5. Chapter 5 #3
The door to her office opened and shut as Aliya stared out the window across the grounds.
This was a disaster. All the sleep she’d lost, the prepping she and Elessan had done for the meeting, all to be thrown out the door because Zadé had to ambush her in front of the entire council with some nonsense about a labor camp.
Her hold on power was tenuous. The last thing she needed was her supposed allies undermining her authority by pointing out to her advisors that there were secrets in her kingdom she wasn’t privy to.
Aliya brushed a stray strand of hair off her forehead in frustration. For all the tactical genius that inhabited Zadé’s mind, one would think the general would be smart enough to know when to keep her mouth shut.
“Princess?” Zadé’s voice had an uncharacteristic tremor of uncertainty to it.
Elessan spun on his heel, the sound of the leather sole scraping over the stone sent an unpleasant shiver up Aliya’s spine. He was just as furious as she was. Good. Maybe she could delegate Zadé’s dressing-down to him.
“What were you thinking, ambushing her like that?” The rage in his tone only exacerbated the harsh edge to his Elven accent that made something deep in her gut unfurl in a coil of heat.
Zadé’s eyes widened, her head jerking back. “Whaddya mean?”
There was a pause as Elessan shifted his position. Aliya almost pitied Zadé being the focus of his stare. An angry Elessan was scary. But his protectiveness was sweet, even if he did let Tsara touch him like they were more than friends.
Aliya closed her eyes and massaged her temples. Today, the ache wasn’t centered behind her eyes. Instead, it felt like someone had taken a guard helmet that was too small, shoved it over her head, and was slowly ratcheting it tighter until her skull cracked and pulverized her brain.
If that happened, at least it wouldn’t be her mess to clean up.
“How was I supposed ta know Princess didn’t know ‘bout the labor camp?”
Aliya turned to face Zadé as the other woman gestured toward her.
Once she confirmed she had Aliya’s attention, Zadé continued, “She’s lived here all her life. Why wouldn’t she?”
Aliya swallowed. Her sheltered upbringing hadn’t seemed like a serious liability before.
It was something that, in his own twisted way, her father had done to try to protect her.
To protect himself. And it wasn’t a problem, unless one pointed out to the entire council that their queen was ignorant of something so vital as the handling of elven prisoners of war.
Now that the nobles were aware, they had to be wondering what else she didn’t know.
And how they could use her shortcomings to their advantage.
“You have singlehandedly undermined her authority more than every human in that room, combined!” Elessan’s voice rose in pitch with each word.
Zadé flinched, her skin going pale.
Aliya’s brows furrowed when the other woman didn’t come back with a retort. Zadé always had some snappy comeback.
The silence stretched.
Aliya ran her fingers over her head, pulling the few strands of hair that dared come loose from the ornate updo her lady-in-waiting had insisted would go perfectly with the complicated gown.
She used the opportunity to apply pressure on her scalp, hoping to assuage the crushing sensation in her skull, but to no avail.
Elessan pulled his focus away from Zadé. Crouching until his face was eye level with Aliya’s, he asked, “Are you okay?”
She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. If she kept furrowing her brow like this, she’d end up with wrinkles before she reached twenty. “I’m fine. It’s just a headache.”
A muscle feathered in his jaw.
Turning away from the weight of his regard, she turned to Zadé. “What’s done is done.” She moved away from the window to a settee by the cold fireplace and sat, staring into the flames. “Tell me what I need to know.”
Zadé cleared her throat. “Th’ labor camp’s only a two days’ ride.” She glanced at Elessan. “We could leave now, empty it, an’ be back a’fore the end o’ the week.” Her eyes flicked to Aliya. “Th’ council wouldn’t miss yeh.”
“Right.” As if her throne wasn’t precarious enough. The last thing she could afford was to disappear for four days. She bit her lips, pushing them into a thin line. With the conclusion of the war, the prison camp should be dissolved, the prisoners freed. “I’ll issue a decree to make it so.”
Elessan shook his head as he moved to stand beside her, the heavy weight of his hand settling on her shoulder.
“There’s no guarantee the guards wouldn’t as soon murder their charges as release them into the world.
And we would have no way to ensure their safe passage back to their realm unless we take a portion of the elven army to do it. ”
Aliya chewed the inside of her cheek. If the elves marched on the camp, there was every likelihood the wardens would kill the prisoners and war would break out all over again. But he knew that better than she did.
Her gaze danced back and forth between Zadé and Elessan.
“Then we need to go, to make sure that doesn’t happen.
” And she’d have to deal with the fallout and potential uprising when she returned.
The elves had been so integral in overthrowing King Malkov, she couldn’t risk offending Princess Tsara by refusing to address the inmates.
Elessan’s hand slid down her back, sending an unexpected ripple of awareness along her spine as he leaned forward, bracing his free elbow on his knee. He glanced around the room before meeting her eyes. “You can’t disappear until you consolidate your position with your advisors.”
She sighed, her shoulders drooping. “I know.” Brushing the back of her hand across her forehead, she continued, “With the council being what it is, and the master artificer escaping with Brooks, I can’t go to Brisimin right now.
But I don’t want to leave people in a labor camp who shouldn’t be, either.
Especially if it’ll smooth things over with the elves.
” She dropped her gaze to Elessan’s arm, the one Princess Tsara had been stroking earlier.
The heat in her gut rose, pushing sour acid up her throat.
Aliya swallowed, slamming the jealousy aside before it exacerbated her headache.
“But there’s no noble with enough authority to guarantee the decree is carried out who I would trust to make sure the prisoners were actually freed. ”
Elessan twirled one of her curls around a finger. “We need to firm up the loyalty of your council and guards. That needs to be our first priority.”
She met his gaze. Princess Tsara wouldn’t be delayed forever. “Dealing with the Whisperers and Brisimin can’t wait.”
“No.” His whisper was more of a sigh.
“It’s too bad ya can’t be in two places at once,” Zadé said with a shrug. “That would make things a lot easier.”
Aliya rolled her eyes. Yeah, it would. She froze as an idea occurred to her.
She couldn’t be in two places at once, but she did have a shapeshifter for an aunt who could impersonate her.
Shadow couldn’t be trusted to make sure her forces freed the elves, based on her reaction to Elessan, but she did have a few good ideas on how to handle the council.
And she was familiar enough with Aliya’s mannerisms to be able to imitate her, at least for a couple days.
Maybe. Especially if Aliya’s father could back her up.
Something in Aliya twisted at the thought of trusting the baron and bringing him in on the plan, though.
“Let’s table this for now. I’ll figure something out,” Aliya said, turning to Zadé.
She’d track down Shadow tonight. The sooner she handled Brisimin, the better.
“Can you find ten elven guards who are even-tempered? Ones we can trust to not pick a fight with the humans, and who wouldn’t be tempted to steal the Whisperers for themselves?
” Figuring out how to dismantle the weapons would also go a long way toward smoothing relations.
It would help her sleep at night, too, knowing those abominations no longer existed.
Zadé shrugged. “Sure. But Princess Tsara’d know better’n me. I’ve only been a general fer,” she counted on her fingers, “four days now.”
Aliya pursed her lips. Maybe that was true, but she trusted Zadé’s opinion, not Tsara’s. Even though the elven forces were Tsara’s to choose and command, not Aliya’s or Zadé’s. “I would value your input or thoughts on the ones she recommends. Can you steer her toward some who would be appropriate?”
Zadé smiled and slugged Aliya’s bicep. “Sure thing, Princess. I mean, Majesty.”
Elessan tensed, sitting upright, glaring at Zadé. “Hey!”
Aliya grinned, holding back the urge to rub her aching arm. “It’s okay, El.” Zadé was stronger than her form suggested. “You can call me princess, Zadé. It reminds me of simpler times.”
Something flashed in Elessan’s eyes, but it was gone too quickly for her to identify it.
Aliya swallowed. “Just not in front of my nobles, please? They might take offense.”
One corner of Zadé’s mouth curled up. “Yeah, the council did seem kinda pissed, didn’t they?”