Page 98 of The Stolen Throne
Reven’s arm tightens under my fingertips. “Not without—”
I let go and walk toward the queen. “We are uninvited guests, my king. I think we can humor Istrella.”
Given the way the queen’s eyes widen, I’m guessing Reven is now glaring a hole into the back of my head. The shadows in my scar tug like he wants to pull me back.
But he doesn’t. “As you wish, my queen,” he murmurs behind me.
I’m not sure if he’s talking to me or her.
Either way, Istrella nods, then turns to her guards. “We won’t be long. Get the healer for the injured man and make them as comfortable as you can, but keep them all together until I order otherwise.”
I follow Istrella out of the room, down a level, then along a narrow, curving hallway to a wide set of wooden doors. She ushers me inside, and I pause as I take in what appears to be her private chambers, this room clearly a living space for her.
She nods for me to take a seat in a chair carved of some dark, sturdy wood in an X configuration that makes up both the legs and the back with a cushioned seat intricately embroidered with a scene of a kirin surrounded by mountains and forest—Trysolde and Istrella’s royal crest. I wonder if it’s based on the kirin I saw outside this tower the first time I came through here.
Grateful that she’s seating me by the roaring fireplace, I drop down and can’t not hold my hands out to the crackling flames. I’m still basically a block of ice after Tyndra.
Queen Istrella moves to stand before me. “King Eidolon—” Her gaze flickers to the now closed door at my back, almost as if she expects him to show up at the sound of his name. “Has put it out that you were stolen from the palace…by the Shadowraith who has been taking people from all the dominions.”
I should have known.
I look her directly in the eyes. “If stolen means that Shadowraith helped me escape the tyrant holding me hostage, then yes.”
Given how well she’s handled everything so far, I’m taken aback when she sinks shakily to sit onto the matching chair across from me. “I knew it,” she whispers through lips gone pale and pinched.
At my questioning stare, she winces delicately. “I was worried when we were there for your coronation and wedding celebration. I wondered if I should warn you.”
“About marrying Eidolon?”
She nods slowly, lifting her gaze to sweep over me as if checking for physical signs that I was harmed. “I think you had better tell me everything.”
My only hesitation is that I don’t know this woman. Not really. Grandmother used to say that Istrella was “quiet,” which was Grandmother for “weak.” Queens aren’t allowed to be that.
Except I don’t see weakness in the woman across from me, and she worried if she should warn me about Eidolon. Trust has to start somewhere, and what I need to ask her for… That is going to take trust. A lot of it. And fast.
I take a deep breath. “I am not Queen Tabra,” I say, my words dropping into the quiet between us like rocks disturbing the still waters of a pond. “I am her twin sister, Princess Mereneith.”
43
Not a Fairy Tale
I tell Istrella what she needs to know. Not everything but enough.
As soon as I finish, she sends for the guards to release my people. I’m in the middle of answering her questions about the amulets when Vos, Horus with Bene on his shoulder, and Hakan walk in behind Reven.
The queen nods at each as they are introduced. She pauses on Vos again, though. “I wondered what happened to you.”
Vos drops into the chair she’d offered. At first, I think maybe he’s not feeling well, but then he sits forward, both elbows propped on his knees. “Not much, as you can see.”
“Where are the others?” I ask.
“The queen’s personal physician met us at the portal and has taken Cain to her chambers,” Horus says. “Pella and Tziah went with him.”
Relief has me taking a small, silent breath. At least there’s that.
Bene chooses that moment to fly from where he is perched on Horus’s shoulder to the back of my chair. I catch the way Istrella is studying him, and I don’t blame her. She’s close enough to be able to tell he’s not a real raven.
“Domina,” I say, “I would like to introduce you to Bene. He is the consort of the Goddess Aryd.” She startles at that, but I’m not finished. “And the Devourer that you would know as the Elimination.”
