Forbidden Queen: A Court Intrigue Fantasy (The Forbidden Queen Series Book 1)

by R. J. Vickers

  “Well met, cousin,” he mocked when I returned his gaze. “I believe you are trying to take what is rightfully mine. I’m sure we will get to know one another better.”

  He would have been very handsome if not for the sneer that marred his perfect lip. His eyes were black like his father’s, his skin a rich brown, but his nose was less pronounced, and his hair curled gently about his ears.

  There were many retorts that sprang to mind, but none were fit to speak in public. Instead I leaned back and avoided looking his way. If he wanted to resort to petty taunting, I would resist the temptation to retaliate. I would prove myself stronger and more dignified than this pretender.

  We were served a sumptuous breakfast, but I was so focused on maintaining my regal posture and disregarding the stares and whispers that continued to come my way that I hardly noticed what I ate. I did register the confusing array of savory and sweet smells that filled the hall, and I was aware that the meal was far more varied than anything I had eaten before, but I dared not allow my eyes to linger on my plate for fear it would be taken as a sign of weakness.

  It was a relief when the servants began to clear the platters and bowls from the tables and a low hum of conversation rose over the hall.

  “Perhaps a tour of the palace would be in order?” Mother suggested lightly. “It will help us digest that excellent feast.”

  “Yes, please.” I was eager to escape the eyes of court. As soon as we were free of the dining hall, I said quietly, “They took that better than I expected. I thought people would try to denounce me on the spot.”

  “That is not the way of court,” Mother said sadly, leading me down a narrow hallway I had not noticed before. “With your father on the throne, he holds the power to dispose of anyone who directly threatens his family. You will be attacked in far subtler ways. Had your father been voted off the throne before he passed it to you, our whole family would be in grave danger. But for the moment, we are protected by his reign.”

  I thought about this as we walked, trying to imagine what form these subtle attacks would take. Surely we would not be assaulted as we wandered the halls of our own home—would we?

  The corridor we followed soon opened onto a hallway at the edge of the palace, with tall, narrow stained-glass windows lining the walls.

  “This is mainly the servants’ wing,” Mother said, striding down the hallway, “though we have a rather grand royal assembly chamber here. It was designed as a meeting-place for the five royal families to negotiate in times of crisis. There are certain events that cannot be decided by the current ruler alone, such as acts of war.”

  Reaching the end of the hall, we climbed a short staircase and pushed back the door of a grand room that smelled of leather and parchment. A great square table dominated the center, and it was encircled by plush chairs. Bookshelves lined all of the walls except one, where a window spilled grey light into the room. I had not realized in the many twists and turns we had taken that we were in fact a full two stories above the street; this window looked out over the wall and across to the cathedral complex. Rolls of parchment almost as long as I was tall sat in a holder at one end of the room; I assumed these were maps or other diagrams.

  “Are we allowed in here when there are no crises to deal with?” I was eager to explore the mysteries of the palace, and especially to get my hands on the books and maps that could teach me far more than Mother ever had.

  “Of course,” Mother said. “All parts of the historic wing are open to the ruling families at any time. The only places we need to request permission to visit are the wings belonging to the other families.” She frowned. “However, you ought to exercise caution. Even within your own palace, you are not safe from harm. Always bring a guard when you leave the Cheltish wing, and do not stay out too long—I don’t want anyone to feel the strength of your power.” She removed her circlet and turned it over in her hands.

  “Is something wrong, Mother?”

  She sighed. “I expected certain members of the court to greet me, as would be proper for a returning queen. I thought I had friends in the palace still, allies who did not believe the rumors. Instead, the other ruling families chose to ignore us both. They are risking retribution by dismissing us, but they seem to believe we will simply disappear if we face enough hostility.”

  “Should we have a guard now?” I asked.

  “I’m trusting the element of surprise to keep us safe for the time being,” Mother said. “I do not expect an outright attack, and anything subtler would take more than a single morning to plan.”

  We continued our tour of the historic wing, though I enjoyed myself less now; I could see why it would be foolish to wander outside my family’s wing alone, so the mysteries I encountered now were ones I would never solve.

  On the course of our tour, we came across a grand ballroom set on the ground level; the official throne room, where the king would hear petitions from the council and townsfolk and make decrees; an audience chamber for entertaining important guests; and many other rooms that I forgot the use for as soon as we left. It was all very disorienting, especially with the way the other wings branched off at unexpected intervals. When we finally returned to the stairs leading up to the Cheltish wing, I realized my mental map was completely wrong; I had assumed we were close to the palace entrance.

  We toured the Cheltish wing next, even though Mother was growing visibly weary from my presence, and I realized this was much larger than I had guessed. The entrance to the wing began on the third story, where the living quarters were situated, but we had our own grand staircase leading down to a private dining room, nursery, library, hospital, and sitting-room, and another smaller set of stairs that we did not take, which led to the servants’ quarters at the base of the wing.

  It was I who finally called a halt to the tour when Mother took a moment to rest her hand on the back of a chair, shoulders slumping.

  “I apologize,” Mother said unexpectedly. “It is not just you who has worn me out. This finery is exhausting to wear, you know, and I have grown out of the habit of it.”

  “No need to protect my feelings, Mother,” I said with a sad smile. “I’ll leave you to rest.”

  8

  The King’s Heir

  I did not want to be known as the princess who hid in her tower all day, yet I was unwelcome everywhere I turned. After seeing the members of my family’s court at the breakfast feast, I knew there were nearly forty living in the Cheltish wing; they tended to congregate in the common area or the sitting-room, embroidering and reading and playing Kins, but each time I joined them, they disappeared one by one.

  The library was less frequented, so I hid in there more often than not—even when others visited, they usually did not see me between the tall shelves.

  I was discovered after two days of this trick by Leoth, who must have crept up behind me unnoticed, because he made me jump and drop my book when he spoke from just over my shoulder.

  “How are you enjoying palace life?” he asked with a sneer.

  I recovered my book and straightened from the slouch I had lapsed into, trying to hide the way my heart beat faster from shock.

  “It must be overwhelming, all this luxury, after the hovel you grew up in. I’m surprised you can even walk in that absurd dress. You’re like a peasant playing at royalty.”

  I sat up straighter still, meeting his mocking gaze with a steady look. I could feel my face reddening, but I would not give him the satisfaction of knowing his words hurt. “Shouldn’t you be fleeing at the sight of me? Are you not worried I might suck the life out of you?”

  He laughed coldly. “That’s an exaggeration. The best way to protect yourself from dangerous races is to separate truth from fiction. I know it takes at least two hours for you to render your victims lifeless, so I have no need to worry unless I intend to linger in your presence. Which seems a very dull prospect indeed.”

  “Good,” I said, matching his scornful smile with one of my own. �
�If you could just pass that on to everyone else in this bloody palace, they might stop risking a heart attack every time I walk into the room.”

  “Oh, I enjoy watching them run from you.” Leoth paced around my chair and grabbed a book from the pile I had stacked on a nearby table. “And besides, their health won’t be in danger for long. You won’t last more than a span here. I guarantee it.” He flipped the book over to read the title. “A history of the forbidden races in Baylore? Are you hoping to learn to recognize the few people who might support you?”

  I had been searching for any secret that might dull my power—a certain metal I could wear, for instance, that would render it less potent—but I was not about to admit that to Leoth.

  “I suggest you stay away from me,” I said lightly. “I can be very dangerous to those who oppose me.” Gathering the stack of books into my arms, I rose and turned to leave.

  “As can I.” Leoth dropped the book he had grabbed on top of the others and gave me a mocking bow. “I’m counting down the days.”

  * * *

  After that, I remained in my room as much as possible. Though I did not want to admit it, Leoth had unsettled me, and I wanted to avoid any chance encounter with him.

  It was therefore in my room that Mother found me four days after our arrival. She was dressed in a finer gown than usual, her hair pinned up beneath a delicate net.

  “Your father has requested our presence at an assembly downstairs.”

  I was not dressed as formally as Mother, and my hair was beginning to slip from its tidy knot, but she did not give me time to fix it. The king had been busy ever since my arrival; I had only seen him in passing. This must be important if he was present.

  We joined the king, Leoth, Olleack, and several others whom I recognized but did not know by name in a room that had the appearance of a private study. The door had always been locked in the past, so I had never seen it before.

  “Thank you for joining us,” Olleack said brusquely when Mother and I took our seats on either side of the king. Leoth gave me a mocking smile—he must have known I was avoiding him.

  “I have requested your presence to discuss a delicate matter that I would prefer not to bring before the other four families.” Olleack clasped his hands on the table, giving the king a hard look. “There have been doubts raised, once again, that Kalleah is not your legitimate daughter. You are of course free to nominate any successor you wish to take your place when the rule passes on, but there is a law stating that if a successor not related by blood is universally voted against within the palace community, the next in line will be chosen by general election rather than by the current ruler.”

  “There is no such law,” Mother snapped. “Where did you find this?”

  Leoth hefted an enormous book onto the table and slid it toward Mother. Was this what he had been doing in the library when he disturbed me—researching loopholes to keep me off the throne? “The page is marked,” he said with an evil grin so fleeting I might have been the only one who noticed it.

  Mother flipped to the bookmarked page and read it with a deepening frown.

  “The law was passed by Queen Marrelia, around four hundred and fifty years ago,” Olleack said. “Though our founders wished to spread power among the population rather than isolating it within a particular family bloodline, the five royal families were well established several hundred years after Itrea first became a nation, and disliked the idea of being ousted. In the previous cycle before Queen Marrelia’s reign, a king nominated his mistress as his heir. He was reputed to be a rash and ignorant monarch, and his mistress more ignorant still. Worse, she came from a very large farming family based in a remote settlement that is now West Darrenmark, so she and her relatives had no familiarity with palace life and no concept of what was best for the citizenry of Itrea.

  “Yet she had been nominated fairly, so there was nothing anyone could do to keep her out of power. She moved her entire large extended family into the palace, and never had a child by the king who had put her on the throne, so it was her own common bloodline that carried on, and the king’s family was forced to leave their own home. In fact, the Dellgrain line is descended from the foolish woman, as you can see by their common surname.

  “Queen Marrelia, who ruled during the same cycle as the Dellgrain mistress, could see the chaos the woman was causing during her time in power, so she and the other three rulers co-wrote a new law to prevent this from happening again in the future.”

  “Your scheme will never work,” the king said. “Anyone can see the family resemblance between my daughter and myself.”

  “Then where did the taint come from?” Olleack asked coldly. “My own family is free from it, as are the generations before us.”

  Mother, who had been reading a passage from the heavy tome with a creased brow, finally pushed the book away. “It is as Olleack says. I suspect that as we have never had cause to use the law since, it has passed out of memory.”

  “So what does it mean, exactly?” I asked. “Whose vote will determine my legitimacy?”

  “Every eligible member of the palace household will vote,” Olleack said. “That is to say, everyone aside from servants and children below the age of ten. If at least ninety percent of the court votes against you, the next in line will be decided by a general election within Baylore.”

  “How many members of court are there?”

  “You saw most of them at your welcoming feast. There are around two hundred, if you count children over the age of ten.”

  I would need twenty people to vote in my favor. Based on the reactions I had received thus far, it would be close to impossible. “And if I lose the vote here, can I put my name up for general election?”

  Olleack’s brows raised. “I see no reason why not. Though if you lost by such a heavy margin here, I highly doubt you could win a majority among the general populace. Magic is not in favor at the moment, Princess. I would take care if I were you.”

  It sounded like a threat. I wondered how much influence Olleack and Leoth had at court and in town. Surely the general populace would not elect someone so power-hungry, would they? “And is there no way to prove I am truly my father’s descendant?”

  “Short of resurrecting your grandfather and submitting him to questioning, no.”

  “When will the vote be held?” Mother asked.

  “As this has never been carried out in practice, we can set the precedent for the law. A vote two quarters before the rule passes on seems reasonable, as this will allow enough time for candidates to campaign among the general public in the event the vote turns against Kalleah.”

  The way he said it told me he expected I would lose. I did too.

  “Is there anything we could do that would keep you from this madness?” Mother asked desperately.

  “No, of course not.” Olleack met her eyes with a hard stare. “My son is infinitely more suited to the throne than your daughter. We cannot afford for anyone with a forbidden power to rule Itrea—it will tear this land apart. You are too blind to see it, but I won’t let your family’s ambition and pride ruin the stability we have enjoyed for centuries. We will stop at nothing to keep the crown from your daughter’s grasp.”

  I gripped my skirts under the table, moments away from either punching the man in his cruel face or running from the room in tears—I could not tell which.

  When I caught Leoth’s eye by accident, the solemnity of his expression surprised me. Then his usual taunting smile was back, so quickly I wondered if I had imagined his previous concern. How much of Leoth’s ambition was simply a mirror of his father’s true lust for power?

  “Well, if there is no hope of coming to an agreement with you, then we must act as we see fit,” the king said. “We will do everything in our power to put Kalleah on the throne, and you will try at every turn to stop us. It sorrows me that we have come to this, brother.”

  “If you had drowned the misbegotten infant when she first killed an innocent nu
rsemaid, we would not be here,” Olleack retorted. “You have brought this on yourself, brother.”

  “Come.” Mother stood in a swirl of skirts and put a hand on my shoulder. “We can leave the men to work out their troubles alone.”

  I was only too grateful to escape.

  When we were free of the stale air of the study, Mother took my arm and hurried me upstairs. “We need to make a plan. Care to join me in my chambers?”

  I followed her without question through the ornate double doors leading off the far end of the common room. This was my first time in her private chambers, mainly because my father was still a stranger to me, and it felt like a crime to intrude on the king. Just beyond the double doors lay a lounge with plush divans and a few tiny round tables, and doors on three sides of this opened onto a bathroom with a stone basin the size of a small pool set into the floor, a private office with a magnificent desk, and an enormous bedchamber. All three rooms boasted floor-to-ceiling windows, and the bedchamber opened onto a balcony topped with stone arches. A fresh, floral smell wafted from the bathroom, and afternoon sunlight glinted off a gilded vase in one corner.

  Mother ushered me into the study, where she sat at the desk and waved me into a smaller chair in the corner, seemingly oblivious of the magnificent views. It struck me anew that she had grown up surrounded by this opulence—she had been a member of another ruling family’s court, and had never known life outside Baylore Palace until she fled to Ambervale with me.

  “This changes everything,” Mother said, yanking out desk drawers and shoving papers to the side until she found a scrap of mostly-blank parchment and a quill. I had never seen her so unsettled before. “Twenty supporters is not much, but it is far more than we will ever find here. Your father was a popular king, and his word might have swayed some, but Leoth is popular as well, and Olleack has already begun poisoning the court against you. The claims that you are not Baltheor’s legitimate child will further enable people to separate your father’s success from the disgrace you and I have brought to Baylore.”