Chapter 12
K eryna stood in Renata’s wardrobe antechamber, admiring herself in her rival’s ornate court gown that she’d squeezed herself into by lacing a corset way too tight. Honestly, it was biting into her so badly, she was surprised she hadn’t broken a rib. Even so, it was much prettier on her than it’d ever been on Renata, in her opinion.
As a human, Renata had been painfully skinny with dark hair and eyes. The blood red gown had never really flattered the younger unicorn’s coloring the way it did hers.
I’m the one who looks like royalty.
She picked up one of Renata’s ornate crowns from the shelf to her right and started to put it on her head, then frowned at her image. “I don’t have mousy hair.” Her sisters had just been mean and jealous of her when they’d said that. While it wasn’t the golden blond of her sisters’ hair, it wasn’t really brown either. Definitely not the color of a mouse. Or the texture of one.
Maybe a little. But only because it was coarse and wiry.
“What are you doing?”
Keryna dropped the crown in her hands as the imp’s voice intruded on her thoughts. “Don’t do that!”
The imp scoffed at her. “Should you be playing with jewels that don’t belong to you?”
“Mind your own business, Bink!” Keryna picked up the ornate crown from the ground and put it back before one of the king’s advisors caught her. They still weren’t on her side. Not completely. And if they caught her in Renata’s room, they’d be furious at her.
She’d already had a fight with Kronnel this morning. Last thing she needed was another skirmish with the old bastard who kept threatening to throw her out of the palace. If she murdered him, too, others might begin getting suspicious.
Her only saving grace was that Kronnel didn’t know Renata was dead or that Dash had already banished her. Thankfully, she’d been able to assure Halla that she would tell Kronnel about Renata’s death before the hobgoblin had reached the old bastard.
Halla had been more worried about catching up to Dash than anything else. That was the beauty about trust.
No one asked the right questions. They just assumed things they shouldn’t.
And speaking of...
“What are you doing here?” she snarled at the imp. She was still furious that he and his accomplice had returned to the palace. He’d promised her that he’d drop Renata’s horn in her room and then vanish into another kingdom and never be seen again.
That had lasted all of a few days. Next thing she’d known, they’d returned, telling her about their ploy to kill Dash by using the other kingdoms to provide a bounty on his head.
It was stupid and dangerous.
The imp flashed a grin at her. “You told me to let you know when Lorens arrived with his group. He’s here.”
That was good news.
She clapped her hands together in glee. Finally! Reinforcements. She’d been waiting for the centaurs to arrive and push Dash’s advisors out of their positions so that she could take over.
For months now, she’d been in talks with the centaur rebels and their leader, Prince Lorens. She’d been assuring Lorens that Dash would back his cause to overthrow his queen sister, even though she knew he wouldn’t. For whatever reason, Dash wanted nothing to do with Thassalia.
Every time she’d brought it up, he’d furiously shouted her down.
Do not meddle in things you don’t understand!
His dismissals had infuriated her. She knew politics every bit as well as he did. Probably even better because she hadn’t been born into it. She’d had to learn it. He might be king because of a lucky birth, but she wasn’t stupid. Hence how she’d risen to be so close to the crown.
Her original plan had been for Renata to provide the soldiers they needed, and then kill Renata in battle after her brother was gone.
Everything had been going along perfectly.
Until Renata had decided to listen to her brother. Or more to the point, until Dash had put his foot down and refused to let his sister have the soldiers Renata commanded for his calvary. The soldiers Keryna needed to keep Lorens on her side.
Then, Dash had told Renata to toss her out.
That had been the final act.
If he’d just allowed Renata to have those soldiers...
Stupid bastard.
But this was better. Now they wouldn’t have to worry about King Dash, and she wouldn’t have to tolerate any more of Renata’s whining stupidity.
It was perfect.
Being crowned queen was much better than being a simple advisor to Queen Renata. She’d even let Lorens be High King so long as he allowed her to rule over the unicorns.
All those idiots who’d mocked her would rue the day. She planned to torture them just for fun.
Licordia would be her kingdom.
Rubbing her hands together, she let out a squee of pleasure, then remembered that she still had a witness in the room.
“Stay hidden,” she told the imp.
“What have I been doing?”
Annoying her, if the truth were told. He was a threat and, as soon as this was over, she’d see to it that he was a dead one.
She cast the imp a sneer before she left him and headed to the main hall where Kronnel was waiting with Anyana for the centaurs to be shown in.
“What are centaurs doing here?” Anyana asked the general who shrugged in confusion.
Keryna cast a royal, haughty stare over them as she swept into the room. “Didn’t you know?” Keryna asked as she moved to stand beside Anyana who was there as a brown unicorn with an orange horn. “His Majesty is planning on sending troops to help Lorens with his rebellion against their queen.”
In human form, Kronnel scowled at her. “No, he’s not.”
“Is to. Renata told me so. She’s going to be their commander.”
Even though he was human, Kronnel made a very horse-like snort. “You’re insane. King Dash would never involve himself in centaur politics. Nor would he allow his sister to fight with rebels against Meara. I know his policies on such matters. He would never have changed them without telling me.”
Keryna smirked at the old horse as she picked a piece of lint from her ornate bodice. “Apparently, you don’t know him as well as you think you do.”
“Apparently, you don’t know him at all.”
Anyana cocked her unicorn head. “Are you wearing Princess Renata’s official state dress?”
Before she could answer, the steward announced the arrival of a royal centaur procession.
When the palace doors opened, Keryna expected to see Lorens, the spoiled illegitimate brother of the centaur queen.
It wasn’t him.
Instead, the queen and her imperial guard spilled through the doors and took up post all around the room, surrounding them. Meara’s equine half was a resplendent bay with stocking. She wore a dark blue jacket that was embroidered with heavy gold threads and encrusted with jewels. Her black hair was intricately braided with even more jewels and coiled around a golden crown that rested perfectly atop her head.
Never had she seen a more beautiful or regal creature.
Awed by the graceful queen, Keryna stepped back with a gasp so that she could curtsey.
Kronnel moved forward to cut the queen off. “What’s going on here?”
Meara raked him with an impressive sneer that said she equated him with something that marred the bottom of her favorite pair of shoes. “Stand aside, unicorn. I want to talk to who’s in charge.”
“That would be me.” Keryna forced herself to rise and step forward.
“She’s not in charge,” Kronnel said. “I’m the one in command whenever King Deciel isn’t present.”
Keryna pulled out the document she’d forged from the pocket of her gown. She held it out to the centaur queen. “As you can see, King Deciel put me in charge until his return.”
The queen blinked slowly but made no move to touch the paper. Rather, she quirked one brow in what had to be the most imperious gesture Keryna had ever beheld. She would definitely practice that in front of a mirror later.
Meara narrowed her gaze on Keryna. “Then I can assume that you’re the one who knows where he went? And how to contact him?”
“Of course.”
She smiled coldly. It actually sent a shiver up Keryna’s spine. The queen turned her head to speak to the male centaur behind her. “Seize that wretch.”
Keryna started to run, but the centaurs circled her immediately and took her by the arms so that she couldn’t escape them.
Worse, one of them placed a collar around her neck that prevented her from using magick or switching to her unicorn form. A third came forward and snatched the piece of paper from her hand.
Without a word, he offered it to the queen.
“Now see here...” Kronnel tried to intervene.
More soldiers surrounded him and Anyana and angled spears with glowing tips at the two of them.
“There’s nothing to see.” Taking the document from her man, Meara gestured for the others to back Kronnel and Anyana away from Keryna. “The king has left his throne. And apparently, someone has the princess’s horn.” Meara approached Keryna slowly. “Since you seem to be in charge, how about you tell me what you know, hmmm?”
Real fear turned her throat dry. She was no longer in charge of anything, and she knew it. This had definitely not been her plan. She’d never dreamed that Meara would dare invade Dash’s lands while he was gone.
What was she supposed to do now?
Admit nothing. Act stupid. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I think you’re lying.” She cupped Keryna’s chin in her icy, well-manicured hand, then she squeezed Keryna’s cheek tightly until her nails dug into Keryna’s flesh. “I can see it in your beady, little, conniving eyes. You have a great hunger like my brother used to have for things that aren’t yours.” She released her. “Adsel?”
A handsome, blond centaur stepped forward wearing the uniform of her guard. “My queen?”
“Letter?”
He handed her a piece of paper.
She took it and compared it to the document Keryna had tried to give her. After a few minutes, she returned the two of them to the centaur she’d called Adsel. “What do you think of the signatures?”
He examined them carefully. “Looks the same to me.”
“Does, doesn’t it?” The queen walked up to Keryna again, and tsked. “You did such an admirable job forging Dash’s signature... except for one thing.”
Keryna’s heart stopped.
No, there was no way she knew she’d forged them.
Wasn’t possible.
Was it?
Didn’t matter. She knew better than to admit to what she’d done. “What are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean.”
“Don’t play stupid, girl. It’s unbecoming of you and insulting to me.” Meara held the papers up to Keryna’s face. “I will give you credit. You did an excellent job. To most, it would pass. But you forgot that Dash spent years in my court. I knew him intimately, and the one thing I know is that he’s decidedly left-handed when he’s human.”
She slapped the papers against Keryna’s cheeks. “The person who wrote these left ink smudges to the right where they rested their hand while composing them. So, I know it wasn’t Dash writing to my traitor, promising him troops to fight against me, or signing an order to say you would be left in charge.” She lowered the papers. “Oh, and Lorens is dead, by the way. I took care of him as I do anyone who threatens my crown.”
She smiled coldly, tightened the papers into a roll and slapped Keryna on the cheek with them so hard that she saw stars. “But you, girl... are another matter. Talk to me about this gold unicorn horn you claim to have?”
Outright terror seized her as she realized just how much trouble she was in. “I know nothing of any horn.”
Meara snapped her fingers and held her hand out.
Adsel exchanged the two letters she’d been holding for a poster.
Meara held it up for Keryna so that she could see the document. It was an advertisement for an auction.
Her stomach sank as she read it and saw that it listed literally everything she’d gathered for the spell to kill Dash. Everything !
More than that, it was going to be auctioned off? That had never been the plan.
At least not hers. She was the one who’d learned about the spell from Renata late one night when they’d been talking and drinking. She’d made the offhand comment that Dash was invincible.
Laughing, Renata had shaken her head. That’s what everyone thinks, but I know a secret. There is a way to kill a black horn. But you can never tell anyone. Shh!
That was the same night Keryna had begun to formulate her plan to overthrow Dash and take her place among the nobility. It’d never dawned on her then to take Renata’s horn. Only to use the spell against the king and then manipulate Renata after Dash’s death.
The imp would never have known about the spell had she not ingratiated herself to Renata. How dare he go behind her back with that slimy friend of his and do this!
Fools, both of them.
She was furious. Which one of them had betrayed her with this scheme? The idiot imp or the useless dragon slayer?
They were nothing without her.
Nothing!
How could I have been so stupid? Of all creatures, she knew better than to trust anyone.
Now...
Meara smirked at her. “So, you didn’t know about this auction.” She considered that for a moment. “Imbecile partner? Or a traitor in your midst?” The queen laughed. “How perfectly divine.” She held her hand out again.
Once more, Adsel provided her with some mysterious paper.
“And this ?”
Forcing herself to show no reaction, Keryna saw the bounty sheet that she’d commissioned to disseminate throughout all the kingdoms except Licordia and Pagos.
That had been her plan. Keep Dash on the run outside of Licordia, chasing after Renata’s wand that was in her possession. She was hoping he wouldn’t return before she cast the spell.
Or if he did return before it was cast, she wanted him to be weak.
Then, she’d be able to kill him with Renata’s horn.
When he least expected it. If someone else had killed him before he returned home, that would have worked, too. Either way, she would have been regent or queen, depending on what Lorens had wanted.
She’d hoped to keep the news of Dash’s absence from the unicorns since she didn’t want them to be aware of the fact that their king had left. Had it reached them, though, she’d had a few concocted lies. She’d just needed a couple of weeks to put it all into action.
Just a few days more. That was all that stood between her and her dreams.
Why couldn’t the imp have followed her well thought out plan?
And why did Lorens have to get himself killed? Moron!
“So...” Meara leaned closer to her. “You knew about this one.”
Keryna clenched her teeth. So much for thinking she could keep her features unreadable. Meara had an uncanny knack for seeing through her fa?ade and knowing the thoughts in her head. It was truly eerie. No wonder Dash had feared her so.
The queen handed the wanted poster to Kronnel. “Did you know about this, general?”
Kronnel read it and as he did so, he turned red in the face. “ What! Who would dare put up such money for our High King? Tell me the kingdoms!”
Meara smirked. “So, no. The general wasn’t part of the coup.” Laughing, she turned a small circle. “Well, isn’t this delicious? I always thought I’d have to sacrifice at least three quarters of my army to kill off the ataswere who bore our treaty. Turns out, I just had to wait for his idiot sister to die and then I’d be invited to invade his court. I should have murdered Renata years ago. How wonderful that you found the loophole I’ve always wanted.”
“No one invited you,” Kronnel growled.
She tsked at the old unicorn. “Technically, you’re right.” She jerked her chin at Keryna. “The invitation was for my horrid half-brother and his centaur forces to come take this throne. I’m just accepting on his behalf. Hence my loophole. How beautiful that I didn’t have to breach my contract with Dash.” This time, she clapped her hands up in the air.
Two members of her guard came forward to lay a decapitated head on the floor at Keryna’s feet.
Her stomach lurched, especially at the expression of pain and horror that was permanently etched into Lorens’s face.
“Don’t worry, dear. Your death will be much slower and much, much more painful. Because there’s a lot more I need to know from you .”
Adsel jerked his chin toward Kronnel and Anyana. “What about these two, my queen?”
Pursing her lips, she turned toward them. “I don’t know yet. Round up all the advisors and put them someplace relatively safe and miserable until I decide what their fates will be.”