40. Rahzlyn #2
Maryn feigned a yawn. “Your point?”
“Despite not being Chosen, you believe you are untouchable. You can’t hide behind the barons forever. All it takes is a unanimous vote from them to replace you,” I said as Maryn’s smile weakened.
“I wouldn’t get ahead of yourself, girl.
There’s still so much you don’t know, and the barons despise incompetency.
” Her long fingernails clacked along the table’s gleaming black surface.
“The advisors also tell me that you have put your own spin on the traditional Scorpion dances. Certainly someone of your…” Her icy eyes lingered on my cleavage.
“Caliber knows how to use their body well enough to perform it adequately?”
Her backhanded dig was well implied. “I can dance fine.”
“You must show respect for the queendom’s customs, not seduce the barons.”
I cut into a honey-glazed carrot. “So having large breasts makes me a harlot fraud?”
Spreading such a falsehood was dangerous, especially if the barons believed it to be more than petty gossip stirred by an envious regent.
“You said it.” Her eyes suddenly flicked behind me. “Something to add, Guardian?”
I turned in my chair, my chest squeezing at the sight of Raithe only a few paces away. The veins in his neck bulged.
Barto and Chessah advanced on either side of Maryn, hands gripping the hilts of their swords. They were delusional if they thought they could take on Raithe at full power.
“Well?” Maryn said, on the verge of smiling.
Raithe’s gaze snagged on mine. Stomach fluttering from the vehemence in those eyes, I shook my head at him. His jaw muscles ticked. I could fight my own battles, especially if speaking out meant Raithe would suffer more punishments.
I didn’t understand why he seemed to care.
“Didn’t think so.” Maryn waved her hand. “Back to your place, Guardian.”
Raithe didn’t move. He wouldn’t look at me either. “Don’t,” I whispered so only he could hear.
When at last whatever tension bracketing his body subsided, he retreated from my view.
“That’s a good dog,” Barto snickered.
My fingers curled around my fork. “Talking to yourself, Barto?”
His face reddened. Chessah scoffed. “You—”
“Now, now.” Maryn held up a hand. Both guards retreated reluctantly. “We are civil beings here, not animals.” Her attention returned to me. “You have not made progress with hudro.”
“It’s coming along,” I said confidently despite my ire.
“Cyrene found it in less than two months.” Maryn sighed. “She was so obedient, poised, and educated. What a shame we’re stuck with you. For now.”
“Civil beings my ass,” I mumbled.
“Come again?”
“If you wanted me to succeed, you would join my lessons,” I said instead. “Or at least allow me to shadow you.”
“I won’t waste my time on someone who isn’t going to survive her trial.”
“You’re quite certain of my inevitable demise.”
“And you aren’t?”
I licked my lips, mulling over a retort. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of running away like a scared animal with my tail tucked, despite living isolated and caged amongst the ever-present guards stationed throughout the palace. “Last I checked, neither of us are seers.”
“Virgo’s Tempus is quickly approaching,” Maryn stated as she cut into her meal. “The baron’s ball is an excellent time to announce the date of your ceremonial trial and subsequent coronation. Scorpio’s Tempus sounds perfect. Poetic, even.”
My chewing slowed. October was way too soon.
“Putting that kind of pressure on me isn’t going to help,” I said tightly.
“Gregorios told me how the Astrals’ magic works.
They allow Chosens up to a year to harness their power.
Maybe my predecessors felt pressured by you to do what they weren’t ready for. ”
Maryn’s fork scraped against her plate. Her icy glare sizzled through the candlelight burning in the center of the table. “Or maybe they were too busy going on midnight rendezvous to the kitchens with their guardians.”
I straightened, cutting a sharp look at Barto and Chessah. “So that’s how you spend your time? Spying, burning books—”
“Those books should have been burned a year ago.”
“What harm is it to keep the totems of loved ones?”
“Loved ones have no place at court.” Maryn’s nails clacked against the table.
“While you have been self-absorbed in your personal woes, I have been ensuring our barons are looked after and so are their constituents. Delegating what finite resources we have from this drought and negotiating with the advisors of other territories, imploring them for water and other goods to keep our people alive because our princess has failed to fulfill her duties of hudro.”
“You’re blaming me for a curse that started twelve years ago?”
“I certainly don’t see you rushing to break it.”
“I’m doing the best that I can.”
“You’re floundering. Your Choosing further reinforces the curse will not be ending anytime soon.
You’re nothing more than a mistake. A soon-to-be blip, barely mentioned in the pages of history.
Our people are starving, dying of thirst, falling prey to the persuasive evils of the apostai, and you’re flirting—”
“Then let me see for myself,” I blurted. “Your—our people.”
Maryn appeared momentarily surprised.
I gestured across the table. “You won’t let me leave the palace. You’ve kept everyone on a tight leash. Even Nio can barely get away to see his family.”
“It’s for their safety,” Maryn said defensively.
“You’re not concerned for my safety. Your only concern is to threaten me into submission.”
“My threats come from the desire to do what I must to keep the order and peace of this queendom. I was chosen by the Barons. The people trust in me more than their forsaken Astral. If you feel threatened, it is because you are doing something to disrupt that.” She leaned forward.
“Did Nio also tell you that I have his family, and the families of many other palace staff, housed in the same district as the baron? Antares is dangerous in many parts now. It’s no longer petty crime taking over but actions born of desperation.
People will do anything to keep their families fed, including kill.
It’s impossible to tell apostates from believers.
” Maryn took a long sip of her wine. Either it was the trick of the dim lighting or her hand trembled as she drank. She did care, in her own callous way.
“Your guardians can protect themselves. Why do you punish them so?” I asked. “Raithe, too, cares about this queendom and seeks answers—”
“Do not address him by his name!” Maryn shrieked. I fought the urge to glance back to where Raithe stood along the wall, wondering what he thought of this interaction. “He is a guardian. I am the queen regent.”
“Exactly,” I said, exasperated. Chosens were revered beings. For someone who claimed to be a devout believer of the Astrals, Maryn had a backwards way of showing it. “Why do you detest him?”
Maryn’s face twitched with displeasure. “I am the only thing keeping what’s left of our people together. Me. Anyone willing to disrupt that must be disciplined accordingly.”
Her words spoke to an insecurity I knew well. “Who is it that you’re trying to prove yourself to? The people or yourself?”
“I don’t need to prove myself to anyone. You, on the other hand—”
“But you do,” I said. “You think you have more power over actual Chosens, and yet, you’ve done nothing to show for it except invoke fear and violence.” I shook my head. “How do you do it?”
She jabbed her knife in Raithe’s direction. “He makes it all too easy when he disobeys me and submits to my punishments.”
“Yet you seem to enjoy it. You claim to be a devout Scorpion and leader of the people, but the way you treat your own court speaks volumes. I still don’t know what I’ve done to prove myself worthy of Scorpio, but you’ll never be a Chosen queen. Not when you act like this.”
Maryn stiffened. “Choose your next words wisely, girl.”
I squared my shoulders. “I’m not a girl.
And once I’m Chosen, you’re not going to treat Raithe this way anymore.
Or Felaf and Gregorios. Or Letti, for that matter, or any servant you deem beneath you.
Royals can remove their advisors at any point, no votes needed, which is what you’ll be demoted to once I survive,” I reminded her.
“No matter what you do to see me fail, it’s not going to work.
And you better pray that your desire to stay in power has nothing to do with this curse. ”
If succeeding meant fighting for those who deserved it, then survival wouldn’t be beyond my reach.
Maryn’s lips curled into a cold, calculating smile. “You want to venture into the city? Be my guest. I won’t stop you.” She stood swiftly, the legs of her chair scraping along the floors. She dabbed her napkin along her red-painted lips before throwing it atop her plate and fled the room.
I turned, catching Raithe’s inscrutable stare before averting my flaming cheeks.
Too surprised by Maryn’s leniency, I didn’t stop to wonder why she seemed almost eager for me to go.