The carriage began to make its descent, and neither of us said anything as it bumped to the ground, the bottom of the carriage scraping against the stones that acted as its resting place in front of the Hall of the Pleiades.
“Her Majesty,” I heard a loud male voice announce. “The Golden Rose of Nerissette. Queen Alicia Wilhemina the First. Long may she reign.”
“Long live the queen,” the crowd roared as the doors to my carriage opened, and I stepped out of the carriage. When I landed on the platform, the people began to cheer louder, and I lifted my hand, waving at my subjects.
“Your Majesty?” The red-coated soldier at the bottom of the stairs held out a hand, palm down, and I put my hand on top of his, letting him help me down the stairs. I heard Winston get out of the carriage behind me, and the crowd continued to cheer as he followed me down the steps and then up the cramped center aisle that had been roped off.
When we reached the stairs to the Hall of the Pleiades, all of the nobles in the front row bowed, and I started toward the podium where my aunt was waiting with her white-haired ambassador in the long, silver robes that denoted his status as a wizard.
“Thank you,” Bavasama said quietly, between gritted teeth, “for coming to tell me good-bye.”
“I wanted to make sure you actually left,” I said under my breath.
“You know,” she whispered as we both stood staring at the crowd and waving, fake smiles plastered on our faces. “Everyone says how much braver you are than your mother. What they’re really saying is how much stupider you are. And that’s pretty amazing considering your mother was a nitwit.”
“My mother—”
“Let me trap her on the other side of the mirror with barely a fight.”
“What?” I turned to look at her, completely forgetting about putting on an act for the crowd. “Esmeralda told me—”
“You think that stupid housecat is the only sorceress in this world?” Bavasama grinned at me. “The only one who can change people’s perceptions of what really happened?”
“You—”
“I helped the Fate Maker imprison your mother in her tower, and I took on her face, sat on her throne, and pretended to wear her crown. As it should have been from the very start.”
I stared at her, wide-eyed.
“And when people started to question why strong, brave Preethana was letting herself get walked on, I ensorcelled the cat so that she remembered helping your mother through the mirror. When, in reality, I was the one who forced your mother through at the point of a sword.”
“You—”
“What are you going to do, darling niece of mine?” Bavasama said under her breath so that only I could hear. “Kill me? Sink your kingdom back into war? Risk the lives of all these people who you love so much?”
“Get out of Neris,” I said as another carriage, this one black and much shabbier than my own with its paint chipping and its horses on hoof, pulled up. “And don’t ever come back. Because if I see you again, I will kill you.”
“You can try,” she said before starting toward the carriage. “But I don’t think you’ll succeed.”
“Watch me,” I said, my jaw clenched. I watched her get in the carriage, smiling and waving all the while so that the crowd wouldn’t notice just how angry I really was.
“Your Majesty?” John came over to me and gripped my free elbow. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” I grit out. “Why?”
“Because you’re grinding your teeth,” John said.
“Everything’s fine,” I repeated. “But if I were you, I’d tell the army not to get too comfortable. I suspect we’ll be going to war again very, very soon.”
Chapter Three
Winston came and found me later that afternoon as I sat in the back garden of the palace, looking over reports from the dryads. Most of the fields that had been damaged last year during the Fate Maker’s and my aunt’s invasions were blooming again, and those that weren’t would be ready for the next planting season. Which was good. Our farmers would be able to provide enough food, not just for our people, but for trade with Bathune as well.
“Hey,” he said softly.
I nodded at him without looking up as I scrawled my name across the bottom of the reports. I was afraid to look up. Afraid that he was here to fight with me again. “Hey.”
“You busy?” He sounded cautious.
“A bit.” I looked up at him and then glanced over at the pile of reports I still had to go through. I wanted to spend time with him, but I had to be responsible, to be an adult. The running of an entire world fell on my shoulders, after all.
“Think you could take a break and go for a fly with me?” Winston asked, his voice cautious and unsure.
“I don’t…” I trailed off and stared up at him. I wanted to go hang out with him, I really did. We had barely had any time together this year, with the war and all, and I knew we needed to reconnect. I wanted to reconnect. But I had so much stuff to do that I wasn’t sure that I had time right now. We’d let too much stuff slide while we were hammering out my aunt’s surrender.
“Come on. I promise you’ll have fun. You need to get outside for a bit. Take a break. Now that your aunt is gone, you can take a little time off.” Winston grabbed my hand and gave it a tug, not pulling hard but still trying to get me to follow him. “We can spend some time together.”
I looked back to the pile of reports. I really shouldn’t go out. I had responsibilities. I needed to meet with the goblins that were finishing the last of the repairs on my palace. I’d told them to finish my tower last, to restore the rest of the palace first, and they were almost done with everything now. I was looking forward to finally getting back in my own bed again. Then, after I met with the goblins, I needed to start laying down firm plans for what we were going to do for the memorial we had planned but had never gotten around to starting. Not to mention all the reports I needed to review. I glared at the pile next to me. I had a lot of stuff to do and none of it was what I’d have called fun, but I still had to do it anyway.
I didn’t have time to go out for a flight with the big black dragon I called my boyfriend—no matter how much I wanted to do exactly that. I was a queen, and I had responsibilities. Lots of responsibilities. Probably more responsibility than anyone with any brains would normally give to a seventeen-year-old girl.
“But—” I started.
“Go,” I heard a deep voice say from behind me. I turned to find John of Leavenwald standing behind me, his hands on his hips and a smile on his face.
He was another thing I needed to deal with. After all these months of avoiding each other, we really did need to figure some stuff out. Like how to deal with the fact that he was my father. Or how we were going to come to terms with the fact that the Fate Maker had killed his son—my half brother, Eamon—before I managed to banish the wizard into the Bleak.
To be fair, if my brother hadn’t kidnapped me and then tried to sell me to the Fate Maker, he would probably still be alive, but I figured it was better if we all tried to forget about that part.
“Go on.” John waved toward the remains of the forest where the dragon’s aerie was located. “You need to get out of here for a bit. You’ve been working yourself to exhaustion each day. You deserve a small break. Both of you do.”
“There’s work still to be done, paperwork to go through. Military dispatches. I need to meet with the—”
“I’ll handle it.” John of Leavenwald waved at the doorway again.
“But—”
“Allie,” Winston cut in, and I turned to see him staring from me to John.
“All of these things are supposed to be my responsibility. I’m the queen. Keeping everything running smooth is my job,” I insisted.