Chapter 13 – Neve
Chapter 13
NEVE
T he room held its breath.
I didn’t know who Jarl Triam was, but I recognized the fear riddling Marit’s face. She reminded me of how terrified I’d felt when Prince Gervais first threatened me in Sangrael.
Back before I’d tasted freedom. Back when the only thing I had to lose was my life.
I would bet the ruby ring Roar had given me—the same one discarded in a drawer at the moment—that Jarl Triam was a threat.
Socially. Financially. On her status?
Her life? At the thought, my mouth went parchment dry.
The king prattled on about how the second match was one fated in the stars. One in which a jarl had made plain his desires for the female.
“Who am I to stand in the way of true love?” King Magnus crowed, high on his own power. To my disgust, those in the crowd clapped. Did they think the king was so charismatic? Or did they want to appease him to keep themselves safe?
“On with it,” Vale growled low enough so that no one else, save perhaps Sian standing at my husband’s other side, could hear.
Yes, hurry, you pompous windbag.
“Jarl Salizier, come forward.” The king motioned at the crowd of lesser lords hovering around him since we arrived. Though I’d seen him only once, I recognized the thin jarl with the thick blond beard and rosy cheeks who joined the king.
“And Lady Sayyida Virtoris, come forth and greet your match.” King Magnus’s tone hardened as he turned to face Sayyida, next to Saga and Lady Virtoris.
Saga blanched, and even from far away, the veins popping in Lady Virtoris’s temples stood out.
Sayyida merely shook her head.
“Is something wrong with my choice?” King Magnus growled.
Lady Virtoris stepped forward and spoke for her daughter. “We’ve already spoken with the jarl and refused his offer. He is from the midlands.”
“ And ?”
“We are seafaring people, Majesty,” the Lady of Ships continued, her voice stronger after the initial shock. “Sayyida is a captain in the Royal Nava. That is where she wishes to stay. She can’t very well command ships from a castle in the landlocked midlands now, can she?” Lady Virtoris’s chin lifted. “ Not to mention that I believe my daughter to be too good for the jarl.”
Whispers abounded, but my attention had strayed back to Sayyida. She, too, had pulled on a brave face and crossed her arms over her chest as though they were armor. But would it work?
“That is where you are wrong, Lady Virtoris,” King Magnus spat. “Your daughter has proven that she is nothing special. Dare I say, I should have punished her for attending recent events and not bringing them to my attention. Not even trying to stop them.”
The Lady of Ships’s lips parted in shock that had to be similar to the jolt running through me.
Recent events . . .
The king had matched Sayyida and Marit, both high ladies who had attended my wedding to Vale! They were nobles with power and armies of their own. The king could not punish them in the same manner as Sir Qildor—not if he wished to keep the Sacred Eight on his side.
However, he could, by rights and tradition, match them and give them horrible husbands—ones he knew they did not want.
Which was what he was doing.
My fists clenched at my sides as a mix of fury and guilt rolled through me. I hated the king for doing this, for hurting innocents.
Worse, I was responsible. Had I not said yes to Vale, none of this would have happened.
But then again, I’d most likely already be dead if I had said no .
I swallowed the lump rising in my throat. At least Anna, Clemencia, Sir Caelo, and the whores who had witnessed our wedding were far away and safe.
Thank the stars Lord Riis had known to send them away. That he’d had a place to keep them.
But what of Filip? I found the young squire in the crowd, standing by a male I assumed to be his father. My jaw tightened. Would the king match Filip too? And cruelly so?
“He’s too young to be matched,” Vale whispered. “Filip is safe, for now.”
So he’d come to the truth of the matter too. That we were responsible for this misery. And yet, he’d said nothing either. That led me to believe that staying quiet was the smart thing to do for now. Perhaps if we fought it, the king would force my friends to wed at this very moment, ripping them from their families. In Marit’s case, he’d already insinuated as much. At least this way, if we played our cards right, there was a chance to fix this.
I would ask Vale to bring it up with his father.
“Now”—the king’s voice boomed, quelling the murmuring running through the crowd—“that the matter of the matches is settled, we shall celebrate.” He lifted his glass of wine. “To the new betrothals! New alliances!”
Those in the crowd raised their glasses, even those of the House Armenil and House Virtoris. Even Sayyida and Marit, though Marit’s arm was shaking and Sayyida only did so at her mother’s insistence. If Sayyida had it her way, she’d probably hurl her goblet to the ground.
With the toast finished; the king turned back to speaking with the newly betrothed jarls. The newly matched ladies, however, bolted from the solarium. Marit did so with grace, but Sayyida with so much fury that she knocked over two potted trees and bulldozed through a group of ladies on her way out.
Saga wasn’t far behind Sayyida.
“Vale,” I whispered. I had to be there for the ladies who had taken me in and who were now hurting because of me.
“Let’s go,” he said. “Don’t run, though. Don’t draw more attention to them.”
I parted through the crowd. Sayyida, Marit, and Saga had already disappeared through the door. A few Armenils left too—though Lady Virtoris remained with two of her children, one male, one female, both in their mid to late teens, whom I had not met. They followed close behind their mother, who seemed to be doing her best to steal the king away from the jarls. Not having much luck by the looks of it.
Vale strode behind me, fending off the few people who tried to get his attention. Apparently, we were no longer the main gossip of the court, so speaking with the prince wasn’t as much of a risk.
We were nearly at the door, the Clawsguards we’d arrived with waiting to escort us, when Prince Rhistel stepped into my path.
I ran right into him, and though I pulled away, I couldn’t help but notice how different he felt from his brother. Softer, leaner, more delicate. And where my new husband smelled of sandalwood and freshly fallen snow, Rhistel’s scent was that of libraries—old parchment and wax dripping from candles. Not repulsive, though the way he wrapped his hand around my wrist, soft and forcibly sensual, was.
I ripped my arm away.
“So testy , sister,” Rhistel drawled. “I came to speak with you. I figured I’d better get to know you while I still can.”
The potent scent of wine filled the air between us. The heir was drunk. And from the way his eyes caught on my chest, I suspected he was horny too.
“Don’t touch me,” I hissed. “And get out of my way.”
Rhistel’s face hardened. “Just because you’re no longer a whore doesn’t mean you can speak to me that way.” He lifted his hands and began tugging one of his gloves off.
I blinked, realizing as his pale hand emerged that this was the first time I’d seen the heir without his gloves. What was going on here? And where was Vale?
I twisted to find three large males standing in front of my husband. He caught my eye, then his widened. As if I were in danger.
I turned back to Rhistel, prepared to fend off a blow, but the prince grinned at me, one hand bare, one gloved.
“Now, Neve, what do you say we leave this place and speak?” He reached for me with his ungloved hand.
I recoiled and was ready to tell him to keep his paws to himself when a roar rang through the room, followed by two moans and what sounded like a crack of bone on marble. I spun on my heel to find the males who’d surrounded Vale on the floor and my husband lunging at me.
He grabbed me, pulled me close, and shoved his brother backward into an approaching guard.
“Don’t touch her,” Vale hissed. A pause filled the air between them as every head turned to take in the fight between brothers. “She’s mine .”
A shudder ran down my spine. Mine.
I despised the territorial term—the sign of ownership. I’d had enough of people owning me for an entire lifetime. And yet, nothing in me revolted when Vale said it. Rather, my insides warmed.
Rhistel’s rebounding, however, doused that heat, closing the distance between us again and pointing a bare finger at his brother.
Vale dodged it and maneuvered me behind him.
What in the stars?
People were shouting—my name. Vale’s. Rhistel’s.
I cringed. We’d attracted attention again, so much. Too much. I was about to tell Vale to let it be, that we had to go, when the queen swept into the scene right up to her eldest son.
Queen Inga’s brilliant blue eyes blazed. “ Rhistel . Do not force my hand.”
She spoke softly, quietly, but fire filled her words. The haze of drunkenness cleared from Rhistel’s eyes and fear rippled across his face. Without a word, he pulled his glove on.
“Go, Vale,” Queen Inga growled. “Leave. Take her with you. Keep her out of our sight. ”
Vale said nothing, just wound my fingers through his and we left the solarium.
I perched on Saga’s bed, patting Sayyida’s back. The princess sat on the other side of Sayyida, holding her friend’s hand, providing comfort as Sayyida wept.
Wept.
I never thought I’d see the day.
“This won’t happen,” Saga whispered for the tenth time. “I won’t allow it. I’ll speak with my father.”
“And say what ?” Sayyida shot back. “If my mother with her armada and all the might of our House can’t sway him, how can you, Saga? He’s furious! With me! With Marit! We should have never . . .”
She trailed off, but the unsaid words hung in the air.
They should have never helped us. They never should have attended my wedding. I swallowed.
“I’m so sorry that Vale and I put you in this situation,” I murmured. “It’s all my fault.”
“No, Neve, it’s not,” Saga interjected. “Perhaps it was hasty for us to stay, to stand against my father and wound his pride in that way, but he is making these choices.” Her face grew stony. “It’s a punishment, but it cannot happen. I won’t let it, Sayyida. I won’t.”
The princess took Sayyida by the chin and turned her friend’s head to her own. Their eyes locked. Sayyida licked her lips and Saga’s gaze softened noticeably.
Not for the first time, I lingered in the middle of a very intimate moment. There was something between them. Did the king see that? The queen? Saga’s brothers?
Vale had known that Sayyida preferred females, but did he know about Saga? That I was certain she preferred the same—and Sayyida in particular?
“Sian and I had a plan,” Sayyida said. “We were going to wed and then I could sail and do as I wished.” She stared at Saga, the faerie betrothed to Sayyida’s own brother. “And he could do as he wished too.”
“We’ll make it right,” Saga insisted. “Father has allowed me to push back my marriage to Vidar for many turns. He said nothing about you wedding Jarl Salizier soon. We can buy time, then dissolve it.”
My heart clenched at the triangle—or perhaps a square?—that my friends were in. Though Vidar seemed very kind and the type of male many females would love to marry, he wasn’t what Saga wanted. Did he know the truth? Perhaps they, too, had made a pact?
For her sake, I hoped so.
Actually, no. I hoped the king would stop being such a giant pile of gryphon dung! That he’d see sense and call this stupid Courting Festival off. Stop harassing his people.
Then the smiles of the jarls came back to me. Well, some of his people were happy about the results. But not those I cared for.
“He threatened Marit.” Sayyida wiped tears from her face. Then, shockingly, she stood for the first time since I’d arrived half an hour ago. “What makes you think he won’t do the same to me? ”
The princess looked away. She could give no guarantee.
But that didn’t mean hope could not live on. “Saga is the king’s jewel, Sayyida. He’ll listen to her.”
Sayyida laughed, and for once it wasn’t bawdy or full of joy, but cold and skeptical. “We’ll see. I need to find my mother.”
“I’ll come with,” Saga said and made to stand.
But Sayyida held up a hand. “No. I need time with Mother. Alone.”
“Oh, all right then.” Saga sat again, face carefully blank.
“Thanks for everything,” Sayyida added, more of an afterthought than anything. “I’ll see you two later.”
She left. I heard her exchange a few words outside, probably with Vale. Since we’d arrived at Saga’s room, after a brief stop at the Virtoris wing where we were redirected, he’d been out there—waiting for me.
He hadn’t said a word about my run-in with his brother. And while I’d been curious, I hadn’t asked either. Since leaving the solarium, my priority had been to find Sayyida. To help her.
Now she was gone and the question of what had happened with Rhistel was back. Maybe Saga would know?
I found Saga staring at her hands, clearly holding back tears. I swallowed my question.
The news of Sayyida’s betrothal had hit Saga hard too. I couldn’t bring her more pain, not after all that I’d already put her through. Even if her father wouldn’t harm his own blood directly, I’d put her brother at risk, brought ill fortune to those females who had shown me grace at court—Saga’s best friends. One of them, the person I believed she loved.
“Do you need anything?” I whispered. “Want me to stay?”
Saga looked up at me, unshed tears in her blue eyes, the fingers of her right hand clenching the skirt of her dress, as if the fine fabric was the only thing keeping her in one piece. “I think I’d like to be alone too. I’ll see you later, Neve. Tomorrow.”
“Very well. But please call if you need anything.” A part of me felt silly for making such an offer to the princess, a faerie with an entire kingdom at her fingertips. But I’d do anything for Saga. After all, this was my fault. I swallowed. “I’m serious, Saga. Call and I’ll come. “
“I know,” she replied, already moving to lie down on the bed.
I saw myself to the door, guilt twisting my insides with each step.