Cassarah
The next morning, I didn’t get much time to enjoy being wrapped up by two burly men. Instead, I had Becka bursting in, whisking me to get ready for the day.
“Cass, you need to wear a dress. It’s your coronation day. I know it’s not happening until later, but still,” Becka argued as I pulled on britches.
Ignoring her, I continued to dress in the clothes I’d become accustomed to wearing since I came to the clans. “There is too much to be done, and I don’t have time to deal with a skirt getting in my way.”
“I’m sorry. Did the leap out the window rattle your brain, making you forget you’re the queen in this castle?” Becka grumbled as she handed me a nicer leather vest that had to be laced up in the back.
Giving in, I turned, letting her lace it up so the high and mighty Queen Catharine knew I didn’t get dressed by myself.
“No, I’m fully aware of that, which is why I want to see what’s happening with the dining hall.
Last night was a disaster, and while I need to deal with our guests, they are not at the top of my list. Ensuring the castle is sound and my people are all right is what I care about most. I know there were other guards in the room with us. Do you know if any of them were hurt?”
“One got a cut on his scalp from some debris, but other than that, a few minor bumps and bruises. Cole is the one with the worst injury from whatever nasty poison was seeping out of the monster,” Becka informed me.
“The dragon healer also reached out, letting us know he was able to neutralize the poison, and Vasin is resting soundly. Peder gave him something that would put him in a healing sleep, so if you can’t reach him through your mental connection, that’s why. ”
The tension I was holding in my shoulders relaxed as I sighed. “That’s excellent news. While I’m sad he won’t be with me today while I do this coronation thing, I’ll survive, and so will he.”
“Can I talk you into eating something before you get swept up in being the world’s most perfect saint?” Becka asked, arms crossed, blocking the way out of the dressing room.
“Let me guess, you already had food sent up for me, didn’t you?”
Becka gave me a bright smile, telling me everything I needed to know. “Dearest May is waiting for you in the common room with your tray, Your Majesty.”
“Don’t call me that,” I muttered as I glared at my best friend, following her to the center of our rooms.
Sure enough, there was May, standing sentry over a meal laid out on the table. Paxton lounged in one of the chairs, looking put out and cradling one of his hands. Walking over to him, I combed my fingers through his soft white-blond hair, drawing his attention. “What happened to you?”
“I tried to take the bowl of pickled eggs because I know you don’t like them and wouldn’t want them to go to waste.
The evil henchmen over there decided to attack me by stabbing the back of my hand with a fork,” Paxton explained, showing me the five small marks the utensil left behind. “Will you kiss it and make it better?”
“Don’t you dare. He needs to know he can’t do things like that just because he’s one of your consorts,” May challenged. “It’s not proper unless you want to become the queen’s taste-tester. Then feel free to eat all you want before it reaches her plate.”
“All right, you two,” I said, cutting in before Paxton could respond.
“I have plenty to do today without dealing with this. He’s not wrong, May.
I hate pickled eggs and typically give them to him because he’s the only one who enjoys the awful things.
Pax, next time, just wait until I’m here, and I will gladly hand them over. Problem solved.”
Neither of them looked happy with that response, but that was what I had to offer.
The nutty smell of the kavat waiting for me gave me hope I could make it through this day with its help.
Gulping down half the mug was my first step in getting this day under control before I moved on to the porridge.
I’d refused to let them make me extravagant meals just because I was now living in the castle and officially going to be crowned their queen.
If it was good enough for me before I took the throne, it was fine after.
“Has anyone checked in with the king and queen?” I asked, looking up to find most of my men now at the table. Gavin and Jade were the only two missing.
Izel answered as he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the table. “Gavin stayed on the third floor with them. As your consort and ambassador, he felt it was his place to make sure they were settled and didn’t cause any trouble.”
“Then where’s Jade?” I questioned, knowing it was unlike him not to check in with me first thing in the morning.
“Oh, he’s been up for a few hours, already working with the crew to clean up the mess in the dining hall and ensuring there are double patrols out in case Xotha returned.
He thinks they will try and stop the coronation from happening.
Clearly, the Lost King doesn’t realize you already have access to the castle’s magic, and this is just a formality for the public,” Zan said as he fed a piece of meat to Ezzu, who was perched on his shoulder watching me.
I slammed my spoon to the table, drawing all their attention. “This wasn’t something you felt I needed to know?”
“Mouse, you were completely drained last night,” Cole pointed out.
“Even if we did tell you, what would have changed? This is why you have guardians to look after you when you can’t look after yourself.
None of us were going to keep this from you and always planned to share our thoughts as we are now.
But I’ll remind you that while you are our queen and lover, you are also our responsibility.
We were called to you to ensure we keep you safe, no matter how you feel about it. ”
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, knowing he was right.
My emotions were all over the place from the events of last night, and I was lashing out at them because I was shaken at how badly things turned out.
No one was killed, and only minor injuries were being taken care of.
It could have been so much worse. The dragon had gone after me and left the rest of the village alone.
I would never put it past the Lost King to do something drastic to ensure his victory.
If I were to beat him, I needed to start thinking like him, which scared me even more.
Using his own tactics against him would be so easy, but how many innocent lives would be lost in the process?
Shaking my head, I shoved those thoughts to the side to deal with later.
Today would be enough to get through without adding all that into the mess.
“You’re right, Cole. It’s not fair for me to be upset when you’re doing exactly what you should be doing,” I apologized. “Clearly, what happened last night has shaken me more than I thought.”
“If we could push off this coronation, we would, but this needs to happen so that in the eyes of the world, you have full power as the Dragon Queen. The stories might have been suppressed, but the people who fear it coming to pass are well aware of what today means,” May explained.
It seems everyone felt the need to give me some tough love today. Picking up my bowl, I slurped the rest down, wiped my mouth, and stood, squaring my shoulders. “Am I allowed to check in with what’s happening in the castle, or do you have other plans for me?”
Dayson snorted at my comment but looked at May for the answer. It appeared they’d put her in charge of me today, knowing I wouldn’t ever be able to say no or talk my way out of things.
“I think it would be good for you to check in with the Creisal royalty. After the events of last night, they might have reconsidered their position on an alliance,” May said with a smirk.
“Gavin might have also mentioned that they sent one of their guards back with one of our dragon riders to ensure their army was on alert.”
My brows shot up at this. “Seems they weren’t just listening to their own voices. Come on, let’s deal with them first, and then we can attend to the things that really matter.”
Cole and Izel shoved back their chairs as they finished their breakfast, following us as we left our chambers to head down to the third floor.
I opened my mouth to comment on them joining us, but one look from May had me shutting it, accepting that she had asked them to join us.
It seems Jade wasn’t the only one up at the crack of dawn making plans for my day.
They all seemed far too prepared to manage me for them to have just woken when I did.
I picked up my pace when I heard raised voices coming from one of the sitting rooms. Arriving, I hurried through the door that was ajar to find Gavin red-faced, glaring down at shattered dishes on the ground next to where his aunt was sitting.
“There was absolutely no need for you to act like a child if what they brought you didn’t appear to be appetizing to you,” Gavin bit out through a clenched jaw. “All you had to do was tell me, and I would have had them make you something different.”
Queen Catharine sniffed at him. “They served me porridge like a commoner. It’s an insult, and I will not be treated this way after all that’s happened to us here.
We came in good faith that your alliance with this whore was something we should support.
Now I see she is nothing but trouble and chooses to slight us at every turn. ”
So much for May’s assessment of them changing their minds on the alliance.
“Catharine, enough,” King Thomas barked, glaring at his wife. “We are guests in this palace, and I would warn you against speaking ill of Queen Cassarah, especially when she is standing in the room.”
Catharine’s head snapped to the doorway where I stood, trying to figure out the best way to handle her.
Clearly, the king and queen didn’t agree on how they wanted to handle their next move.
My guess was King Thomas was seeing the error of his ways while Queen Catharine was far from agreeing with him.
Clasping my hands behind my back, I walked up to stand beside Gavin, letting my shoulder brush against his in solidarity.
“Good morning. I hope you both got some rest last night after everything that happened?” I inquired, keeping my face neutral as I spoke.
Catharine scoffed and started to speak, but King Thomas cut her off.
“You are kind to ask after us, but we weren’t the ones who were tossed off a cliff by a dragon.
We are overjoyed to see that you are well.
It’s a miracle to see you completely unscathed.
Your dragon, he fought gallantly. Tell me, is he all right? ”
“It is thanks to my dragon and consorts that everyone made it out alive and mostly unharmed. My pair-bond didn’t fare as well as I did, but the healers tell me he will recover in a few days,” I shared, smiling at him, pleased that he asked after Vasin.
Turning to the queen, I looked down at the mess on the floor.
“Did you not find the food to your liking? I just finished a bowl of our porridge and found it quite tasty. You’ll have to forgive the simple meal, but since we have the feast and other coronation preparations today, I didn’t want the staff to do anything too lavish.
They have so many other more important things to do that having a normal, everyday bowl of porridge isn’t a hardship.
As queens, it’s our duty to look after those under our care in the castle, don’t you agree? ”
Her eyes narrowed at me, knowing full well I cornered her into sounding like an ungrateful bitch if she disagreed with me.
“That is rather forward-thinking of you, Your Majesty. While I see your point and support it, I do believe that since you have guests, it might have been wise for your staff to inform us of your request. That way, we did not perceive it as a slight when it arrived.”
“You do make a good point, and I apologize for that oversight. I guess it was too much of me to assume that guests in my home would be grateful for the food and protection I’m offering after they made it clear they didn’t support me or my kingdom.
In fact, if I’m not mistaken, there was absolutely no desire to combine our two kingdoms in the slightest. Any other ruler would have just sent you and your family on their way, danger or no danger, seeing as we didn’t have any responsibility to look after your safety,” I paused, turning to King Thomas.
“If that is still the sentiment of Creisal, then I believe it would be best for your family to leave before the coronation takes place. We wouldn’t want to give the Lost King any room to misunderstand. ”
King Thomas rose from his seat and walked over to face me, holding my gaze for a moment before bowing his head.
“Queen Cassarah, I would like to formally apologize for my wife’s and my behavior for how we spoke to you last night.
It was short-sighted and unnecessary on many levels to treat you in such a manner when you’ve done nothing to warrant it.
Gavin and Phillip took the time to walk me through what happened with their father and letting Queen Mary live when it would have been in your rights to behead her as well.
You are a truly honorable queen, and Creisal would like to formally declare an alliance with you and fight alongside you as you face the Lost King.
His blight on this world needs to be put to an end to ensure the safety of all. ”
Even though my plan didn’t go how I’d hoped, it seemed that the threat of almost losing his or his family’s lives was enough to make him see reason.
I would have led our people into battle no matter the outcome of this meeting, but knowing I would have their army to back us up gave me hope.
This battle was going to be one for the history books, and I’m glad it will show we didn’t have to do this on our own.
“It is my honor to accept your alliance. We will draft a contract of terms once the coronation is finished and make this official along with Crown Prince Phillip,” I answered, bobbing my head in return.
“If you’ll excuse me for now, I have other things I must attend to before things are set in motion.
Oh, and I’ll have the staff send up another bowl of porridge, Your Majesty.
I would hate for you to go hungry until the feast tonight. ”
Queen Catharine didn’t say a word as I took Gavin’s hand, tugging it for him to follow me out of the room.
“Love, you are a queen among queens. Never forget that, no matter what,” Gavin whispered as he squeezed my hand, laughter in his eyes.