord Everly, and threw the man into the wall behind him. Before Ferris’s father could finish staggering to his feet, Holland shoved him against the wall and pressed his forearm against the man’s throat. “Not. Another. Word.”

Charis faced Lord Everly and his sniveling wife. “I am the rightful queen of Calera. By law, I can sentence any traitor to death. I believe what you mean to say is that I can’t use the Rakuuna to do my bidding. Isn’t that right?”

She looked at Bai’elsha, who stood three paces away from her seat, fangs bared as she glanced from Charis to the Everlys. When the Rakuuna queen remained silent, Charis pivoted to face the rest of the room.

“The Everlys and Lady Channing saw an opportunity to get the Willowthorns out of power in Calera, and they took it. They were unhappy with the way the war was being run, and the Everlys especially were furious over the treaty we signed with King Alaric because it meant Ferris couldn’t marry me and become king.”

She glanced at Ferris and found him wiping sweat from his brow, anger in his eyes. Turning back to the room, she continued, “They made a deal that ensured that the royal family would be killed, but Tal negotiated for my safety and the safety of the rest of Calera. He bargained with his own life.”

Vahn stirred in his seat, his eyes seeking his brother’s face.

“These are lies. Queen Bai’elsha herself said so.” Ferris gripped the back of his chair with both hands.

“Then why hasn’t she obeyed my order to kill you?” Charis asked.

“Enough of this!” Lady Everly’s shrill voice cracked. She waved the sheaf of papers above her head. “We have proof. Charis is the traitor and should be put to death, as should Holland Farragin for colluding with her and for hurting my husband.”

Bai’elsha rattled off a command, and a Rakuuna with silver hair and scales the color of pale moss peeled away from the closest wall and stalked toward the head table, moving impossibly fast.

Charis’s shaking hands reached for the pouch at her waist and yanked it free.

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