Page 20 of Return of the Vengeful Quee

“By then, it will be too late.” Charis forced herself to breathe deeply. Once. Twice. She couldn’t afford to panic. Not when a single misstep would cost her and her people everything.

“We’ll hide you.” Delaire hurried forward. “I’m sure Queen Vyllanthra must know of a place—”

“I’m not hiding.” Charis straightened her spine and stepped back, breaking Nalani’s hold on her. “We finally know where to get a weapon we can use against them. I’m sailing to Embre.”

“Or you could send someone else!” Nalani’s voice rose. “Someone the Rakuuna aren’t hunting.”

“So that they can find me here and punish these people for helping us? I’m not going to be responsible for Gareth’s and Vyllanthra’s deaths.” Charis squared her shoulders, her mind racing. She needed to attend her dinner with Vyllanthra, finalize preparations for the journey to Embre, and send a reply to King Alaric, but that all paled in comparison to the need to know for sure if the Rakuuna were anchored outside the harbor.

“Change of plans.” Charis grabbed a pair of warm gray pants, a soft black shirt, and a shawl of shimmering cranberry cashmere that she’d intended as her sailing outfit for the next day. “Nalani, you’ll attend the dinner with Vyllanthra as my ambassador and inform her of my plans to sail tomorrow. Make sure she understands I’m going to get the weapon we need to kill the Rakuuna. I want to hold them to their promise to help us fight for Calera.”

“Where are you going?” Nalani folded her arms across her chest as Charis wiggled free of her evening dress and reached for the pants.

“I’m going to take a few sailors and our rowboat to see if the Rakuuna are there.”

“That’s a terrible idea,” Nalani snapped.

“The fog will hide our activities, and if those monsters are lying in wait out there, I need to be at the docks anyway, because we’re going to have to set sail immediately.” Her voice didn’t shake—a small mercy given the way everything inside of her tumbled and churned at the thought of seeing the Rakuuna again.

“But what if something happens?” Worry sharpened Nalani’s voice.

“Exactly.” Charis tugged on a pair of soft black boots and moved to the vanity.

“No, not exactly. This is serious, Charis.” Nalani stalked toward the vanity while Charis rummaged for pins to subdue her tumble of brown curls into a bun.

“I agree.” Charis shoved the pins into her hair and met her cousin’s gaze in the mirror. “A queen doesn’t flinch from facing danger to protect her people.”

“Charis.” Nalani’s voice sounded wounded, and something in her eyes reminded Charis of Father. Charis looked away, feeling suddenly exposed.

“Why not trust Holland with it instead?” Delaire asked as she grabbed two extra pins and rescued Charis’s bun from sliding to the left.

Because she’d lost too many people she loved to those monsters. And because a queen who failed to save her family and her kingdom didn’t deserve to have anyone take risks for her.

“I’ve made up my mind.” Charis’s voice wavered, and she cleared her throat. “If all is well, I’ll see you when I return to the palace tonight. If not, I’ll send you a palloren once we reach Embre and secure the poison so that you can coordinate attack plans with the rest of our allies.”

Nalani slid her hand around Charis’s and squeezed gently. “You do realize you’re worth protecting too, don’t you?”

The chasm that had opened within Charis on the night of the invasion shivered, and she withdrew her hand. “So are you. If there are Rakuuna at port, they’re after me, not you. You’ll stay safe here; that way if something happens, there can be a seamless transfer of power. The Calerans need a ruler.”

“No, the Calerans need you.” Nalani pulled the shawl out of Charis’s hands and wrapped it around the queen’s shoulders before drawing her close for a hug. Charis stiffened at the contact, and Nalani just patted her back the way Father used to when he knew something was wrong and was just waiting for his daughter to finally drop her guard.

Charis couldn’t drop her guard. There was a tidal wave of ruin within her, and if she let a single drop escape, the weight of it all would press against that crack until it shattered her.

Tears stung Charis’s eyes, and she blinked rapidly as she stepped away. “Don’t wait up,” she said as she left Nalani and Delaire standing in the middle of her chambers.

Twenty minutes later, Charis, Reuben, and Vellis met Finn and Orayn at the docks. The sky was a swath of black velvet punctured by the diamond-shine of stars. Ribbons of cloud drifted across its surface, limned with the sapphire light of the sister moons that hung in the sky like ghostly blue crescents. The wooden dock they stood on stretched out into the fog-drenched harbor, creaking and shifting as the ships tied to it rocked gently in the waves. The frantic activity of the day had subsided, leaving the docks nearly deserted.

“Your Majesty.” Orayn and Finn bowed in unison.

Movement behind them caught Charis’s eye, and she reached for her dagger. “Who’s there?”

“It’s just us, Your Majesty.” Grim and Dec emerged from the shadows and bowed.

Charis gritted her teeth. “What are you doing here?” She kept her voice down, though it was unlikely their conversation would carry over the frothy splash of the waves against the shore.

“I asked them to join us,” Orayn said. “We need extra rowers if we’re going to move quickly. Thank the sister moons we’ve got this fog for protection.”

Suppressing a shiver of dread, Charis said, “Let’s get this done.”

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