Page 43 of Her Cruel Redemption

‘You’re going to need to explain what you’re doing in my city, madam,’ King Esario said, and his brows were drawn low, his face turned hard. I stepped away from Tallius as my anger cooled. My heart was pounding so hard I felt lightheaded. In my peripherals, I could see the guards stationed around the edges of the room drawing closer, hands going to weapons. They were going to arrest me. They’d execute me for whatever treason they assumed I’d committed. I was the wife of the man who was waging a war against them, the queen who had ruled when that war had begun.

‘She is here as my ally and protector.’

All three of us turned to Gwinellyn. She had straightened up, her shoulders rolling back to draw herself up to her full height. And as much as she acted small, she was tall in stature.

‘If it weren’t for Rhiandra,’ she continued, her voice steadier than it had been a moment ago, ‘I wouldn’t be alive. I can guarantee her character and her loyalty, as I can for all my travelling companions.’

Esario stared at her a long moment. Long enough that the magic in my blood began to rise, turning hot as I braced for his reaction. Then he nodded. ‘I sense a story here somewhere,’ he said, good-humoured once again, as though he hadn’t been about to throw me in a dungeon. ‘You’ll have to treat us to it as soon as you’ve rested.’

I could read his steely subtext.I want an explanation.I was going to find out whether others would buy my tale of enchantment as readily as Gwinellyn had.

But for now, the hostility was swept away and Oceatold’s king was all manners and generosity, ushering forth servants and giving orders about rooms and food and baths and clothing.

‘You mentioned companions, yes?’ he said as he led us down a hall lined with massive paintings of seascapes and ships and battles. One depicted a broad-chested commander with his foot atop a pile of the dead. I paused there for a moment when I saw the slits in the necks of the bodies, not the wounds of a blade but organic and grossly exaggerated, if the creature I’d seen in the menagerie once was anything to go by. They were gills. And peering closer, I could see webbed fingers, the strangely cloudy eyes.

‘Charming,’ I muttered to myself.

‘We have a long coastline.’

The voice behind me made me start, and I turned on Prince Tallius, who was standing too close.

‘And the Bire Isles aren’t far from it. Raids from the Morwar Toth are more commonplace here than in Brimordia,’ he continued. Then he slid his icy gaze to me. ‘Did you know your husband has an alliance with them?’

‘No,’ I said simply, tone bland, all too aware that my recent burst of temper would do nothing to help our cause here. I had to tolerate this scornful prince with as much grace as I could muster.

He curled his lip. ‘An alliance of fall spawn and gill rats and the king slayers from the east. You must have kept some interesting bedfellows while you were playing the queen to such a creature.’

‘None more interesting than I’m keeping now,’ I replied with a saccharine smile.

His expression soured further. ‘Don’t get too comfortable. You won’t be here for long if I have anything to say about it.’

I leaned in a little, looking up at him from beneath my lashes. ‘Then it’s a good thing you don’t have much say, isn’t it?’ I moved away before he could reply, trailing along after Gwinellyn and the king with my chin lifted. It was difficult to imagine what the effervescent Senafae saw in such a smarmy prick. Well, other than money and status. A prince was a fine catch for any maisera, even if he was only a spare heir to a lineage blessed with many sons. But at the thought of Senafae, I immediately wished I hadn’t been so antagonistic with Tallius. I could have asked him about her, found out where she was living in Oceatold, if she was still with him. She might even be here in Bright Keep. But if I asked him now, he’d likely take pleasure in withholding the information. I’d have to see what I could find out through other means.

The king showed us to the suite of rooms on the second floor of the palace, one overlooking a bright internal courtyard and buzzing with servants readying the space for guests. He promised us rest and privacy for the night, with a casual mention of assembling his council and the most prominent members of Brimordia’s renegade court in the morning, which drained all the colour from Gwinellyn’s face. Then we were left to enjoy the food and tea laid out for us in private.

And thefood. I crammed a plate full of cakes and pastries and quail eggs andbacon, inhaling the heady smell of coffee with a sigh. Aether knew I’d missed palace luxury. I couldn’t wait to sink into a hot bath full of scented oils and curl up in silken sheets.

‘What do you think Elias and the others are doing?’ Gwinellyn asked as I ate. She’d barely put any food in her mouth, though she’d taken a soft white roll and torn it into little pieces.

‘Probably the same thing we are,’ I replied, adding sugar to my coffee.

‘Maybe we should bring them here,’ she continued after a few more moments of ripping the pieces of the roll into still smaller pieces. ‘It feels wrong to be away from them.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘I’m sure lover boy can be parted from you for one night.’ She blushed and I laughed as I plucked up a rasher of bacon and laid it on her plate. ‘Eat. You’re pale and you’ll need your strength to wrestle the king of Oceatold’s assembly of idiots tomorrow.’

She picked up the rasher with her fingers and nibbled the end of it. ‘I’m sure Esario would be happy to house the others as well.’

I sobered at that, considering her with a sigh. ‘I wouldn’t go bringing them anywhere near the Oceatold court until you’ve established some authority that can protect them. If anyone discovers they’re from the Yawn, there’ll be trouble. You don’t want to put them in danger,’ I said, thinking of the disgust with which Tallius spoke of Draven’s alliance withfall spawn and gill rats.

She slumped lower in her seat. ‘You’re right.’

‘Of course I am. But take it as a little motivation. The sooner you can bring your court to heel and show Esario that you’re a force to be reckoned with, the sooner you’ll be able to ensure that no one touches your friends.’

She nodded down at her plate. I hoped she would rally after a good night’s sleep and show more of that determination and shining belief in her purpose I’d come to admire in her. She was going to need it.

Chapter Twenty-One

Gwinellyn’s pacing was driving me to distraction. Her footsteps were muffled against the thick, patterned rug covering most of the floor, but the tense, anxious energy rolling off her in waves was enough to make me grind my teeth as I tried to focus on the book on Sarmiers I’d found in the bookcase. More of a travel guide than any source of political information, but I knew next to nothing about Oceatold so it seemed as good a place as any to start. Not that I could take any of it in when Gwinellyn kept flitting past me. I looked up from the book to shoot her the next in a series of looks that had so far failed to keep her from wearing out the rug. Her eyes were unfocused, her dark brows knitted together, and she gnawed on a thumb nail as she walked the length of the room, gaped at the bookcase lining one of the walls for a moment, then turned and darted to the enormous window overlooking that thrashing grey ocean below. Then she drifted to the tea table, circled a chaise lounge and it was back to the bookcase again.

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