I Don’t Think They Like Me
I Don’t Think They Like Me
As everyone seated themselves, I turned to Dayson once I reached the head chair. “Could you please bring over a chair for Prince Gavin and put it on my left?”
I saw the flash of surprise at my request since that spot was normally reserved for the queen or the king’s wife or lover.
This was all about strategy, and I needed them to know I was serious in my request to keep Gavin safe, and the fact they had disregarded it would not be overlooked.
I might not be able to fight them physically in my condition, but I knew mentally I could back them into a corner, forcing them to see reason.
“Why is he here?” one of the other men snarled. “Who let him out of his cell?”
By his size alone, I would guess he was the clan leader of the Bronze Reaper clan and Dayson’s father.
They looked similar in many ways, along with sharing his quick temper with his son.
I could already tell with Dayson, it was out of his desire to protect me, and I was hoping it was the same for his father.
“I let him out. He never should have been placed there at all. Prince Gavin is under my protection. I gave my word as Queen of the Mercenaries. Would you ask me to dishonor that promise?” I asked, raising a brow.
Dayson set the chair on my left side, and this caused the clan leaders to shoot to their feet, shouting.
“You dare to put him in such a position?”
“Once from a traitor’s family, always a traitor. You sold yourself out to the kingdom.”
“This will not be tolerated. He must be removed at once, if not killed!”
Ignoring them, I locked eyes with Gavin and nodded for him to take his seat. He looked at them, then back at me before squaring his shoulders, putting on his royal air, and leisurely settling himself beside me.
“Enough,” Ballard roared, slamming his fist on the table. “How dare you address your queen in such a manner. The lot of you should be put to death for such a display of disloyalty and slander.”
I raised a hand, motioning for Ballard to sit back down as I rose. This was a moment I couldn’t let anyone else speak for me. I needed to do this on my own. They had to admit I was good enough to be their queen.
“Gentlemen, allow me to introduce myself. I am Queen Cassarah of the Raven Rose clan and leader of all the mercenary clans that still exist. I was once of the royal court that this man’s parents ruled, but I have shed that loyalty, being I cannot rule if I am ruled.
Don’t you agree?” I inquired, pausing to give them a moment to let that sink in.
“Now, why don’t we all take our seats, and if you could be so kind as to share with me who you are.
If I am to defend myself and my actions, I would like to know who my accusers are. ”
It seems Mother’s training had more uses to it than I thought. They are like a bunch of unruly children who don’t want to share a toy with the new kid.
“Vasin, can you enter the inner cavern at all?”
“Cass, nothing will stop me from getting to you, but yes, I can do that with ease.”
“Excellent. Would you be so good as to stand guard outside the doors of the room I am in right now? Anyone who isn’t my guardian, Gavin, or Ballard is to be eaten if they step out of this room.”
“By the sounds of it, I might eat them anyway if they have offended you this much.”
“That won’t be necessary. I just need to get them to take me seriously. Once we get over this hurdle, I’m sure they will see reason.”
Thankfully, they all took their seats again and seemed to be passing looks at each other as if completely caught off guard by me.
Then Porvan stood, body ramrod straight, as he met my gaze, determination clear on his face.
It would seem I hadn’t been wrong to ask Vasin to join us for this conversation.
“I am here, Cass, and I might add that I haven’t had a chance to eat yet.”
That caused me to smile, and I had to force myself not to snicker at Vasin’s joke.
“Is there something you wish to say, Porvan?” I asked as his face turned into a scowl, thinking I was laughing at him.
“Either the prince is removed, or we will leave this room, and you will not be recognized as our queen,” he declared.
Both brows rose at this statement. “My, it sounds like this was an agreed-upon choice, but how could it be? None of you knew I removed Prince Gavin from the cell until you saw him here. This leads me to believe you planned to turn your back on me from the moment you stepped foot in here. Does that sound about right?”
Porvan gaped at me, shock written all over his face that I wasn’t the least bit bothered by this news. “Did you really think the black dragon would pick someone so easy to dethrone?”
“Dragons are not people. They don’t see things the same way we do.
How could he know you were the right person to be our queen?
It’s been a very long time since the last black dragon, and that man it picked was a fool who died in a skirmish, leaving us stranded to deal with the aftermath of his mother’s battle.
We shattered after that, and we won’t let another poor choice of a ruler kill us off,” one of the other clan leaders snapped. I would guess he was Izel’s father.
“If you would like to ask Vasin personally on that matter, he’s right outside the door, but I should warn you that he hasn’t had a chance to eat yet,” I informed him, gesturing toward the door.
The man blanched, and he turned his worried gaze to Porvan, their chosen leader, it would seem.
“Is it your plan to keep us locked in here against our will?” Porvan growled.
I gave him a bright smile. “Not at all, but if you choose to leave, then you will not make it far. If, on the off chance, that doesn’t sound like something you want to do, then all I ask is you hear me out.
After hearing all I have to say, if you still don’t wish to have me as your queen, then I will revisit that with you. ”
Porvan seemed to realize I had him neatly tucked in between a rock and a hard place, but the lesser of two evils was to listen to what I had to say. “Very well. What is so important for us to hear that you would go to these lengths?”
“I’m so very glad you asked, but first, I would love the pleasure of knowing who else sits at the table with me. Or should I ask your sons instead?” I countered, not giving up since it had been my first request.
“You’re not one to give up easily, are you?” Porvan muttered.
I decided not to encourage him with an answer and turned my attention to the man I assumed was Dayson’s father, hoping he would see reason.
“Garold, Your Majesty, clan leader of the Bronze Reapers,” he shared, giving me a nod. “Dayson is my son and May is my niece, but since she’s been under my care most of her life, I see her as a daughter. You hold both of my children in your hands.”
“They have both already made a fine impression and done what they could to keep me and those under my protection safe,” I admitted, giving Garold a soft smile. “I look forward to getting to know them better.”
I shifted my gaze to the man next to him who shared his viewpoint on Vasin’s ability to pick out a good ruler.
“I am Xio, clan leader to the Jade Talon, and you know who my son is. Let it be known that if you get my one and only son killed over protecting that prince, I will not hesitate to kill you.”
“Father,” Izel snapped, coming to stand on my right side as the other guardians moved closer to me. “I let what you said before slide because our queen didn’t address it, but this is going too far. Don’t let it get to the point that I must kill you instead.”
I didn’t know Izel that well, but seeing such an aggressive outburst toward his father surprised me. Reaching out, I wrapped my hand around his wrist and gently squeezed it to remind him where he was.
“Izel, be at peace. I do not fault him for being protective of his child. His words are out of love for you… be grateful for them. I never had a parent come to my defense.” When I felt him relax under my touch, I returned my attention to his father.
“You get one pass, Xio, and you just used it. Be wise and don’t force my hand with another threat on my life.
I assume that would leave other children alone and without a father to keep them safe.
” His expression told me I hit the nail on the head with my deduction.
When I woke up today, I had no idea I would be making sure no one died by my hand or my guardians’.
There are some things no training or books could teach you, but I had plenty of life experience with volatile energy.
Only this time, I had weight to throw around, and I planned to use it to my advantage.
“That leaves us with the clan leader of the Hell Hawks,” I stated, turning to the last man in the room. He also happened to be the one who had said nothing since entering the room.
His dark brown, almost black eyes watched me with careful study.
Out of all of them, he was the only one who did not look like his son, and it made me wonder what their true connection was.
The clan leader had dark umber skin that his red shirt contrasted with spectacularly.
His black hair was shaved off, leaving him with a bald head that the firelight of the lanterns glistened off of.
Even though he wore long sleeves, I could tell he was fit with how his muscles moved under his shirt.
He was also appeared to be the youngest of the clan leaders.
“My name is Acton, Your Majesty. Jade is tied to me as we share a mother, but he is no family of mine,” Acton informed me, his face cold, keeping his emotions locked down tight.
As much as I wanted to ask more about that, I knew it wasn’t the time or place but something I should address with Jade. Back in the forest, he told me he might not be welcome here, and now I understood why he might think that.
“While I do hope we can find a way to work together, that is the least of our problems at the moment. What do you know of Errit and the army that has crossed over the Great Darsor River into our country?” I asked, diving right into the meat of things.
All the men scowled or showed confusion at my words, which didn’t bode well for us. If the Lost King could slip past us, and the people whose survival was to know these types of things, we were in deep trouble.
“There is no such thing,” Porvan announced. “Our clan is right at the border of Errit and Creisal to the west. If there were movement of that kind, we would know.”
“What if they crossed into Utros just south of Errit and then crossed over near the far side of the Restless Mountains?” I said gesturing over to the map.
“Or if they were smart, they would have crossed in smaller groups over time. We commonly traded with Errit, so caravans always came and went until this past year.”
“We are not the gatekeepers of the border, Your Majesty,” Porvan spat, then pointed at Gavin. “That is his and the kingdom’s duty, not ours.”
Now ready to drop the information that would truly tell me if they would see reason or not, I stood, placed my hands on the table, and looked them dead in the eye before I spoke.
“The Lost King, King Edward’s first-born bastard son, is back and ready to take his crown from his father, who abandoned him. Care to tell me how we all missed that bit of information?”