Chapter 44
Beatryce hadn’t been able to eat more for breakfast than a slice of toast and a cup of tea. Her stomach was in knots, roiling with the anticipation of what was to come. Even sitting to have her hair and makeup done hadn’t calmed her as it usually did.
Now, she stood in her dressing room as Lysette and Sylvia put her into the gown from Leda’s vault. Bea kept clenching her hands to keep them at her sides. Left to her own devices, she would have picked at her cuticles until they bled.
Thank the heavens for gloves.
Sylvia was slowly working on the buttons that secured the back. “This gown is extraordinary, my lady. Where did it come from? I don’t recall seeing it before.”
“It was a gift,” Bea answered, immediately realizing she shouldn’t have said anything. The queen did not need to explain herself, but her nerves had gotten the better of her.
“What a generous gift,” Sylvia prattled on. “From whom, might I ask?”
Merylynn, who’d been sitting nearby polishing the circlet Bea was to wear today, got up and came over. “You’re full of questions, maid. Why?”
Bea almost smiled. She probably would have, if not for the weight of the meeting with Sparrow pressing down on her. Something about the visit to the vault had changed Merylynn. For the better. It was as if she’d suddenly realized her new position held authority.
“I meant no harm. My apologies,” Sylvia muttered.
In the mirror, Bea watched as Merylynn stared Sylvia down until she seemed to shrink a little.
Then Merylynn switched her focus to Beatryce. “Prince Dren and Minister Evenshade should be arriving soon, if they haven’t already, my lady. I’ll see if they’re in the sitting room and return shortly.”
“Wonderful,” Bea said. Her amusement over Merylynn’s new attitude had softened the edges of her nerves. For that, she was grateful.
Merylynn had chosen a simple charcoal gray gown with braided black cord detailing at the hem and cuffs. The dress matched her new attitude and fit the pretense of her being a lady’s maid. Bea approved.
She wondered what Dren would be wearing. He was supposed to be playing the part of her bodyguard today. If he’d worn anything too fine, he’d never be believed.
Merylynn returned. “Prince Dren is in the sitting room, but Elyra is not.”
“There’s time yet,” Bea said. She had no doubt the magician would arrive on time. Not if she wanted to remain in Bea’s good graces and keep her position.
A knock sounded at the door.
Lysette stopped fussing with the gown’s hem. “Shall I get that, my lady?”
“No.” Bea nodded at Merylynn, who stood waiting and ready.
Merylynn went to see to the door.
When she came back, Lysette was putting on Bea’s slippers and Sylvia was helping her with her jewels.
Merylynn held a small, leather-wrapped item. “Councilor Wyett brought this. He said it was a wedding gift from your mother.”
“Not because of the meeting today?”
“No. He promised she still knows nothing about that,” Merylynn said.
“Good.” Bea didn’t want her mother knowing until it was over and Bea was able to tell her mother she’d finally been avenged.
“Shall I unwrap it?”
“Yes.”
Merylynn unwound the leather to reveal a gleaming silver dagger with a mother of pearl handle.
“Oh,” Bea breathed out. “That’s one from my mother’s favorite pair. That’s a wonderful gift.”
“Yes, my lady.” Merylynn held the blade out. “Perhaps you could wear it as a charm for good luck.”
Bea took it and slipped it into the sheath at her waist. “I will. Might be fitting if this blade was the one that did the job.” It touched Bea more than she could say, especially after the way she’d spoken to her mother yesterday.
She’d wondered if her mother would end all communication with her after that. Now this.
It seemed, once again, Leda had been right about how to do things. That only confirmed the plan for today was the right one. She looked into the mirror. Whatever Lysette and Sylvia were doing, it was unnecessary. She was ready.
“Enough,” she said. “I am done.”
They both curtseyed. “Yes, my lady.”
She had the dagger at her waist, another strapped to her calf, and smaller blades meant just for throwing tucked into each cuff. She’d found them when she’d slipped the gown on. The gown had sheaths sewn into the fabric and the little blades already in place.
Nothing surprising about that, considering who the dress had previously belonged to.
She strode out to the sitting room. “Good morning, Dren.” She smiled at him. He was in a simple pair of brown leather breeches with a matching vest over a loose white shirt. He looked very much a bodyguard and nothing like a prince.
He got up and kissed her. “Good morning, my queen. You look resplendent.”
“Thank you.” Her hand lingered on his arm. Despite being married yesterday, they hadn’t spent the night together.
That would be too much of a giveaway. Such things would have to wait until their public ceremony. Or an official announcement. She was wavering on which mattered more.
Another knock and Elyra came through. She curtseyed, her gown of deep crimson a bit much for a lady’s maid, but it would have to do. “Good morning, your highnesses.”
“Elyra,” Bea said with a nod. “How did the evening go?”
Elyra made a strange face, then quickly smiled. “It went fine.”
Bea wasn’t sure she believed that, but it no longer mattered. She glanced at the mantel clock. “We should go so that we can make the portal in time.”
Elyra seemed confused by that. “Are we not using one inside the castle?”
“No. I thought it best not to, in case the Radiant queen’s wizard has some kind of magic that would allow him to read the portal settings to return here. I wouldn’t want Castle Hayze overpowered by royal Summerton guards. Best to port from somewhere a bit removed.”
“I see. Or I could simply lock the portal down with my magic.”
Bea gave that a moment’s thought, imagining the various scenarios that might take place today. One of those involved Elyra losing to the Summerton wizard and Bea not being able to return. Bea shook her head, not wishing to tempt fate. “My way is best.”
If that disgruntled Eylra, Bea paid no notice. She had too much else on her mind to be bothered with the feelings of that young woman. She touched the dagger at her waist, the key to the vault, which rested on its chain beneath her gown, and nodded. She was ready.
For safety reasons and to avoid being overly conspicuous, Bea had chosen to leave through an old portal that hadn’t been used in many years.
It was a place she’d played as a child. She led her group, along with Krohl, who’d be standing guard after they went through, out the terrace doors and into the garden.
They would arrive nearly half an hour earlier than the meeting time, but that, too, was part of her plan.
They took the path that led to the private royal cemetery. Bea had thought about stopping to lay flowers on her father’s and grandmother’s graves, but such a thing felt showy in front of others. She would lay flowers alone, after she returned victorious.
Then she could sit with her father and tell him every detail. She hoped what she accomplished today would make him proud.
As they trekked farther up the mountainside, they finally broke into a clearing that was barely distinguishable due to the growth over the last several decades.
In the center were four nocturne elms, standing tall and proudly stretching toward the sky, one at each corner of the portal. She touched the closest one, the black trunk and branches as smooth as paper. “We’re here.”
Dren frowned. “This looks nothing like any of the portals I’ve seen.”
Elyra came forward and placed her hand on the ground at the base of the first tree. “There is magic here. I feel it. Ancient magic.”
“The trees are their own kind of magic,” Bea told her. “A tea made from the seeds is said to give the drinker the power to see the future, but every moment glimpsed comes at the cost of one’s life.”
“Some might think that a high price to pay.” Ishmyel walked out of the portal.
“Uncle.” Bea tried not to react but failed. She knew the look on his face. He was unhappy, but more than that, he obviously suspected she was about to do something foolish.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m not here to stop you. I know where you’re going and what you think you’re going to do.”
Bea lifted her chin. “And?”
“And it will not go the way you want it to. If time and observation has taught me anything, it’s that the Radiant queen and her court are more capable than any of us want to admit. You are meeting with her to discuss peace, are you not?”
The corner of Bea’s mouth twitched into a barely suppressed smirk that the darkness approved of. “Yes, that’s right.”
“I would urge you to make sure that is accomplished. For the good of your kingdom and your people. To ensure that your reign is not the shortest in our history.”
Her smirk dissolved into disgust. “You take her side? You are a traitor to the crown.”
Anger sparked in his eyes. “I am on Malveaux’s side, as always. I have done everything I can for you and your mother. I am not a traitor, I am a preservationist. If we are to have a future, it cannot be one of constant war.”
She took a step toward him. “You are a fool.”
“There is nothing to be gained by this insane desire for revenge.” He shook his head as he moved toward the path back to the castle.
“If you have not returned by sundown, I will assume your endeavor has failed. I will petition the council to declare me regent. The kingdom has suffered enough turmoil of late. It is high time sanity ruled.”
She snorted, but he’d already started down the path back to the castle. “And you think you’re the sane one? You have always wanted the crown. I know that. My mother knows that. Even my grandmother knew that. You will never get it, old man.”
He disappeared into the trees without another word.
She fumed. “He’s the foolish one.”
“Indeed,” Dren said.
Krohl grunted and looked in the direction Ishmyel had gone.
“No,” Bea said. “Stay here. Guard the portal. If he comes back…do whatever you need to do to ensure he doesn’t interfere with our return.”
Krohl nodded.
Unbeknownst to him, Krohl was about to serve one more function for her. She took a breath to try to calm herself. “We must persevere.”
“Yes,” Merylynn said. “We will be victorious.”
“Yes, we will,” Elyra whispered, fingers moving in the direction of the portal. The underbrush withered and turned to dust, leaving plenty of room for them to enter.
As they walked into the portal, Bea dug out the letter from Queen Sparrow.
She fitted her grandmother’s portal ring onto Krohl’s pinky, the only finger it would fit, before showing him where the letter spelled out the pattern necessary to access the meeting place.
Then she handed him a slip of paper that held the key for this portal so he could return.
“Go through. Make sure there is not an ambush awaiting us, then come directly back using the setting I gave you. Waste no time.”
He grunted in understanding.
She stepped away.
He dialed the gems to the Summerton portal and vanished.
No one said a word, just waited. Seconds ticked by, turning into minutes.
Krohl reappeared and gave Beatryce a nod.
“Very good,” she said. “We’re going through. Now.”