Chapter 3 Lily
THREE
LILY
“Sit down, Iris.” I gave the order without any real compulsion for her to do as I said. Among my family I was the oldest sister, not the queen.
Still, she flopped dramatically into her usual chair. “I’m not hungry.”
I glanced around the supper table at my sisters, and my chest tightened at the one who was missing.
Rose. Closest to me in age, we shared the same mother, from whom we’d inherited our fae blood and magic.
Rose had been my usual confidante, but she had a different life now—one that Dahlia wanted for me.
A husband, a kingdom, and a crown on our heads.
I swallowed and composed myself, then faced my remaining four sisters.
Without Rose, I’d have to make do with their counsel instead.
With their varied skills, interests, and ages, I’d get wildly different opinions and feedback—even from the twins, Violet and Camellia, who were opposite of each other in every way.
We were sharing supper together in our private dining room as we did almost every night, even since before father passed away. It was a tradition among my sisters and I to meet up like this at the end of the day and discuss matters.
“What’s troubling you, Lily?” Jasmine asked. She was the third oldest, after me and Rose, and could always tell when one of us was upset.
There was no point doing anything other than coming straight out with it. “Dahlia wants me to marry as soon as possible. She has arranged for seven suitors to meet with me.”
Camellia’s mouth dropped open. “Seven men in the castle? Will any of them be soldiers?” Her love of fighting drew her regularly to the palace guards to practice her sparring.
Violet nudged her. “Don’t be ridiculous, Cam. They’ll be men of noble blood. Refined. Some of them might even like reading.”
Jasmine laughed, her eyes warm. “Being able to fight and being able to read aren’t mutually exclusive. But we should let Lily tell us what’s happening rather than guessing. We’re not being helpful.”
“On the contrary.” I stopped and leaned back as a servant filled my water glass. “You’re being very helpful. Maybe some of this speculation will narrow down what I want in a man.”
Keane shifted his position as he stood behind me, and awareness of one man who’d been in my life for years prickled over me. I refocused on my sisters, fighting the strong urge to glance over my shoulder.
“Do we get to judge them? Is it like a contest?” Iris helped herself to the family style serving bowls in the middle of our smaller dining table. We rarely ate at the bigger table, the banquet one used for formal visitors and banquets.
Jasmine nudged her. “This isn’t our decision. It’s one that Lily needs to make without our interference.”
“But we saw Rose accept Raith.” Iris pouted, and I laughed.
“That was a little different, and I’m not entirely sure who accepted who.” I heaped some peas onto my plate. “Besides, I’ll be meeting the suitors at the summer palace.”
“Then I’m glad we’re not going,” Camellia said. “That place is so dull. There’s never enough fighting to join in there.”
“Speaking of fighting…” I cleared my throat and Keane’s armor creaked a little as he moved again.
He seemed restless tonight, but I still fought the urge to check on him.
I didn’t need to look, anyway. His blond hair and deep blue eyes were imprinted in my memory.
He never smiled much, but sometimes I caught a flicker of one, usually meant just for me.
“What is it?” Camellia’s interest was piqued, and she leaned forward.
“I was attacked in the forest this morning.”
Jasmine gasped and her hand flew to her throat. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Keane protected me and got me home.” I spoke quickly to try to reassure them.
“He always protects you,” Violet said, and from the tone of her voice, I had a feeling she was thinking of a scene from one of her latest reads. After Rose’s sudden marriage to our enemy had blossomed into love, Violet had been obsessed with romantic novels.
“It’s his job,” Jasmine said, and I flinched. The words suddenly seemed harsh, even though they were true.
“Who attacked you?” Camellia asked the question with far more curiosity than concern. As long as I wasn’t a casualty of war, battle, or attack, everything was fine in Camellia’s eyes.
I tucked a length of my dark hair behind my ear. “We don’t know yet, but Keane’s people are investigating. We thought they were bandits, dressed all in black, running at us through the trees—”
“Bandits! How exciting!” Iris said, sitting up. “But where would they have come from?”
“We don’t know.” I wiped my mouth with my napkin. “And they weren’t exactly bandits. When Keane fought them with his sword, they vanished.”
“They vanished?” Violet’s eyes rounded. “You mean they ran away?”
“Not exactly. They turned to smoke and drifted away.”
“Magic?” Jasmine turned to me, and I nodded, adrenaline jangling at my nerves once more. Even as I discussed this with them, I could smell the forest this morning, those bitter herbs spoiling the fresh scent of the evergreens.
“Not just magic,” Iris said. “Illusion magic.”
I glanced at her, a little worried. She didn’t look excited anymore. She just looked circumspect and solemn as she pushed back a strand of red hair behind her pointed ears.
“Do you think my mother has anything to do with this?” she asked.
“We don’t know, but I doubt it.” I reached out a patted her hand. “Your mother disappeared many years ago. I don’t see why she would return now.”
“But it’s rare, isn’t it? The affinity for illusion magic?”
“I believe so.” I couldn’t tell if she looked hopeful or hopeless over the fact her mother might be involved.
Queen Riala, my father’s fourth wife and Iris’s mother, was one of the reasons the King had banned fae magic in our kingdom.
She was a very powerful fae mage from Talador who had been very young when she’d married Father in a political alliance with Korelan.
A few years later she was caught having an affair with a palace guard, and when Father ordered her captured, she used her magic to kill the other guards and escape, leaving Iris behind in the process.
No one had seen her ever since. Father declared her officially exiled, executed the guard she’d had the affair with, and banned fae magic from all of Talador.
That was what most people knew about Queen Riala’s saga, including Iris and my other sisters.
However, as Father’s successor I had access to his journals and memos, and I knew more of the story, though sometimes I wish I didn’t.
Riala had been pregnant once before she had Iris, but she’d lost the baby in a miscarriage.
It had been a boy, according to the midwife, and Father was furious.
He blamed her for being careless with her body and losing his only chance at a son.
He turned even more cruel and cold, and I suspected the only place she found comfort was in the arms of her lover.
She became pregnant again, and though later she swore Iris was Balsam’s daughter, he never believed her.
Still, after Riala’s disappearance he kept Iris as one of his daughters.
Probably to avoid scandal, since he was always cold to her and preferred to pretend she didn’t exist. He’d even tried to give her hand in marriage to Raith, though she was only twelve years old.
Sympathy welled in me as I looked at Iris. I had no idea if she was my sister by blood, but I didn’t care about that. She was my sister, in every way that mattered. I held out my arm and she shifted her chair closer to lean against me.
Jasmine pushed her dark hair from her face and chewed thoughtfully before she spoke. “I don’t think it could have been Riala. Why would she attack now that Father is gone? And where has she been all this time?”
“We all assumed she had returned to Korelan and was in hiding under the protection of her cousin, the High Queen of the fae,” Violet said, in her matter-of-fact voice.
“It’s been a long time since any of us have even heard Riala’s name,” Camellia said. “But if she returned, the guard would be ready for her.”
I held up a hand, trying to curb the speculation. “We haven’t worked out why we were attacked, or even if the attack was meant for me, but the guards are working on it, and we’re well protected.”
“How do you know we’re safe?” Iris’s innocent question made my breath catch.
She was right to ask. We had no defenses against fae magic except some leftover wards placed by my mother around the castle, and although the guards were well trained in combat, we were a kingdom of people with no magic since Father outlawed it.
He’d left us at a disadvantage in this world.
“Captain Keane and his soldiers will keep us safe,” I said, focusing on the one thing I knew was true. I glanced back and saw him bow his head in acknowledgment, drawing strength from his solid presence. He would do everything he could to keep me and my family safe.
I looked down at Iris as she continued to snuggle against me, and her big amber eyes met mine. Her mother’s eyes. Fae eyes.
Iris was about to come into her fae powers, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
I couldn’t train her to use them. My own powers were weak and inept.
With magic banned, I couldn’t officially hire anyone to teach her.
I could send her to study with Rose, or perhaps to the fae school in Korelan, but the thought of losing another sister made my heart ache.
One thing I was quickly learning—there were no easy decisions when you were queen.