77. Seventy-Seven - Concerned Parties
Seventy-Seven - Concerned Parties
Viggo
Ana looks like an elf... as long as you ignore how short she is and the roundness of her ears. Her skin has a pink shimmer and her eyes have a mirror sheen.
Penny and I help her to stand and she leans on us heavily.
The stone in her necklace has turned opaque white, but she slips it into her bodice anyway before murmuring to us that she’s okay.
With a shared look, Penny and I keep ahold of her, regardless.
We are still on display, and the Queen smiles down at us. “I wish Niamiah was here to see his reward completed.”
The sadness leaves her face, replaced by a mask of disappointment instead.
“Bring me the two who sought to part my Ana and the ones she loves.”
Kaelen steps away from the wall, taking Kirra’s elbow. Kirra doesn’t struggle as she’s escorted from the small group of people I know to be the Queen’s lovers. She walks calmly to the place at the front of the dais and looks up at her Queen.
Aprica doesn’t ask her questions.
Her lips twist in a scowl before she says, “You are banished from this city. You may go wherever you wish as long as it is not here, and you may not return unless I call for you.”
I’ve never seen my sister look terrified before. “Your grace, I…”
“What you did was born of love, but it cannot go unpunished.” She looks away from Kirra and says, “Leave now. You have a month to organize your departure.”
There is a silence so heavy it feels like the air presses down on my shoulders.
None of the gathered court speak as Kirra dips her head in a bow.
She looks at me—at us—and then, head high, shoulders straight, she turns her back on her Queen and us as well and leaves the court.
“Where will she go?” Ana asks, softly.
“I don’t know.” This has been her home for more than a century.
I don’t know if she’s ever thought of leaving.
When she’s gone, the murmured whispers start again, but they don’t last long.
Penny’s father hurries in with two guards stalking behind him like wolves.
His steps stutter to a halt when he sees us.
No... when he sees Ana.
Eyes wide, confusion creasing his brow, he starts to take a step forward and Kaelen’s sword raises in his path. She shakes her head at him and he flinches back, seeming to remember where he is and immediately turns to bow before his Queen.
“Edric Illian Maseri Ceylon.” Aprica takes a deep breath and looks down at him. “Why did you lie to me about your son’s management of my forest?”
“I—”
She doesn’t let him answer. “You did not want the position for yourself.”
“No, I—”
“You did not relay these concerns out of a fear for his well being.”
He is silent and then says, “No.” This time, he doesn’t try to explain himself.
“When someone comes to me with a story that doesn’t make sense to his own interests, I ask myself why? And if I can’t come up with a reason, I ask Kaelen to find out.”
Kaelen hands her a scroll.
A scroll the Queen promptly releases, letting the heavy end roll down the dais, away from her to stop at his feet.
“How does one elf come to owe another so much in so little a time?”
His cheeks are muddy brown, flush with embarrassment and he stands rigidly in place until Kaelen says, “Your Queen asked you a question.”
“That is a matter best discussed in private.”
“I already know.” Aprica says. “I want you to say it, out loud.”
“I’ve lost bets.”
“Tell us the largest one.”
He takes a deep breath, but he doesn’t answer.
Kaelen pulls her sword half out of her sheath and drops it back into place, letting the hilt click echo through the room. And then she does it again.
“The bet was whether or not my son and his lover would be together for a decade.”
“And you bet against your son.”
He looks at the floor and Ana holds my arm more tightly.
I hadn’t even realized I’d been about to take a step.
“You always bet against your son. It’s the reason his mother left you. It’s the reason everyone leaves you.”
Edric Illian stands straighter. His jaw is tight, but he doesn’t dare speak the words I’m sure he wants to.
“I am in a generous mood,” Aprica says.
The way she says it feels like a trick.
“I will give you two choices. I will pay your debt to Aeler and you will travel to the sea wall tonight. I will send a carriage to collect you and you will stay there as his guest until I decide to release you.”
Edric Illian sputters. “He will not want me.”
“I will pay him for your upkeep.” She looks to Kaelen. “How much do you think it will take?”
Kaelen says a number that feels far too low for dealing with him and far too high for the value I now see in him.
“Then that is what he will get.” She looks at Edric Illian. “Unlike you, he respects his children’s positions, even if he hates his own.”
“You said you were giving me two choices.” Edric Illian is grasping at straws and the look of panic on his face tells me he knows it.
“The other choice I’ll give to you is to leave. Right now. You may only take the clothing on your back. You will be banished from this city and from every other city in my realm. Petalfall is also off limits, though you are welcome to see if any of the other villages will have you.”
“The closest village is a four-day walk from here.”
“Then you may want to get started now. I suggest sleeping when the sun is at its highest, if that is the choice you’ve made.”
“I will go to the sea wall.”
Aprica smiles. “I thought you might.”
She waves her hand, and he hurries away. The scowl on Kaelen’s lips make me think she would have preferred to chase him away.
Aprica looks at us and grimaces. “I am sorry, but this all needs to be done and it may as well be now, rather than later.”
There is shrieking from the open doors, but it stops the instant Staci catches sight of Ana.
“What have they done to you?” she asks in a breath so soft... if Ana was still completely human, she wouldn’t have heard it.
She looks at Ana like her daughter is dead and we are propping up her corpse. I have to hold myself still to keep from stepping between them.
“Come here, Staci.”
Staci takes a step forward, pulled by Aprica’s magic. The next, she takes on her own. Chewing on her lip, fists clenched at her side.
Aprica watches her warily. “We have spent a very long time intentionally not meeting, haven’t we?”
“If you say so, your grace.” She doesn’t look away.
She should look away.
“I can see why he fell in love with you.” Aprica sighs and leans forward, peering at her. “What is not so obvious is why you defied him.”
“I didn’t defy him, your grace.”
That wasn’t a lie, but it makes the Queen scowl.
“Maybe not. But you lied to me. I want to know why.” The Queen wraps a hand around her neck and presses their foreheads together.
A murmur echoes through the room as both women go precariously still. Aprica’s eyes are closed, but Staci’s are wide open. Terror crosses her features and water wells in her eyes.
“Oh.” The Queen says, releasing her.
Staci drops to the floor, weeping so violently her whole body trembles.
Ana starts to go to her, but we hold her back.
“You poor thing,” the Queen says, stroking her hair. “A little bird in your pretty cage... No one can help you if you don’t ask for it.”
Gasping through her tears, Staci says, “I don’t need help.”
“You do. And I wish you were brave enough to accept that.” Aprica glances at us and then back to Staci. “Give me your hand.”
Staci hesitantly reaches toward her and I don’t know if it’s because she’s too afraid to disobey, or if the Queen could compel her.
With a heavy sigh, her hand slides down Staci’s arm. “I will not punish you for anything other than wishing harm on those who would love you if given the chance.” She takes a bracelet from her own wrist and slips it onto Staci’s. The metal constricts until it’s too small to come off again. “If your intentions are ill, this will stop you from acting on them. And... until you can accept that your daughter is her own person and let her live the life she chooses, you can’t be a part of it.
Eyes wide, Staci moves backward, shoes sliding across the floor like she’s on ice.
“You kept her from me for nearly two decades.” Aprica says. “It’s your turn.”