Chapter 9 #3
“Abarsam and I have a history.” Meri hesitated.
She wasn’t concerned about sharing the salacious details of her past romances with Gallmau—they teased each other about their conquests all the time.
Her relationship with Abarsam, though, was more complicated than the one night of lovemaking they had shared.
She found him difficult to talk about. Besides, Gallmau had taken a risk returning to Lutecia to try and save Meri from her curse, only to find the one witch he trusted dead and his sister in the hands of a Bone Lord.
He wanted to be everyone’s protector. She needed to solve problems her way—and now the two of them had crises that couldn’t be overcome without the help of witches like Abarsam, even if they both hated the thought.
Best to stick with simple facts and leave her feelings out of it. “I’ve turned down his offers of marriage twice. Technically I did agree to a temporary marriage when I bedded him a few years ago, but it was only for the night.”
Meri scanned the room for the Qingian cuisine prepared for the Grand Vizier while Gallmau digested that information.
In the time it took for the Noviodunam server to dash back and deposit a large glass of cider into Gallmau’s hand, she had walked the two of them over to the display and Gallmau’s attention had been diverted to what Continental men considered the exotic marital arrangements of her homeland.
“You can get married for one night?” Gallmau knocked back some cider while Meri accepted a plate of steaming dumplings garnished with a delicate lotus flower. “Even though the men can have multiple wives?”
“Rich men have as many lovers as they want everywhere.” Meri felt a flash of irritation but restrained herself from a snippy retort by taking a bite of a tender and fluffy dumpling.
It was delicious, and Gallmau didn’t mean any harm.
But seriously, his own birth proved her point.
“I thought the sovereign of Soissons could take a legal consort.”
Gallmau stopped mid-drink, then copied her own stalling tactic by stuffing half a plate of Qingian food in his mouth. He chewed for a while before answering. “There’s a Royal Mistress position, but my father didn’t appoint anyone to it while he was alive.”
Meri bit her lip, wishing she could take back her earlier comment.
Gallmau’s mother had come from the wrong family background and the wrong part of Soissons to be granted such formal status, even if she had given the King his only son.
She tried to think of a way to walk her words back, but Gallmau, who hated this kind of conflict, changed the subject on his own.
“Standing around to eat is awfully odd, but I suppose witches have to be contrary about everything.” Gallmau held out his hand for another plate of food and handed it to her.
Instead of a formal banquet, the Noviodunam had arranged tables of food and drink in between the groups of guests, so people could walk around and sample the offerings.
“Go on, tell me how Abarsam was between the sheets.”
“He has several wives, and they’ve clearly taught him a thing or two.
” Meri took the dish of noodles, now guilty enough to give Gallmau more details.
“Abarsam had asked the Sultana for my hand in marriage before I left the harem, and I succeeded in getting out of that. Then he tracked me down on the Continent at one of my arena fights. We female fighters weren’t as available as the men—they had a long line of rich women they were expected to entertain—but certain customers couldn’t be refused.
So I bedded Abarsam, and I enjoyed it. He proposed a second time, and even when I refused he gave me my blades as a gift. ”
Jacques, who had been engaged in a whispered conversation with Queen Xiaolian in a far corner of the room, stepped forward and clapped his hands. The sound echoed far too loudly in the room to be natural, and the golden flames from the fountain dimmed to a more somber color of dark blue.
“Mesdames et messieurs, welcome to the Noviodunam.” Jacques cast one more glance back at the queen, who stood erect and grim-faced between her two royal guards.
“I’m honored to have so many members of the court and illustrious citizens of Lutecia visit us tonight.
I regret to announce, however, that I will not be accepting the position of Councillor de la Sorcellerie this evening. ”
This provoked gasps and a brief flurry of chatter from many of the courtiers in attendance, although none of the robed mages around them showed any surprise.
“He was supposed to become Zhang Jue’s assistant tonight.” Gallmau drank down more of his cider and grimaced at the fire witch. “There’s some sort of magical ceremony attached to it where he swears his fealty to the royal family and what not.”
“Is it similar to the Kushian loyalty curse?” Meri, having made short work of the noodles, sipped from a cup of fragrant tea.
She couldn’t fault the witches of Soissons for their hospitality.
“Abarsam told me mages aren’t allowed to advise the Sultana unless they submit to it.
The curse prevents them from harming the Sultana or any of her relatives, but it’s not simple to undergo.
He told me it took him weeks to recover from the effects when he was younger—bragged about how draining it was, essentially. ”
“Yes, it’s like that.” Gallmau stared over Meri’s shoulder for a moment, as if he had caught sight of someone interesting, then turned his attention back to her.
“Jacques’s father, Odart of Dol, took the oath as well, back when he was the Councillor de la Sorcellerie.
Knowing that asshole, they probably had to force him to do it. ”
Meri knew the name, and judging by the savage twist of pain in her back, her undead necromancer remembered Odart as well.
The Noviodunam Bone Lord hunter had protected and shielded her old enemy, absolving the wealthy and well-connected man of charges of necromancy and allowing him to continue his torture and murder of innocents.
The tea turned bitter in her mouth, and she had to stop herself from spitting out her disdain for the hypocrisy of the witches around her onto their gleaming marble floor.
Standing before the fountain, Jacques continued his speech. “I’ve deferred my acceptance of the great honor of service to the Queen because I have a more urgent task—tracking down the Honorable Zhang Jue’s murderer and rescuing the Dauphine, Mademoiselle de la Reine, Rixende of Lutecia.”
There was more than muttering at that. Shouts rang out, along with sobs and a babble of questions. Jacques attempted to speak again but could not make his voice heard above the roar.
Queen Xiaolian rose from her chair and stepped forward. The noise from the crowd faded away to a tense silence, and every eye in the room turned toward her.
“It is with great sorrow that I confirm this terrible news.” Xiaolian’s tone was as even as ever, but her eyes appeared haunted, and she carried herself with an air of exhausted grief.
“My daughter Rixende has been abducted by a necromancer. My devoted servant Zhang Jue lost his life trying to free her, after sending letters asking for the assistance of other great sorcerers. I have come here to honor those who have offered to rescue the heir to the throne and put an end to the foul death witch who took her.”
A stunned silence followed her words.
The Queen continued, “For this service to the Royal Court of Soissons, I pledge my daughter’s hand in marriage, along with the title and lands granted to the royal consort of the Dauphine.
I will now receive the brave sorcerers who will journey tomorrow to confront this fiend and grant them my approval and the blessings of the Saints. ”