Chapter 10
10
Saskia was certainly not avoiding her own librarian. That would be absurd. She was simply extraordinarily busy.
Not only did she still have innumerable challenges to surmount in her fight to erect new magical defenses against the Archduke of Estarion’s scheming, she was currently weighed down with the nightmare of an upcoming feast to both plan and dread—especially as it had somehow transformed, in the hands of Mirjana and Mrs. Haglitz, into a horrifying two-day event with an ever-growing number of gossiping guests desperate to invade her privacy.
So if she hadn’t happened to stop in the library again over the past week, that did not in any way imply that she was, of all insulting notions, nervous. Wicked queens, obviously, did not suffer from nerves.
… And they absolutely did not ever find themselves shivering at the mere memory of that moment of arcing, snapping heat and physical connection and that sudden, breathtaking sense of possibility and—
“Saskia, darling?” Across the small, round table where they sat in a sunny parlor with green walls covered in ivy chains and scented blossoms, Lorelei batted long, glittering eyelashes with exaggerated concern. “Have we broken you with too much social chatting?”
Saskia landed back in the present with a thud. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said flatly and downed the rest of her insipidly flowery tea in one lukewarm gulp. “I am perfectly fine. Obviously. ”
On her other side, Ailana cleared her throat delicately. “Then… are you by any chance ready to answer the question we just asked?”
The question… Saskia rapidly searched her memory. Oh, yes. That was what had sent her down that chain of distraction in the first place. “No progress whatsoever,” she reported.
If there had been any progress in his hunt for a useful spell of finding, her librarian would have sent a note to alert her. He certainly wouldn’t have waited in hope for her to visit him—not after the way he’d leapt away from her with unhidden horror the last time they’d met, repulsed by the same accidental intimacy that had sparked wildfire through her own skin.
The vivid memory of that frustration lent her words a harsh edge. “Are you absolutely certain that the Archduke is missing? According to my First Minister, he seems to be astonishingly busy conspiring against me from his palace in Estaviel City at the moment.”
“Oh, he doesn’t need to be at the palace to do that,” Ailana murmured. “He may well have left plans with his Chief Minister— or be keeping up a private means of communication as he quests after something else in secret.”
“ Quests? ” Saskia snorted, setting down her empty teacup with a clatter. “He’s hardly a knight of old. That man has no interest in anyone but the most proper and civilized of his fellow nobles, and there’s no need for him to visit any of them in secret. All he’s ever sought to do is stomp on the weak and impress the Emperor with his bigotry.”
“Which is all the more reason to be concerned about any secret quests on his part.” Ailana took a small, ladylike sip of her own tea and then dabbed her lips neatly with one of Lorelei’s lacy napkins.
“But—my goodness!—do you really mean to say that your infamous network of spies still haven’t had any luck, after all this time?” Lorelei blinked at Ailana with exaggerated shock… and incorrigible mischief lurking in her tone. “From the desperate way they’re whispered about by everyone, I’d thought they must be infallible!”
Ailana’s face tightened. “My spies are excellent, as they proved when they informed me of his departure, which has been kept so deep a secret from the rest of the continent. But even the best intelligence workers can hardly be expected to work miracles—and as far as any of them can tell, Archduke Felix simply vanished from sight. The only glimpse anyone may have had came from a farmer who thought he might have spotted the Archduke riding towards the Kitvarian border. That is why I came hoping to learn…”
She turned expectantly to Saskia. “How many of your spies have you sent out looking for him so far?”
Saskia closed her eyes for a brief moment of deep exasperation. “Unlike your web of informants, Ailana, I don’t work for you—and I didn’t come here to deliver a report and be judged upon it by either of you.” She’d had quite enough of that from her First Minister, who had breezily—and with maddening condescension—dismissed Saskia’s single attempt to broach the idea of the Archduke being anywhere in the world but his own palace.
Saskia had voluntarily arrived at this meeting at Lorelei’s home in Balravia only because she’d known that the others would foist themselves upon her again if she didn’t accept their invitation. The last thing her castle needed was even more visitors.
“Oh, but we’re all working together, you know,” Lorelei said soothingly. “We’ll all suffer if the Empire continues to expand.”
“But you’re not the ones it has its eyes on at the moment.” Saskia’s shoulders sagged as exhaustion nearly overcame her. “You wouldn’t believe how cunning the Archduke has been with some of his latest overtures. He hasn’t only been reaching out to Emperor Otto for help. My First Minister told me yesterday that he’s sent messengers to all of the other free kingdoms around me, trying to negotiate for any of them to allow his armies to march across their land, undisputed, to approach Kitvaria from a magically unprotected border.”
“Those bastards !” The word hissed out between Lorelei’s teeth as her eyes glowed a sudden, shimmering gold. “Are they actually considering it?”
“According to Mir—to my First Minister, the Archduke is claiming that it’s his sworn duty as Kitvaria’s loyal ally to reclaim the throne for my ‘poor’ uncle… despite the fact that Yaroslav stole it from my parents in the first place.”
That was why she was so exhausted that she’d struggled to focus on their conversation today. Braving the wrath of Mrs. Haglitz, she’d stayed up all night in her laboratory, fighting to conceive of any possible way that she could extend her current magical border to at least five times its current size… despite the fact that the epic endeavor of creating such a massive shield in the first place had nearly drained her of life as well as magic.
That part didn’t matter now. All that mattered was that she finish this meeting and find a way home to get it done.
But her colleagues weren’t moving on so quickly. “Those rotting bastards!” Fresh shoots of ivy curled upwards in furious tendrils around Lorelei’s gauzy chiffon skirts. “They’re so narrow-minded, they’ll support anyone over a woman, won’t they? They’re all so godsdamned threatened by the notion of any of us daring to hold a throne without a man to ‘guide’ us…”
Ailana’s voice was measured but as cold as ice. “Anyone who allows an Imperial army to cross into their lands, regardless of the excuses given, will find it surprisingly difficult to be rid of that army again afterwards. I wonder how many of your neighbors have thought through those consequences over the clink of Estarion’s gold and the charm of the Archduke’s messengers?”
The Queen of Nornne tapped one elegant brown finger against the rim of her own teacup as her eyes narrowed. “I wonder… when was the last time you met any of your neighboring rulers in person, Saskia?”
Saskia gave an irritable shrug. “Oh, decades ago, I’m sure. I was a child the last time there was a continental conference that brought everyone together.”
“I remember that conference well.” A dangerous sliver of blueish-white frost formed across the deep brown of Ailana’s eyes. It disappeared a moment later as she gave a firm nod. “Well, clearly, you’ll have to invite them all to your Winter’s Turning feast this year. It’s the only way to handle this properly.”
“ What? ” Saskia cringed. “Surely they’ll have their own feasts to host, won’t they?”
“They’ll make time to attend yours if they know what’s good for them,” Ailana said. “Trust me to make certain of that.”
“And you won’t have to worry about any danger coming with them, because we’ll both be there, too, of course,” Lorelei added. “The Queens of Villainy stand together against all enemies from now on.”
“I… thank you?” Saskia looked longingly at the empty pot of tea that sat before her. Surely there must have been some caffeine hidden amongst that colorful pile of scented leaves and blossoms, if only she could feel it in time to sort through all the different potential consequences of this political jousting. For once, she truly wished that Mirjana was by her side to interpret social cues for her.
No troll coffee or First Minister magically appeared to save her, though, so she was left to make her own decision. “Of course you’re both welcome to attend my Winter’s Turning,” she said on a sigh. Why not? Mirjana had sent out endless invitations. Within a few weeks, seemingly everyone would be packed inside Saskia’s home, whether she liked it or not. “But I haven’t actually asked for your assistance, so—”
“You don’t need to. Not anymore.” Ailana’s voice was implacable as she caught Saskia’s gaze and held it. “We all know what it is to stand alone as a ruler. None of us can survive that way forever. That’s why we’ve chosen to form this alliance and work together from now on.”
“And trust me, darling, it’s no trouble! I love parties. I cannot wait to see that lovely library of yours again… not to mention your lovely new librarian.” Lorelei winked. “Have you managed to get any glimpses behind his mask yet? I’d find out everything I could about him, if I were you. I did like the look of his shoulders under that cloak—and it is so satisfying to ferret out all of a man’s secrets, isn’t it?”
“Lorelei…” Ailana let out a tightly controlled sigh.
Saskia sealed her lips shut and ignored that impertinent line of questioning entirely.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t ignore her own conclusions. If the other queens could help protect more of her borders, then she had a responsibility, as Queen of Kitvaria, to accept that assistance… at least until she found a way to protect them on her own.
Still, she refused to be the weak link in their alliance. So, she would have to pay another visit to her librarian after all and hope that he’d forgotten that piercing moment when attraction had nearly overcome her good sense for the first time in nearly a decade.
She found him, of course, in the library. He sat at the study table in the center of the room when she entered, so engrossed in his note-taking that he didn’t even look up from his work. For the first time since they’d met, his all-concealing silver mask was shoved halfway up his face, angled to give him an unobstructed view of whatever he was studying so closely… ah.
He was reading her mother’s final manuscript and taking intent notes on it with the famous fountain pen.
Was he shocked and outraged by the words laid out before him? Saskia drew closer, stepping softly across the carpeted floor. She had chosen to trust him with it in a moment of unusual optimism, and yet…
Memories curled through her like seeping smoke.
So many dark wizards in the past had been outraged by the radical nature of her mother’s work. She still vividly recalled one employee of her parents who’d been reduced to such ranting fury by its inherent challenge to the notion of human superiority in magic—in his view, its attempt to taint future human magic by “corrupting” it with inhuman influences—that he’d had to be escorted out of the castle under armed guard.
Saskia had recognized him, only a few months later, among the traitorous wizards who’d aided her uncle in his coup. So, she held her breath now as she stepped stealthily closer to observe her own dark wizard… and to hunt for any signs of would-be betrayal.
There was no fury in what she could glimpse of his expression. True, his face was tilted away from her towards his work and shadowed by the propped-up mask, but still, she could make out the clean lines of his jaw and the sensitive lips that were pressed together now in unmistakable concentration.
His long fingers lifted a sheet of her mother’s manuscript with every bit as much painstaking care as she had seen him use before to stroke her crows’ rough feathers. Was this man ever less than gentle?
His lips parted absentmindedly a moment later, the tip of his tongue flicking out to moisten them. He set down the fountain pen and carefully fastened its cap before lifting a half-full coffee cup from the table to sip. He continued to read intently…
But Oskar, who had been napping on the table in a pile of rumpled black feathers beside the cup, woke at the disruption and let out a sleepy call of welcome to Saskia.
“Mmmf!” The wizard lurched forward in shock, slapping his free hand to his lips to protect the papers before him from any spattering of coffee. He jerked again as his hand met bare skin. Then he slid his long fingers in a rush across his lean, close-shaven cheek and yanked the silver mask back down over his chin with a groan of frustration.
“Truly, you have nothing to fear.” Giving up on silence, Saskia strode the rest of the way to his table, following a path laid out between new piles of books. “I’m sure your appearance is terribly dire and desperate, but I believe I might just survive the sight without swooning pathetically.”
Any other dark wizard would have been incensed at such teasing; her dark wizard let out a half laugh that sounded pained. “I can’t imagine you swooning over anything. But, Your Majesty…”
“I saw nothing you wouldn’t wish to reveal,” she assured him. Was there, after all, something more to his insistence on masking than the usual dark wizardly mystique? A scar of some sort, perhaps, that made him self-conscious? She gentled her tone as she continued, “You really ought to have some way to safely eat and drink, though, if you are to spend so many of your waking hours at work. Now that I’ve seen the lower half of your face and survived it, do you think you could possibly shift to a half-mask?”
“Ah…” He paused, taking a breath that looked strained. “Perhaps. Yes. If… that is, you really saw nothing that alarmed you?”
He sounded so earnestly concerned that Saskia had to bite back a rueful snort. If he had any notion of the sights she’d witnessed across her life, he wouldn’t have the slightest fear that she’d be disconcerted by the angular line of his freshly shaven jaw, much less by any old scars he might be hiding… although she might well find herself lying awake tonight, haunted by the memory of those sensitive lips parted as if for a kiss.
Focus! It was her lack of sleep distracting her, no more. Snapping back to full alertness, she lifted her chin and did her best to erase all thoughts of his lips from her mind. “You’re perfectly safe to reveal the lower half of your face from now on,” she promised, “but I actually came here with a different purpose.”
“Of course.” He rose from his seat on the other side of the table. “Do you wish a progress report on your library as a whole? Or were you thinking particularly of your mother’s own work? I’ve been considering various different options for how best to arrange the binding of her final manuscript, but—”
“I’ll leave all of that in your good hands.” Her voice was firm, but the final knot of tension in her chest released in a rush of warmth and relief at his words. Clearly, he hadn’t been so shocked or infuriated by her mother’s manuscript that she would have to fear losing his loyalty after all.
Truly, she should have known better, by now, than ever to have worried. A dark wizard who spoke to everyone he met with kindness, respected all the nonhuman members of her staff, and looked after her most impudent young crow with unfailing sweetness was a rare and precious find. She wouldn’t let herself forget that again.
“Actually,” she said, “I came here to ask about a different type of progress. Have you had any luck so far in finding any useful spells for locating a lost stranger as you’ve sorted through the library?”
“ Ah. ” There was a surprisingly awkward moment of silence. Saskia couldn’t see the wizard’s expression behind the silver mask, but every line of his body seemed to have rigidified within his cloak. “I have been carefully looking out for such a spell,” he finally said, his voice strained, “but unfortunately…”
Click. The door to the library opened behind Saskia, and the sound of Morlokk’s polite throat-clearing cut off the wizard’s next words.
“Ahem. Apologies, Your Majesty and Sinistro, but I must inform you both that an unexpected visitor has arrived.”
“Oh, no, really?” Saskia groaned as she turned to face her majordomo. Hadn’t she done more than enough socializing for one day? “Surely you and Mrs. Haglitz can deal with whoever it is. Unless it’s really unavoidably urgent…”
“I’m afraid this particular visitor cannot be handled by either of us.” The weary crags in Morlokk’s face seemed to deepen with his words. “You see, a second dark wizard has come in answer to Your Majesty’s advertisement, and he is quite insistent on remaining even though we both informed him that you’d already filled the post. In fact…”
Morlokk let out a heavy sigh as he finished. “He claims that you have been tricked into making a terrible mistake.”