Page 42 of Shadows and Roses

"Yes, Escort!" She sprinted off, waving to the bemused gardeners.

Vern turned to him. "I’m sure you have questions. Speak your mind."

"I don't know what to think." Both honest and cautious.

Vern nodded. "The first time a Queen asked me to trust her, I thought for certain it must be a joke, a test, or some new game. But I played along—what choice did I have?"

He paused as Silyara leaned a little too close to the thorny bushes. She poked a flower, earning herself a reprimand from a gardener.

Castien waited for Count Vern to whip the servant. The man didn’t move. "How arethe nobles unaware of this place?"

"They've been warned from the Queen's Wing. Every once in a while, one of them becomes over-curious, over-stupid, and ends up an example for the rest. It's not impossible to sneak in, but there's little enough to see. Even they value children and wouldn't find our care of them terribly odd."

"I suppose being a ruthless Queen has its perks."

The steward’s lips thinned. "She does what needs to be done."

Castien stared hard at the steward's face. "Like letting her courtiers rip apart a slave in the middle of the dining halls?"

Vern went silent, matching the courtesan’s intensity, searching his eyes. Eventually, he said, "Do you know what saw-scaled viper venom does? Boils your blood, makes you bleed to death from the inside. It takes days to die. Imagine children writhing in pain, blood pouring out of their eyes. One of the few things our dear aristocracy finds horrifying—harm to children."

Castien paused. "She was a slave. Her hand was forced—shedidn't deserve to be torn apart."

"They wanted that girl's pain. She’s a slave, but she had a choice. Did she deserve to be tortured? That's the wrong question, Escort. The question our Queen must ask is, how best could the girl serve our purposes?"

Castien blinked, unable to think in such terms.

"It satisfied the court’s bloodlust. It proved our Queen's ruthlessness. It was justice as this court knows such a thing. And it sent a message to our enemies."

A message reinforcing the court’s cruelty.

Castien narrowed his eyes. "What about you? What did you do to prove you're an equal to the court? Everyone fears you." Feared all of them.

Vern smiled a small, humorless smile. "You're right. None of our hands are clean, and mine certainly not. But fear can also be manipulated, suggested."

A court without mercy. The streets were a kinder place. Castien frowned.

"Why do the nobles hold back outside the palace? We hear rumors of the Dark Court but the nobles don't behave the same in the city." They didn’t take what they wanted and destroy everything in their way.

"They used to. Anais' mother put an end to it. When she took the throne, the military was already loyal to her. It was a close thing and the nobles still remember—they still strain against the bonds."

"I didn't know we had a civil war."

"We didn't. Barely. It was done the same day she was crowned—a few key nobles executed, the army at every estate, and every firstborn child forcefully poisoned. The families were told that their children would be cured if they were voluntarily given to the crown as hostages. They expected blood when a new ruler rises, but this was more. Their spirits were broken when they each handed over a child. Those few who weren't given up inevitably died, which only proved her ruthlessness and her right to rule."

Ruthless was too mild a description. Poisoning children? Madness, he wanted to say. And it was madness, more than a match for this court. But Castien knew the streets. Even though the people were destitute and hopeless, they were not slaughtered for walking too slowly or bowing too briefly. So he bit back the sharp words on his tongue.

In a neutral tone, he said, "Her mother musthave been a formidable woman."

Vern smiled, a humorless twist that said he knew what Castien was thinking. "Anais is just like her mother. Jana would have liked you."

"Did you know her well?"

"Most of us were her Escorts. We loved her as we love Anais."

Castien nodded. "It's… difficult to believe what you're saying."

"Take some time. Silarya will become tired in less than an hour. Accompany her to the nursery if you wish. Lunch will be served in the courtyard at noon."

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