Chapter 34
Chapter
Thirty-Four
EVIE
“ T ake as much as you need.” I hoisted another crate, this one filled with fresh bread and plump peaches, and handed it to a small grandmother curved at the waist and her toothy grandchild.
She took the crate with jerky, frightened movements, as if I would sprout tendrils and bite her.
She was one of the few who’d dared approach.
Most of them had obviously been swayed by Adara standing beside me on the steps of the temple I’d destroyed. Now it had a wooden structure and half of the floor mosaic had been replaced, but its restoration had stopped the day he ’d left for war.
What a coincidence.
Those who accepted the food we’d brought were from the older generation, who remembered the former general and everything she’d done for their Clan.
“There’s enough for everyone.” I let my voice travel through the busy intersection which had intimidated me so many months ago.
For the first time since the wedding, I’d donned my Blood Brotherhood armor.
Despite my lack of hunger, it still fit me well, molding to my body. I tried not to think about his blood so dangerously close to my skin, but I couldn’t ignore the rich scent of the leather, which brought back memories of the night we’d trained, filled with laughter and surprises.
Putting the armor on in the morning had been a reflex after a restless night where he hadn’t appeared in my dreams. I’d checked the bond. He was exhausted and scheming, but very much alive. I told myself he’d been too busy to sleep and wasn’t avoiding me. I doubted our bond would have let him, anyway.
The leather creaked as I picked up another crate.
I needed every precaution–including my crown. It might've been ugly, but it could protect me–and draw attention.
The advisors, with their absolute garbage hearts, had no issues parading themselves for their so-called good deeds.
This wasn’t a fair fight and I needed to win.
So what if my skin crawled as all these eyes stared at me? Let this be the worst thing I had to endure until the war ended.
And all those whispers? Let them murmur about the dreadful Blue Queen who got a husband through a technicality.
I’d turn those whispers into shouts of support one day. If nothing else, I’d make sure the Blood Brotherhood knew what the Blue Queen was truly capable of.
“We’ll be bringing more tomorrow,” I went on, even as my insides clenched as the carts on the main road slowed down to stare at the spectacle .
Grandpa Constantine had warned me that good deeds are harder for people to accept than bad treatment. I needed to steel myself, just like Adara had warned.
A crowd had formed, but nobody else stepped forward.
I would not deflate.
I would not let them see me disappointed.
I would not–
“You,” a rough, smoker’s voice called out. A muscled man with a knitted cap stepped forward. “You were there the night of the fire.”
“I was,” I said evenly.
This could go very well or very badly.
He approached, the crowd parting out of his massive way. “Eryn says you’re the one who saved the widower and his girl.”
It seemed the red-headed woman had kept her promise and told tales of my bravery. I nodded.
He picked up a crate and bowed his head. “That takes courage. Strength.”
The magical word for the Blood Brotherhood–strength.
The word traveled through the crowd.
As if the floodgates opened, more and more of the civilians splintered from the group, coming closer. Not all, most still reluctant, but it was a start.
“We can take…anything?” a young boy asked, hunger shining in his eyes.
“Take as much as you need.”
My thoughts instantly raced to the spread and colorful sugars in the palace’s court. I wondered how the civilians would have acted if they’d known.
The boy picked up a basket filled with preserves, some of Goose’s best work, not taking his big eyes off me. “Is it true you ran straight into the flames and came out unscathed?”
I flexed my scarred toes. “Not unscathed.”
“Grandmama says only the gods’ champions can fight fire and still live.”
Before I could reply, his mother rushed forward and picked him up, vanishing back in the throng of people.
“That’s just an old tale elders like to scare their grandchildren with so they won’t play with fire,” Adara muttered.
“That’s better than the other rumors I’ve heard about me,” I said right as a shimmer in the crowd caught my eye.
Adara and I exchanged a quick glance.
I’d managed to gather enough people to draw attention. Now I had to hope everything went according to plan.
“Help yourselves.” I raised my arms as I walked down the stairs in what I hoped was a perfect imitation of how Leesa had taught me to move.
“Elegant and slow. Convey power and grace all in one,” she’d said.
Step by bloody step, I’d make them love me, just like Grandpa Constantine had wanted.
More people rushed toward the supplies now that I wasn’t there. Hopefully, word of the Blue Queen bringing food would spread.
My gaze scanned the street for Leesa’s golden curls. As expected, she stood nearby Petrylla, and her maid, Rosyna, in front of a shop that sold crystal balls and amulets.
Apparently, the Port Master was so obsessed with having a strong heir, Petrylla–who Adara had discovered had grown up on a farm ten miles away from nowhere–was following every old wives’ tale she heard. She bought talismans to hang over her bed, refused to drink milk, and even bathed in oxen blood.
Unfortunately, Petrylla also had a sensitive stomach and would spill her guts the second she touched the blood, as Rosyna had confided in Leesa.
As I approached them, I rolled my shoulders back and tried my best to curve my upper lip into a sneer.
“Leesa, my bag,” I said as imperiously as I could muster and grimaced at the amulets. Leesa handed me my bag–hers, in reality–and gave me a knowing look. “These trinkets are so gaudy they’re hurting my eyes.”
I noticed Petrylla watching me from the corner of her eye. This crown had some benefits after all.
“I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing them. I’d be the laughing stock at court,” I went on, silently promising myself to talk up this shop every chance I got once everything was over. Leesa handed me the bag and gave me a knowing look. “I bet my last coin these aren’t nearly as powerful as the ones I can get from that merchant in the Fair Isles.”
Petrylla stepped away from the display window and couldn’t pretend she hadn’t seen me any longer.
“Your Highness,” she said much too loudly.
That was the thing with growing up secluded from big cities–you didn’t know how to adjust the volume of your voice. I’d almost screamed each word the first few days back in Aquila.
“Lady Petrylla,” I gave her a warmer smile than she deserved. “You have to tell me where you got this dress. Not Lady Valesya’s shop, I imagine.”
She snorted a laugh. “Valesya–I mean, Lady Valesya–wishes she could sell this.”
With so many crystals dangling from the yellow fabric covering her growing belly, I doubted it, but nodded all the same.
Petrylla stepped closer. “You said something about strong amulets from the Fair Isles…”
I tried not to grin.
“Oh, yes, I hear congratulations are in order for your wedding,” I said, trying to sound regal and snooty; the kind of person Petrylla would feel a kinship to. “And you’ve already been blessed with a child.”
Petrylla draped her hands over her stomach. She was farther along than I thought. “Thank you. Ever since the midwives told Loryn we’ll have a boy, he’s been besides himself. Keeps ordering gifts and calling him his little heir.”
“Oh? What gifts?” I asked as innocently as possible. According to Adara, the Port Master let very few vessels anchor in the Capital, and all of them his.
Petrylla tilted her head to the side, hesitating. She might have been greedy, but she wasn’t dumb. “Are gifts really important in the Capital? Lady Isalyth also asked about that.”
“Did she now?” A corner of my lips ticked up. Useful information, that. “Gifts are very important around here–”
I turned and kept talking as I walked, a trick I’d seen Allie pull off back in Aquila. She just assumed people would follow her if they wanted to keep discussing and it worked.
Every. Single. Time.
Miracle of all miracles, it worked now, too. Petrylla fell in line with me, Leesa and Rosyna close by, like it had been her idea to stroll all along.
“–especially ones for a young babe. They can determine their entire future. Must be why Lady Isalyth was so curious.” Apart from the fact that getting pregnant out of wedlock was about as juicy of a rumor as Isalyth could find without smearing me.
“She’s curious about a lot of things.” Petrylla rolled her eyes. Isalyth wasn’t high up enough on the court hierarchy to interest her too much, it seems. “She invited me over for tea. I wanted to say no, of course, but she was keeping my new greeting cards captive.”
“Now those are just bad manners. She knows you’re married to the Port Master, right?” I asked as we neared the corner with the fish shop where Leesa and the others–including dear Kaya–had hid in as I’d faced the Serpents attackers. The smell wasn’t as pungent today, but it still burned as I inhaled it.
Perfect.
“You’d think she’d be more gracious about it. So about those amulets–” Petrylla jolted to a stop as the smell became more potent.
She slapped a hand to her mouth, face turning pasty.
Shame, that. “Oh, no. Are you alright?”
“The smell,” she managed, gagging.
“Don’t worry, I have the perfect thing.” I dug into the bag and took out the smelling salts Leesa had prepared.
Petrylla took one look at the jewel encrusted bottle and yanked it out of my hands without question, sniffing the citrusy concoction as the two of us took cover underneath a willow tree, while Leesa distracted Rosyna with midwives’ tales about special recipes so the baby wouldn’t cry too much.
Adara had wanted to lace the smelling salts with a truth serum, but I’d shot that idea down fast. I wasn’t taking chances with a pregnant woman, no matter how much I disliked her. And why would I, when inhaling too deeply made you lightheaded enough to be a bit more trusting of the person who handed the salts to you in the first place?
I was taking every precaution.
“You were saying Loryn bought special gifts?” I pressed.
“Yes, quite proud of them.” Petrylla didn’t remove the bottle from her nose once. The smell was pretty sweet. “Gold, with big jewels. He’s Port Master, after all.”
“He can bring in jewels during the war?” I widened my eyes to the point of pain.
“Of course, he can bring in anything.” Petrylla stepped closer, lowering her voice. “Why, did you have something in mind?”
I hesitated just the right amount. “I can trust you, right? Because if anyone knows I’m being frivolous during the war…”
“Of course.” Petrylla’s cold smile sent shivers down my spine. “The rations are for the other people, not for us.”
Spiteful, mean–“Great. I’ve been dying to get my hands on some pieces. Maybe some gifts for the king and queen. You know how in-laws are.”
Petrylla barked a laugh. “I’ve been trying to get rid of mine since I moved in. She keeps calling me farm girl. Once this baby comes, the old crone’s days in my house are numbered.”
Charming.
“Tell you what,” Petrylla said. “I’ll speak with Loryn and arrange something if you reveal who that merchant with the strong amulets is.”
“That would be fantastic.” I clapped my hands together. “I’m guessing this will cost me more than I’d planned on spending today.”
Petrylla’s eyes shone with greed and I knew I had her.