Chapter 55
SHARA
Ah. I loved a good full circle moment. Though there wasn’t any koi pond to look at, there were certainly beautiful roses to admire. Of course they couldn’t hold a candle to the fragrant blooms on my heart tree, powered by my willing blood sacrifice.
Seated outside under the pavilion in my new Parisian house—that I had no intention of ever visiting again—I sipped a cup of mediocre tea, waiting for Marne to say something.
Our consiliari stood nearby, poised to take dictation—or file proceedings expeditiously.
Though the table was round, Leonie and Carys very clearly sat on my side of the table across from the queen of Rome.
Not surprisingly, Marne’s mood improved when my flesh eaters began to clean up… and she found herself still alive.
Though her renewed confidence was most certainly premature.
We might have purged the Paris court, but I still heard the war drums pounding with my heart and the quiet caws and whispers of ravens. There’s still work to do.
“I’m curious,” Marne finally said, drawing my gaze to her face. “How did you know I was meeting Rosalind today?”
I allowed my lips to curve in my mother’s secretive smile. “A little bird told me.”
Sekh snorted. :This sphinx weighs about a thousand tons, Your Majesty.:
:Motherfucker has a fat ass.: Mehen chuckled, smoke curling through his bond. :And he doesn’t even have wings.:
Xin sat beside Marne’s chair, his silver eyes locked on her, desperately willing her to do something. Anything. So he could kill her.
Behind me, Rik gripped my shoulders in both hands, a little harder than he normally held me.
Not that I was complaining. I needed the contact as much as he did.
I hated being away from my alpha, even for one second.
Our Blood stood scattered around the garden, matched up in pairs.
The rest of her entourage waited in the ballroom with the surviving Valois siblings.
A man I presumed to be her alpha stood behind her chair. Not that she’d introduced him.
“I’m glad Kevin has the chance to visit with his grandfather, though I’m surprised you dragged your first consiliarius all the way to Paris for a simple Blood exchange with House Valois.”
“Yes, well, I feared there may have been a… clerical error we needed to discuss, which may have negatively affected Rosalind’s interests. I wanted my best advisor on the case.”
Byrnes had Kevin’s file tucked beneath his arm. I didn’t know the older man well, but red spots burned on his cheeks.
I recited the law Kevin had gathered into our evidence.
“In the event that a queen cannot act as primary signatory for contractual obligations, any sibling of Her Majesty legally declared and recognized by the Triune may sign a statement of agreement in her place. Triune Articles Section 3, Consiliari agreements, paragraph 11. Gwenhwyfar Findabair Camelot graciously affirmed Julie Summers’ transfer in her former queen’s place. ”
“Byrnes assures me the documentation is satisfactory.” Marne smiled brightly.
“Though I find it amusingly coincidental that Gwenhwyfar is now House Isador’s sibling.
It’s too bad Elaine can’t file a formal complaint with the Triune.
I would be quite interested to discover who killed her, especially given her first consiliarius is now working for another house which may have profited from her demise. ”
“Oh, didn’t you know? Elaine’s not dead. She’s merely not with us any longer. I’m sure she’d be more than pleased to converse with you in Annwn if you care to visit. I hear she adores mirrors.”
Already settling into her family’s former holdings in England, Gwen was eavesdropping—with my full consent. In our bond, she giggled at the mirror comment. :She’s not with us—because Merlin forced her to scurry back to the bowels of hell where she belongs.:
I took another sip of my tea, but it had steeped far too long at too hot a temperature. Grimacing at the bitterness, I set the cup down on the table. “I’m curious too.” I waited until Marne met my gaze. “Why does the Morrigan want you dead?”
Marne froze, cup midway to her mouth, her lips parted. “What?”
“You heard me.”
She set the cup back down on the saucer with a sharp clatter. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
My head tipped to the side, waiting. Nevarre’s giant crow swept down to land in the middle of the table, his talons clattering through the crockery.
Marne recoiled but caught herself, tipping her chin up proudly.
Her alpha stepped closer, but she lifted her hand dismissively.
She didn’t want to appear weak in front of me. Let alone afraid.
Winnifred whistled and Carys nodded. “Indeed. Only the second one hundred percent I’ve ever seen, my queen.”
Seated to my right, Leonie let out a soft, polite cough, drawing our attention to her. “May I be of service, Your Majesty?”
She’d already called her power, and I saw the flicker of shades around her. Shadows on the ground—where no living person stood.
“Yes, thank you, Leonie. Please give voice to the dead wishing to be heard. Gina, please capture notes for evidence.”
Leonie’s eyelids fluttered, her eyes rolling back in her head. When her mouth moved, it wasn’t her voice any longer.
“I, Ríogán, daughter of Morrigan, the Phantom Queen, High Queen of Triskeles upon my death, attest before the Mother and all Her Daughters, that Marnella Ceresa, queen of Rome, daughter of Ceres, is responsible not just for the destruction of Morrigan’s sacred grove but also my death and the entire Triskeles Triune.
Using mirror magic to locate our secret meeting location, Marnella passed that information to Desideria Modron, daughter of Matres and Matronae, Triune High Queen, who in her madness then brought her Executioner to slay us while we were actively in service to the Mother.
“Then to compound that sin, Marnella corrupted and bribed my sister’s human consiliarius to sell and destroy our sacred grove. We do not forget, Marnella. We do not forgive.”
For a moment, silence hung in the air except for the rapid scribble of Gina’s pen capturing the testimony. Nevarre’s scent flowed over me in a wave of Celtic magic. An ancient grove of magical trees, thousands of years old, sentient, majestic, and fucking pissed.
Rustling black wings swept through my mind, and my voice echoed as if from a great distance. “Marnella Ceresa, meet Nevarre Morrigan Isador, son of Muirín, sister of Ríogán, Triskeles High Queen. No queen is above the law. Even Triune queens.”
Lunging forward, Nevarre slammed his beak into her eye. She screeched, stumbling up out of her chair. Winds rose, the buzzing thunder of millions of locust wings beating the air. Biting. Crawling across the ground in thick droves.
When I stood in her swarm before, I’d been unable to act. Bound by her circle. Forced to submit to her rules.
The queen of Rome held no power here.
My cup shattered, spilling tea across the pristine white tablecloth. Startled, I turned my head to see a black mirrored window hanging over the green expanse of garden. A woman—a queen—stepped out of the window. The black glass shattered, sending shards flying in all directions.
Mentally, I touched the blue feather in my hair. :Thierry, I need your miracle.:
Time didn’t freeze completely for me or my Blood but flowed in extreme slow motion.
Rik dragged me part way out of my chair, slowly turning his shoulder toward the threat.
Talons extended to rake Marne’s face, Nevarre sprang into the air, wings pumping so hard the rest of the tea service slowly toppled.
Mouth open, teeth bared, Xin leaped up toward Marne’s throat in a slow arc.
Leviathan inhaled, filling his internal bellows to blast fire at the intruder.
Sword cocked over his shoulder in both hands, Guillaume charged across the green, knees pumping in slow, dramatic motion.
None of Marne’s Blood moved. Frozen in place, her eye a bloody hole, she stared, her mouth twisted in a furious snarl.
Black shards hung around the new queen like jagged obsidian blades, slowly gliding closer. “I mean you no harm. I came for her. Her blood is mine.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
Some of the black glass melted into a heavy-boned dog even larger than Itztli’s beast with a broad chest and three giant heads. The rest of the black shards shifted their trajectory toward Marne, as if she wore a giant bullseye on her back.
“Kora Haides, Queen of the Underworld, Bringer of Death.” Like most Aima queens, her age was difficult to guess.
Her hair was the deep blue of the hottest flame, as piercing and bright as her eyes.
She was dressed in modern black distressed jeans and a strappy black tank, which revealed thin scratches all over her arms, neck, and even her face.
Some of the cuts were pale and healed, but others were pink and tight as if fresh.
Aima rarely scarred, telling me some of the slices must have been delivered magically, or were extremely deep.
“Marne Ceresa owes me for every single one of these scars.”
I listened for Morrigan’s drums and crows, but the pounding had gone silent. As long as Marne paid for her crimes, I didn’t think She would mind whose hand delivered the killing blow. “Do you promise to make it hurt?”
Kora’s eyes flared and a surprised smile flashed across her face, gone in an instant. “As much as she caused me to suffer tenfold.”
:Allow Kora Haides to deliver her retribution.: I told my Blood. “Then by all means, she’s yours.”
Releasing my hold, I allowed time to snap back to regular speed.
Rik swept me up in his arms. Nevarre exploded up into the air and soared past Marne.
In mid leap, Xin twisted aside and landed lightly with a disgruntled look on his wolf’s face.
Guillaume still raced to me, covering Rik’s back as he carried me off the green.
:Well, fuck,: Leviathan complained. :I thought we were going to get another queen or two to eat.:
:I’m sorry, my Blood.: In my bonds, I gripped Xin’s ruff and pressed my forehead to his wolf’s. :The next queen we need to kill is yours.:
His ears perked. :When do we go, my queen?:
“Shara, wait!” Marne called after us. “Don’t leave me with her. She’s crazy! I’m not lying, I swear. Kora will kill us all with her madness!”
Proving she knew exactly who had come for her, and why.
As Rik passed Byrnes, I said, “Please make a formal notation for the Triunes that House Isador voluntarily withdraws from this conflict with House Ceresa, though if House Haides wishes to engage our assistance in any way, we are open for communication.”
Pale, Byrnes opened his mouth but then changed his mind. As if he started to ask for my help to protect his queen, and then wisely changed his mind.
As we entered the house, the queen of Rome began to scream.