Page 13 of The Court of Secrets
CHAPTER FIVE
Kill him.A voice I didn’t recognize as my own tinkered in my head. I furrowed my brows and shook it away. I had been thinking about Vahaga when it happened. Was I going insane?
I returned from trying to find Morgana, who had once again evaded me. I wished I could find her. If anyone had answers as to what was happening to me, it was her.
Hurrying back to my room, my mind whirled. The council meeting was about to happen, the first one of my reign, and I’d never felt more nervous. It was official business. No more listening through doors or behind curtains like I used to. I was in charge this time. The votes made in that room would change lives.
I changed into a gown of deep emerald green. The velvet was soft against my skin, feeling like a warm embrace in the form of clothing. I wondered about Cedric. He’d been weirdly avoidant since I’d seen Amara. He was acting different, but what I could expect from him being at my court? It was unfounded territory for him—new customs, people, and magic—and Magaelor was not kind to outsiders.
My train trailed behind me as I made my way toward the council room. Oil lamps flickered dimly as afternoon darkened to evening. Thoughts of Blaise coming to court and the threat of Kiros loomed like a storm cloud over my head. I only hoped not aggravating Kiros would mean he’d leave Magaelor alone… for now.
I shook my head. I had to focus. I was about to enter the snake pit. My thoughts scattered and my mind sharpened. I gave myself a quick pep talk under my breath before raising my head.
“Your Majesty,” one guard said, and the three bowed at their waists.
The doors were opened, and I was announced. The lords stood, their chairs screeching back. I saw they’d begun without me. Vahaga stood last, making it painfully obvious he didn’t want to.
“Lord Abor.” I said, acknowledging his pointed stare.
His midnight-blue eyes locked onto mine, calculating and wonder in his wide gaze. His blond wavy hair was pulled away from his face. He was the richest, owning the biggest pockets of land in Magaelor. “Your Majesty, I speak for us all when I say what a pleasure it is to have you join us today.” His voice was as crisp and clear as a Niferum lake on a winter’s eve. His words aired confidence and conviction. I understood why the others looked up to him.
“Thank you.” I turned my attention to the second wealthiest but most influential of the four:Louis Caverly, next in line to the throne if I didn’t produce an heir. “Your Majesty,” he said, lowering his viper-like eyes toward me. Louis was known to be a gambling man who enjoyed his liquor a little too much. “It is a pity to hear about Edgar. You killed him, no?”
“King Blaise killed him,” I replied, though he already would know. “Under my orders. Edgar was a traitor. Do you disagree, Louis?”
“Your father wanted him on the throne, but yes, as you were discovered alive, and he knew that, he would be branded a traitor. Isuppose.”
He’d do well at the dark fae court, I mused. His cunning, his ability to use words like weapons, and his lust for sensual things… A part of me wished I could send him there, away from me and my court, but he’d never agree; he hated the fae, even if he bore a striking resemblance to their ways.
“How are your daughters?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. He’d always wanted a son but never produced an heir. “Still no son?”
“No,” he answered swiftly, his tone clipped.
“Hmm.” I turned my attention toLord Gregoir Mercer and Lord Edur Grey. Edur was the youngest of them all, and the most handsome. He had a strong jawline, big blue eyes, and tousled, light-brown hair.
Gregoir was approaching his sixtieth year, yet he managed to maintain a youthful appearance. He had chestnut skin, and his wide brown eyes regarded me.
“Lords.” I smiled, remembering how kind they’d both been to me before André died and I was forced to leave. Edur had inherited the lordship at the tender age of fourteen.
“Majesty.” Gregoir gestured around us.
“Yes.” I rested my hand against my stomach. “Let us sit.”
Vahaga was the first to talk. His voice sounded smooth and dry as he approached the subject I’d already said no to. “I would first like to discuss King Kiros’s attack on our kingdom.”
My eyebrows pinched and forehead wrinkled. “Attack? When?”
He didn’t look at me. Instead, at Lord Abor. “Our young queen was taken by Xenos, kidnapped and dragged to their kingdom to be forced into a marriage. There must be retribution.”
I pressed my lips into a hard line. He’d approached the subject with talks of vengeance. It would make it harder for me to diffuse them.
Vahaga placed his bony hands on the table, and his jeweled rings sparkled from his pale fingers. He cleared his throat. “We are in an advantageous position, which shall not last for long. King Kiros is under threat from his own people and the firedrake warders. News of dragons being held captive swept their large nation. He is struggling to negotiate his court, according to sources. It would have been near impossible for us to station anyone at their court before, when Xenos ruled, but under Kiros’s pressures and distractions, we have been able to place a spy.”
“Why was I not informed?” I asked, panic seizing me. A spy was bad news, especially if whispers of my being in Berovia before being captured was discovered by them.
“You are being informed now. Majesty.” He added my title as an afterthought. “The spy was sent only this morning.”
I ground my teeth. “While noble of you to want to defend my honor, Vahaga, as I said yesterday, I do believe it to be a mistake to attack now. We are low on men. We lost large numbers in the battle, on both sides, and our soldiers are yet to be paid. Our resources are dwindling. We must take care of our own first before sending them back into battle.”
