26. Rahzlyn #3
Alekko leaned forward, his brows drawn together in concern.
“I do not mind sharing an update, Your Highness, given our princess should be informed as well.” The commander paused, allowing a significant silence to pass before continuing.
He seemed eager to support—defend, even—Raithe’s seemingly reasonable request. Addressing me, he said, “Helene Condor was the wife of Baron Ionis and was found guilty of being an apostate. Her execution—”
“Execution?” I muttered. The room waited for me to say more. “Surely being an apostate alone isn’t treason.” I knew I should have stayed quiet, but I had no control over my nervous words. “Or even an apostate affiliate. If no harm is done—"
“Respectfully, Princess,” Vesperah said. “Explosions are more than differing opinions. Lives were lost. The apostai are dangerous people.”
I caught Raithe’s eyes on me before he flicked them away. If anyone else knew I had a brand on my foot, I was done for.
“What an ignorant question,” Maryn sputtered. “What would you do differently?”
I didn’t have a damned clue, other than I wanted no part in the execution of lives, apostate or not. Maryn grinned while I bit my lip, as though she had been testing me and I’d failed.
This couldn’t be real. I was in a nightmare, stitched into someone else’s body.
“Even with assistance from Felaf, we were unable to glean any additional information from Helene other than her husband’s innocence,” Alekko explained. “We brought Baron Ionis in for questioning, and Felaf confirmed he did not have a brand on his foot like his wife, nor anywhere else.”
Maryn waved a hand. “This brand you speak of means nothing, especially if the only ones to have seen it are our guardians.”
Raithe took a step forward. It was small, but large enough to evoke displeasure on Maryn’s face. “You should confirm if the other courts have observed such a—”
“Do not tell me to do anything, Guardian,” Maryn snapped. Shoulders around the table hunched. “If the other courts knew anything, they would share such knowledge with me.”
“Would they?” Raithe retorted, eliciting collective gasps from the room.
Alekko quickly cleared his throat to dilute the tension. “Baron Ionis claimed to have no inkling of his wife’s treachery, which Seer Gregorios was able to validate through Blood Sight. He has returned to his home in the city.”
“My guard will keep a watchful eye on his comings and goings,” Vesperah confirmed. Alekko stared fondly down at her. She nudged his side, but his smile only widened.
“I was under the impression, Queen Regent,” Raithe said, “that all those affiliated with the apostai in any way were to receive the same sentence?”
“The commander said it himself: we proved Baron Ionis’s innocence.”
“But others—”
“Enough, Guardian. That is my final word on the matter.”
If Raithe believed my theory on the brand’s magical ability to keep its wearer silent, it was odd that he didn’t voice it now.
Perhaps he wanted to avoid incriminating himself, given it had no effect on him.
Or he was lying and he, too, had a brand.
He struck me as the type of man willing to do whatever it took for his own gain—including revealing his princess as a branded apostate.
Maryn didn’t believe the brand’s significance—for now.
Raithe’s tenacious ambition to trample the apostai would convince her in time. When that happened, I wondered if he would make good on his threat and personally escort me to the dungeon.
I scanned the stone walls, seeking windows between ornate tapestries. Seeking a reprieve from the heavy revelations in this room. My blood pumped laboriously. I needed air. I needed to feel the wind on my skin, hear its soft music in my ears, or else this palace was going to cave in on me. Or else—
“Perhaps it’s time we adjourned this meeting, Queen Regent,” Raithe said, drawing the room’s attention again—including mine.
The confident calm in his face tempered my rising panic.
“And instead, address the matter of punishment for my disobedient absence these past few weeks.” His eyes regarded me with…
with understanding. As if he saw my shallow breaths, felt my too-fast beating heart, heard the panicked voice in my head.
That couldn’t be right. Apart from using me to further his personal agenda to end the apostai, I didn’t know what reason he would have for saving me from humiliation.
His distraction allowed me a moment to get my head straight.
I thought of the little girl in the street, Novah, and the stranger’s game that helped calm her. Three things, he’d said.
Felaf took a step forward. “Mine too, Queen Regent. For having withheld Novah’s presence from you.”
Maryn glanced between the two of them, a gluttonous gleam in her eyes. She seemed all too eager for whatever punishment awaited them. Perhaps that meant mopping duty or mucking the stables.
“Very well. We’ll resume further discussions on tutoring and subsequent training tomorrow.
Let us give credence to Scorpio,” Maryn instructed.
The room echoed her chant. “And you,” she directed at me, rising from her seat.
“Rest while you can.” Her eyes flicked over me with disapproval.
“Time will show if you’re as worthy as Scorpio allegedly believes you to be. ”