Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
EVIE
B anu and Valuta wielded immense power and were some of the most important people in the Blood Brotherhood Clan–but not the most.
It was time to see just how distracted and placid Zavoya and Eldryan truly were.
The queen had been so excited at me finally joining her for tea, she’d sent over Cyndra, her lady-in-waiting, with a basket of plum buns Anya devoured, much to Goose’s chagrin, who’d just taken a cherry cake out of the oven.
His sadness quickly vanished as he disappeared into the library with Leesa, to try and crack the symbol’s instructions. After hours of whispers, hectic pacing that resounded throughout the house, and about fifteen minutes of suspicious silence, they came back out with frowns and more questions than answers.
“The scroll is a blend of Northern and Quorilith signs, that’s all we could detect.” Leesa had sighed.
“The A’s–or the equivalent of A’s, since vowels are used interchangeably in old Northern languages; efficiency, you see–have these longer lines in the middle,” Goose had said. “And these lines are long enough to wrap around the entire letter and–”
“Can you decipher it?” I’d asked, turning my back on the mountain of dresses I’d been rifling through.
What did one wear to meet a queen–who also happened to have two daughter-in-laws and the other one was the favorite?
A crack of a smile had pierced the fatigue on Goose’s face. “Give me two weeks.”
He hadn’t even mumbled or hesitated once.
It was a slow process, but Goose’s confidence was improving; spending more time with Leesa definitely helped.
Leesa, on the other hand, had swooped in to help and fussed over my dresses well into the night.
“This one is blue, it will clash with the furniture.” She’d tsked. “And the amber one doesn’t make your eyes shine like they’re supposed to.”
“I just need to look presentable,” I said.
“You need to look amazing.”
I did look amazing as I walked up the palace stairs in the perfect cadence Leesa had taught me.
Not too fast–I didn’t want to seem too eager to the curious onlookers.
Definitely not too slow, either–that would have somehow been seen as an impertinence.
Leesa walked beside me, dictating the rhythm easily.
For battle, I brought Adara.
For the Blood Brotherhood court, there was no better ally than Leesa.
She’d coiffed my hair to the high heavens, “exactly an inch lower than the height the queen will wear hers, that’s the proper way”, Leesa had instructed. She’d plaited exactly seven braids–”seven is a lucky number, Your High–I mean, Evie. I swear I’ll get it right one day”–and cheekily added a hairpin ending in a grand blue sapphire surrounded by small seed pearls.
“There’s absolutely nothing in the court rules that says you can’t accessorize your hair as you wish,” Leesa had declared primly, even her eyes glinted mischievously. “Blue is the Protectorate’s color, you’re just missing your family.”
Did I ever. Especially swaddled in decadent shades of gold, wearing my ugly protective crown, about to enter the viper den that was the Blood Brotherhood court.
Leesa and I stopped in front of the imposing doors, where wood and gold blended together in intricate swirls, phoenixes, and dragons. The South entrance to the palace led to the throne room and overlooked the gates and the Capital.
The North side had thick walls which could ward off any attack–or maybe keep the venom inside.
An entire squadron of guards greeted us at the entrance, weapons gleaming in the unforgiving sun. None of them moved, but they stared, some curious, some glaring. One in the back, with a pointed chin and thick eyebrows, looked at me with pure wrath.
What could I have possibly done to instill such utter hatred?
The seconds ticked by in suffocating silence–as Leesa told me to expect.
Twenty-three , I counted in my mind.
Twenty-four.
Twenty-five.
Right on cue, the massive doors opened slowly, a whiff of magnolia petals fluttering toward us. I clenched my jaw as the scent invaded my senses, bringing with it memories of Dria Vegheara’s statue and his heated whispers tickling the back of my ear.
From beyond the doors, a portly man with many, many years etched onto his face waddled forward. Above his greying beard, his nose was stuck so high in the air, his pointed hat was in danger of falling off the back of his head.
“The Voice of the Threshold greets all new visitors and takes his duty very seriously,” Leesa had warned.
“He should.” Adara had scoffed; she’d started hiding out in places Anya wouldn’t be able to find her as quickly, my bedroom being one of them. “He’s licked enough of the Sages’ boots to get that position.”
The man stopped a few good feet away. With a snap, he unfurled a scroll weaved out of gold threads.
“The esteemed Rohen Dynasty, under the current guidance of Their Imperial Majesties, Zavoya and Eldryan Rohenstorm, welcome new visitors, powerful and not, as long as their motives are right and their hearts are pure,” he recited. For someone named Voice of the Threshold, he had a nasal lilt and ate his vowels. “State your title and your reason for entering the palace.”
“Her Highness, the princess Vegheara-Rohenstorm, has a meeting with the queen,” Leesa answered for me. Apparently, people at court rarely talked when they didn’t feel like it. “She has been invited by Her Majesty.”
I struggled not to roll my eyes. So much pomp and circumstance for a cup of tea.
The man’s beard ruffled. “Her Grace ’s arrival has been announced. You may proceed.”
The Voice of the Threshold snapped his scroll back up and made to turn, just as pretentiously as he’d sauntered out.
I wanted to laugh, I did. The Blood Brotherhood Clan could take their titles and shove them up their pompous asses.
But this was my day in court and I couldn’t be perceived as anything other than powerful. His slight couldn’t be ignored.
“ Most people in Phoenix Peak only understand a strong hand. You’d do well to remember that ,” Owyn’s words whispered in my mind.
“You will address me properly,” I rumbled with the imperious tone fit for a queen; Grandpa Constantine would have been proud of me. “As your princess.”
Couldn’t say as the future queen , now could I? Only Kaya had that right, as the favorite.
The man froze and turned his head back, caught off guard.
“Not to mention the wife of the future king.” My grin had too many edges. “I have his ear–and a very long memory.”
If the people at court expected venom to behave, I could play along. The man’s lips thinned until they vanished in his beard.
Those must’ve been some mean words he’d swallowed, but all he said was, “Of course, Your Highness .”
He’d deserved it, but that didn’t mean I’d liked it. Grandpa Constantine had taught me to rule with a steady hand, not a clenched fist.
As Leesa and I stepped forward, I felt that same pair of hateful eyes on the back of my neck.
Watching.
Waiting.
I couldn’t bother with that guard now.
I’d just stepped inside the Blood Brotherhood court.