Chapter 74
Chapter
Seventy-Four
ZANDYR
“ W hat happened?” I asked, as if I hadn’t helped plan all of this.
The broad-shouldered fishmonger who had his shop on the corner between the main street and the road toward the port cleared his throat.
“Yer Highness.” He huffed a sigh, wiping his hands on his apron. “As soon as you passed with the Blue Queen’s coffin, we noticed the first mark, by the flower shop on Third Street, the little one next to the willow.”
“Dozens of those blasted symbols, gods forgive me,” another voice said from the back.
“Angry red marks, everywhere,” someone else shouted. “Just like the ones The Capital Courier warned us about.”
“There was one on the Port Master’s house, too,” the fishmonger went on. “Then I heard a great big boom from the port and I saw smoke.”
“Just like what happened to Owyn’s home!” a chorus of voices rose.
“The curse came for us. The Blue Queen is dead and now we’re cursed!”
“My home is all I have, Your Highness. I can’t lose it!”
I held my open palm up, quieting them down, before I turned to Banu and Valuta.
“You promised to protect the Capital,” I said, making sure my voice carried.
“We did.” Valuta tilted her thin chin to the heavens. “We have a curfew, random searches at every hour, guards patrolling the streets.”
A distinct grumble vibrated through the crowd at the mention of the guards.
“And how did those patrols and curfews help?” I asked.
“They civilians are imagining things after reading that blasted Courier,” Banu said. “There is no way the symbol caused another fire–”
“How can you be sure, Banu?”
His beard trembled before he raised his hands piously to the heavens. “The gods have already struck tragedy on us once today with the death of the Lost Daughter. They are merciful and protect the righteous among us.”
“The people say they saw the symbols. The fire. Smoke is billowing in the distance.” I turned, facing Banu. “Are you saying they're lying?”
The civilians’ gazes jumped to the advisors.
Waiting.
Banu and Valuta looked at each other. Nothing good could come of it.
After a few seconds, they shared a solemn nod.
“The city was safe in the days you were away,” Valuta said, that mean glint returning to her eyes. “When you came back from war, the bridge exploded. Now we have a fire raging in the port–”
“Are you accusing me of something?” I asked in a deadly voice.
“Far be it from me to point the finger at a royal family member.” She inclined her head in a mock-bow. “But there are no coincidences. Perhaps your warriors are not as trustworthy as our guards.”
My warriors growled. Kylian took a step closer to the advisors, crossing his arms in front of his large chest.
“These warriors risked their lives to stave off a war and keep our Clan safe and they bear the scars,” I said. “Don’t dishonor their names when you have never seen battle.”
Valuta clenched her jaw. “Of course, Your Highness–”
“And about those guards you’re praising so much, all of them are under your command.” I crossed my wrists behind my back and started to walk in front of them nonchalantly. “You sent them into the Capital again, against my express command, and yet we have a fire on our hands.”
Banu steepled his fingers, in a mock imitation of sanctity. “The convoy has disrupted our careful strategy–”
“Your strategy is so good that a peaceful convoy, where people just walk in a line, can disrupt it?”
“ If the symbols have appeared, and if they indeed caused the fire, then we’re dealing with powers beyond us,” Valuta said.
“You’re the advisors. No power can be higher or stronger than your duty to protect the Capital and Phoenix Peak,” I said. “It’s the reason you have your titles. Should we reconsider them?”
My father shook his head. “Zandyr–”
“Father, this is between me and the advisors. All of this happened while you were in Phoenix Peak, too,” I said, gaze not letting go of Banu and Valuta’s. “Tell me, do you deserve your titles or not?”
“There should be no doubt that we do,” Valuta said pointedly, her lips thinning. “As I’ve said and everyone here heard, the Capital was attacked only when you returned.”
“That’s still on your watch.”
“We are merely advisors,” Banu said. “We cannot hope to compete with the power and strength of The Dragon, who should be our one true protector.”
Valuta slashed a warning look her husband’s way. In their quest to stave off blame, they’d committed a grave mistake–admitting they were weak.
A true Blood Brotherhood member would have rather cut out their own tongue than admit that in public.
“Is that why Owyn’s house burned down?” I asked. “I hadn’t left the Capital for more than five hours when that happened.”
“That was an unfortunate accident,” Banu said.
“And you refusing to open the Phoenix Peak gates to send aid before the fire spread to other houses? Was that an unfortunate accident as well?”
Banu’s mouth opened and closed too many times. “We found out about it only after the fire was extinguished, Your Highness.”
“Extinguished by the Blue Queen, who had to fight her way out of Phoenix Peak to do it.”
Valuta squared her shoulders. “That is a preposterous rumor. The Lost Daughter was simply at the right place at the right time.”
“You forget I was there, along with dozens of civilians,” Eryn said. “She was the only one who came. Ran into that burning building after Owyn and the girl without a second thought. And now she’s lying in that coffin after she risked her life and came out of the fire alive. You don’t get to rewrite what happened.”
A murmur of agreement rushed through the crowd.
Valuta’s gaze narrowed. “How do we know the Lost Daughter didn’t start the fire?”
They must have known they were cornered if they were resorting to such easy accusations.
“Don’t speak of my wife. She has done nothing but protect this Clan since the day she came here.” My voice lowered menacingly. “You don’t want to play that game with me, Valuta. Not today.”
Valuta pursed her lips.
“You let a Capital house burn down,” I said. It was my turn to overwhelm them with accusations. “You let the Sages manipulate the supplies, at the risk of our people starving; and, Banu, I see you’ve gained some weight since I left for war.”
Banu’s beard bristled, but he remained silent.
“You let the guards enter the Capital and push the civilians around. Even now, you doubted their words. You didn’t want to open the gates for them,” I said. “You didn’t even bother to send someone to extinguish the fire raging in the port.”
Valuta’s eyes widened. “You’d already sent your warriors to do it.”
“Didn’t your husband say the civilians are imagining things?”
The civilians’ mutters of dissent grew. Sometimes, a few words could open eyes which had been shut for decades.
If they felt abandoned by the advisors, they might abandon them back. That’s all we needed today.
“You accuse my wife of plotting against my Clan, when all she wanted was to feed the people who were starving under your protection. ” I prowled closer to them. “Now you accuse me, the crown prince, of…what, exactly? Attacking my own Clan, after risking my life to protect it in a war, while you sat in the safety of Phoenix Peak?”
“Your Highness, there has obviously been tension between us.” Valuta’s voice began to have an unnerving edge. “One would think you’re trying to usurp our power.”
“What power?” I asked. “We’ve just gone over your many, many oversights. You either cannot protect the Capital or you won’t. Which one is it?”
Behind me, I heard the rustle of the guards gripping their spears tighter. My warriors did the same with their swords.
Before Banu and Valuta could spew more lies and try to twist the truth, I sighed loudly.
“Today is a sad day, indeed.” I walked around the carriage and placed my hand on the sarcophagus’ lid, drawing everyone’s attention back to it. “The Blue Queen wouldn’t have wanted her final day in this realm to be filled with discord.”
“No, I would have liked to gouge out their eyes,” she said.
“Time is not lost, my darling menace.”
“I will not taint her memory with this nonsense,” I declared. “Let us give her the proper farewell she deserves, like our ancestors have done for generations.”
I raised my right hand. The Grand Priest of Phoenix Peak neared, handing me the ceremonial torch.
Mission complete, the carriage began to roll away, Kaya nodding at me from behind the curtains.
Kylian and Myron stepped forward, raising the sarcophagus lid.
I’d known what awaited inside it.
I had readied myself for it.
Yet when I saw Evie’s face in the coffin, her body lying there, the ground almost slipped from underneath my feet.
“It’s not real,” I told myself. “She’s safe.”
“I am. I’m alive. I’m right here.”
But my instincts didn’t know. They saw her , lying there, dead, and wanted to burn the entire continent down to bring her back.
Banu and Valuta approached, scrupulous eyes lingering on Evie’s crown and the switchblade bracelet on her wrist. Even they knew she never went anywhere without her weapon.
I forced myself to touch her cold cheek gently.
“I tried to draw out the poison in her,” I said loudly. “Her blood was strong and my power was stretched to its limits. Her fate is now in the gods’ hands.”
Whispered prayers rose from the civilians in tune with the priests’ chant.
Six warriors carried the sarcophagus up the temple stairs.
“You should have heeded my warning,” I muttered as I passed Banu, not even sparing him a glance, and went up the steps after the coffin.
Eerie couldn’t even begin to describe the sensation of walking behind a coffin which held Evie’s body inside of it, a ceremonial torch in my hand, ready to light it.
“Evie is safe,” I kept telling myself.
She truly was–at least until the fire started.
The warriors positioned the sarcophagus on top of the funeral pyre which had been erected right in front of the temple’s main entrance. I looked at Evie’s face one last time before I threw the torch onto the kindling, which instantly caught fire.
The flames rose high, the smoke thick.
Thicker than it should have been, but nobody seemed to notice.
With the fire blazing, I turned to the crowd. My gaze slashed to the advisors.
“The Blue Queen truly disliked discord,” I said. “But she also believed in justice.”
Banu and Valuta sensed danger; they gulped in tandem.
“Banu and Valuta Kovetmore, I officially accuse you of crimes against the Clan and plotting to kill the Blue Queen,” I announced.
A ripple of shock spread through the crowd. Even the Sages began whispering among themselves and my parents shared a terrified look, still silent.
“That is a grave accusation, indeed,” Valuta said imperiously. “One you need evidence for.”
“You won’t like the evidence I have.” I whistled once. Madrya trotted to the back of the carriage and kicked the barrel loose.
It crashed onto the pavement, shattering. From within, salt water splashed out–along with Nylen’s head and body, still clothed in his armor.
“I present to you my wife’s killer,” I said. “One of the advisor’s guards.”