Page 74 of Of Blood & Bone: The Young Queen

“Thank you, my Queen,” she replies, “it’s good to be home.”

“I trust you are well and no harm came to you whilst you carried out your mission?” I ask.

She throws a quick glance at Kes. “I’m fine, Your Majesty, nothing happened that I couldn’t handle.”

I wonder what exactly she means by that, but I sense she is eager to tell me what she knows so I don’t ask for details and ask her to give me a report instead.

“First of all, Your Majesty, Lord Greythorne plans to arrive in Valensia sooner rather than later. I think he will be here before the new moon. He is not happy at the presence of an Emissary of Ellerban in the castle. Also, he has amassed more soldiers and his army is even larger than we thought. He has already deployed units at strategic points throughout the realm. Lastly, as you suspected, he has formed a number of allianceswith other lords, most notably Glindenbrooke, Montrose, Sutton and Bottomleigh.”

Most of what she tells me confirms what I already suspected and I’m not surprised Greythorne knew about an emissary being here. I’ve no doubt he has a spy or two of his own in the castle. Thankfully, he isn’t aware of the prince’s identity. Nevertheless, the part about him returning to Valensia ahead of when he said he would sends a chill through me.

“Thank you, Alina,” I say to the youngest member of the Khaleeni, “you may go. I’m sure you’re looking forward to some decent food and a rest.”

“Thank you, my Queen,” she replies as she bows and leaves me and Kes to discuss the information she has given us.

“How fares the prince?’ Kes asks.

“He was sleeping when I left him this morning,” I reply. “Myreena gave him a potent elixir yesterday evening.”

“Given everything that’s happened in the past few days, do you still intend to make him your king?”

“Yes, most definitely.”

“Then I suggest you do it sooner rather than later. I don’t like the sound of Greythorne’s plan to surprise us with an earlier return. It sounds to me like he is suspicious, and I fear he plans to bring the wedding forward or take you by force. If you are already married to the prince this ruins his plan.”

I nod in agreement. “Yes, I fear you’re right. We must do two things. I will marry the prince today, at the setting of the sun. Please inform Barra and Aaran of this plan and arrange for the castle cleric to be in my chamber at the appointed time. Also, there must be a ban on any lord entering Valensia before the first day of the new moon. Greythorne may be permitted to set up camp on the outskirts but that is all. See to it that a ring of steel surrounds Valensia.”

Kes nods. “Consider it done.”

I smile. “Thank you, my friend. The only one getting a surprise around here will be Greythorne and his collaborators. Now, all that remains is for you to agree to be my maid of honour.”

Her face warms with a wide smile and she places her hand upon mine. “It would be my pleasure, my Queen.”

“Maid of honour? It seems a lot has happened in my absence,” a familiar voice sounds from behind us and both Kes and I are shocked to find Ailish standing in the doorway.

“Ailish!” I exclaim, “I was unaware you had returned. Come join us.”

“Thank you, my Queen,” she replies, “I have only just returned and came looking for you and the commander straight away as I need to speak with you urgently.”

She sits opposite Kes and I, and there’s no mistaking the concern etched across her face.

“Pray tell, what is it that worries you so?” I ask.

“Prince Mikil has declared himself king of Ellerban.”

I gasp, totally taken aback at her words.

“What?” I ask. “But how can he, the true heir to the throne, Prince Ronan, lives.”

“He has declared Prince Ronan either missing, due to his feebleness of mind, or dead. He informed the people that either way, he needed to take his rightful place on the throne and lead his people. He made much of his sorrow at his brother’s fate.”

I look at Kes, at a loss for words. I need a few moments to process this information and what it means for Prince Ronan. I also try to quell the queasy feeling in my stomach as the thought occurs to me that Prince Mikil might have had something to do with what happened to Prince Ronan’s wife and son. Kes merely raises her eyebrows in reply. Obviously, this wasn’t something she expected to hear either.

“However,” Ailish continues, “that’s not the worst of it. I have reason to believe Prince, or should I say, King Mikil has formed a secret alliance with Greythorne.”

“What?” I ask, as my heart jumps to my throat. “What reason do you have to believe such a thing?”

“One night, a number of riders came to the castle. It was late and the night was dark, but there was something familiar to me about these riders and I realised I knew them from the day of the Harvesting. Their clothes, at least what I could see under the black cloaks they wore, were that of Greythorne’s elite guard. The next morning a number of girls were being fed in the castle kitchen and some were being treated for injuries they received from these brutes the night before. They told me of marks on the arms of these men and how they referred to their leader as Lord Greythorne.”

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