by Janeal Falor
That’s a happy thought, except for the fact that Androlla is taking over my mind. Not that I can tell Kapeni that. I don’t want her to think I’m insane.
I glance at the clock. “I’m afraid I have a meeting to attend. You’re welcome to stay at the palace as long as you’d like, even while selling your house and finding a new one. Whatever is best for you. I’m happy to have you here.”
“Thank you,” Coplo says. “Your generosity is something we’re grateful for.”
“Yes, dear. We hope we can visit again soon.” Kapeni gives me a big smile, and I’m taken back to when she used to teach me how to read, the few times I was let outside. Happy moments. She was the only mother figure I had in my life until Shillian came around, and look how that turned out.
I shove away the thought. “I’ll visit as soon as I can. It means a lot to me that you’re here.”
“We’re happy to be here, dear.” As a servant wheels me away, I wish I could stay with them.
Chapter 25
The council room seems emptier than usual. There aren’t as many assistants here, helping the councilors. Julina and Afet are on guard duty. It’s nice to see they have another guard helping so they don’t get worn out, but I hope Julina is fully recovered. I need to find the time to talk to her. Things have been so crazy lately. I haven’t done much of anything.
Puneah is curled up at my feet, under the table. It’s always nice to have her near. Funny to think I used to not like petting her because now it’s a joy to do. Even more so that I can move my hand enough. Inkga is behind me, out of sight but not out of mind.
Except Nash.
Since Androlla shot him, he’s been avoiding me. I wish I could talk to him—find out what he’s thinking. It’s difficult enough, getting through each day. Not knowing how he is makes it harder.
“Are we ready to start?” Timit asks.
“Kada and Mina are missing,” I reply.
“We’ve been waiting for them for ten minutes. Let’s get started without them. It may teach them to be on time,” Jem says.
She does have a point, though it feels odd to start without the whole council there. I send a servant to track the ladies down and find out what’s taking them so long. Then I say, “We have officially bought an emerald mine in the outskirts of Wolta. It’s been a highly productive mine, and with what we can tell, will continue to be so in the future. Now what’s our first step to get it working for us?”
“Posting jobs should be our first goal,” Jaku says. “Though I believe Timit should delegate tasks so the council is free to focus on bigger matters.”
“I second that notion,” Sidle, Head of Military, says.
“I agree.” Which has been happening more and more with my council. It’s strange but welcome. “We’ll have Timit find someone worthy of overseeing this project and bring them before the council to be approved. Anyone disagree?”
Timit scowls but doesn’t protest. Everyone else stays silent.
“Good. Now our next item of busi—”
There’s a crash in the hallway.
Jaku stands. Cocks his head to the side. He yells, “Get the queen out of here.”
My chair rolls back. I glance to see Inkga moving it. Before she can get me out the back door, the sound of blades clanging against each other comes through that hallway.
“What do I do?” Inkga sounds panicked.
“Roll me over—” I don’t have a chance to finish the sentence. Attackers pour in the room from both directions. Inkga moves her arm forward long enough to slip something into my hand before getting back behind me to move my chair away from them. I glance at what she gave me.
My dart flinger, loaded.
A mix of joy and fear shoves its way through me. Is this good or bad? I hope Androlla doesn’t use it to hurt someone else I care about.
There’s no more time to think about it. The room has erupted in chaos. Men and women are fighting everywhere, with the council scattered throughout the room.
An attacker lunges for Inkga. Puneah flashes out from under the table and latches onto his arm. I glance toward the doors, but they’re blocked. We can’t stay out here in the open.
“Get us to a corner,” I yell back to Inkga amidst the shouting, metal clanging, and confusion in the large room.
She runs away from her would-be attacker, heading straight for an empty corner. All around us, people are fighting. Timit crawls under the table, other council members following him. One of the attackers sees this and aims his sword toward them.
I shoot a dart at him.
It lands, and he whips around and sees me.
“Faster, Inkga.”
She gets us to the corner, but the man is still coming. I shoot him again. I don’t want to kill him, but I have to protect her and myself.
He’s only a couple steps from us when he slows and staggers to the ground. The poison is working. Puneah finally drops her victim and lopes over to us.
More attackers pour in the room, men and women. Is this another Kurah attack? Something Daros set up? Or something more sinister, that I can’t fathom?
Now isn’t the time to speculate. I’ll have the chance to do that later. A woman aims for us and charges, her sword at the ready. I aim the dart flinger. Before I can let go, Julina’s sword blocks the attacker’s with a clank. They go back and forth.
Nash is at my side. Where did he come from? He blocks another attacker that’s coming at us from a right angle. His swift movements and strong muscles are a sight to behold—until the attacker’s sword bangs against his breastplate.
It doesn’t faze Nash, who swings his sword upward, effectively stopping the attacker.
“Inkga, take my dart flinger,” I yell over the noise.
“But then you won’t be able to defend yourself.”
“It did its job. Now let the others defend me.” It’s dangerous to have both them and the dart flinger in the same room when I’m holding it.
She takes it from me and shields me with her body.
“Inkga, I can’t see what’s going on.”
“Better than harm coming to you.”
I grumble in frustration as I try to see what action I can around her. Nash and Julina are in front of us, staving off attackers. Puneah at my side seems antsy, ready to get in the fight but unwilling to leave me behind.
I know the feeling.
Jaku joins the line holding the assailants away from Inkga and me. How long can they hold out? How many people are there? Do we have enough guards fighting? I hope so, because they seem to be going for killing blows.
I wish I could be in on the action right now. My body aches with the memory of moving and fighting, joining in the fray. It feels like my place is among them, but I suppose it’s here now, even if I can’t protect the ones I love. It’s their turn to protect me. Though it’s hard to let them, I’m grateful.
At my right side, there’s movement where Julina blocks off attackers. She moves aside and lets in Monkia, my Head of Staff before jumping back into action, blocking a sword going straight for Monkia’s back.
If the attackers are this desperate to kill not just me, but also my councilors, who are they?
Inside, Androlla is laughing.
Stupid First Queen. She needs to get out of my head.
Monkia grabs Inkga by the hand, drags her next to me, and squishes her in before blocking off her escape. What is she doing?
“Mom, stop it,” Inkga says. “I’m trying to protect the queen.”
That’s right—they’re related.
“I’m trying to save you from getting hurt. The others will protect the queen. Let me protect you.” Monkia’s tone is sharp.
“Just stay behind the line of defense, both of you, and we’ll all be fine,” I shout.
And I’m right; the fighting is dying down. I can’t see well, other than to know that Afet joined the line, but the noise of sword against sword is dying down. My people are standing. This is a good sign. I hope
none of the councilors that dove under the table got hurt.
“Give up,” Jaku says. “You’re surrounded.”
A woman I can’t see yells, “We can't give up. The Kurah will continue on until we have what we need.”
Another Kurah attack then. Lovely.
There’s a scuffle, and then all is silent.
“Carefully check the ones who are down,” Jaku orders. “Make certain they aren’t going to cause more trouble.”
And hopefully some are alive, so we can interrogate them, though I fear we’ll get the same answer as before. A medium-built man in a dark cloak. Not helpful.
“Your Majesty, are you all right?” Jaku’s voice is so formal, I’m not used to it.
“Fine. Thank you all for your swift action and protection. Are any of our guards or councilors hurt?”
They all sound off that they're fine.
“You can come out,” Jaku says. “Julina, Afet, go help the councilors.”
As they go, Jaku and Nash spread out an even distance apart in front of me, opening up more of the room for me to see.
Bodies lie on the floor. I don’t look too closely, not wanting to relive the horrors of my past. As Julina and Afet help those hiding come out, they appear to be whole, though pale and shaken.
Sidle is across the room, helping other guards tie up the prisoners who are still alive.
“Are any of the attackers conscious?” I ask.
“Some, Your Highness,” Sidle says. “We can take you to them, but they’re not very cooperative.”
“Very well. Inform me the moment Jaku is ready for me.” We have to get to the bottom of this. Here I am, trying to make things better for the Kurah, and they send attackers after me. I refuse to help them any more until this behavior stops.
Nash never looks at me. As soon as everything is given the all clear for my safety, he leaves, not glancing my way.
I try to ignore the pain in my heart—the giant, crushing pain that makes me want to weep. But I am stronger than that. I won’t let a man bring me down, whether it’s with a sword or my heart.
Still, I wish he would have at least taken a peek at me.
Chapter 26
Afet, Julina, and Jaku are with me and Puneah as I get ready to talk to the first conscious prisoner. Before we go in the room, I say, “There wasn't any news from the previous prisoner trying to escape?”
“No. I’m afraid there isn’t,” Jaku responds.
“Tsk. It would have been a good plan, had she ever tried to escape. Let’s get the interviews going. I have more important things I need to be doing.” Like practicing, to take down the First Queen.
No one mentions that I don’t have to be here. It’s true, but it's easier to get the information I need by being present.
We enter the room. The prisoner is slumped back against the only chair, hands and feet bound.
“What do you know?” I ask.
“Brown cloak.” He groans.
“I thought he was awake,” I say.
“Sort of,” Jaku concedes.
At least he’s answering my questions. “Do you mean the person who asked you to do this was wearing a brown cloak?”
“Yes.”
“What else do you know about them?”
“Man. Nothing else. Please spare me.”
I huff. He’s not giving us any useful information, but he is cooperating.
“Why did you do as this man said?” Julina asks.
The prisoner rolls his head on his neck and then sits upright, like the question wakened him more than anything else has so far. “He threatened my family.”
Ah. Now we’re getting somewhere. “Be more specific?”
“If I didn’t help, he’d track them down and kill them.”
“Do you know if he used the same threat with the others?” Jaku asks.
“I can't talk more until I know you'll keep my family safe.”
“I'll send someone for them right away.” Jaku gets details from him before going out of the room. Moments later, he returns, asking if the man in the cloak used the same threat with the others again.
“Those I spoke with said the same thing. Ask them yourselves.”
We will.
We spend the next several hours of the morning interrogating attackers to no avail. We learn nothing new, other than that they’re a mix of having things or people they care about threatened or have a deep belief that the Kurah are being wronged. The last thought grates on me, making the back of my neck and shoulders ache.
It’s been difficult on them, but I’ve been trying so hard to make things better. I want to lower their taxes, and will be in a position to do so soon, but if they are going to bully me, they’ve got another thing coming.
Inkga’s wheeling me back to my room when Shillian appears in the corridor. I don’t know whether or not to acknowledge her when she curtsies, mumbles a thank you, and hurries on her way.
I’m still contemplating the interaction while I say to Inkga, “Take me to Jem, instead of the sitting room. I need to speak with her.”
“All right.” She turns left when we come to the next hall, following the guard ahead. Eldim’s behind us. It’s a sure thing that I will be attacked again, sooner or later, so I may as well keep guards on me at all times.
It doesn’t take us long to come to the quarters of the ladies-in-waiting. When I moved my rooms, they moved theirs to be closer to me, but they didn’t get inside rooms, like I did. We stop at the first one, and Inkga knocks. A servant answers the door, and her eyes widen.
“Jem, Her Majesty is here to see you.”
Jem rushes out and ushers me in, the servant getting out of her way. Inkga wheels me in. The room is not at all what I expected. It’s flat and unadorned. Not very Jem-like at all.
“Ryn, it’s good to see you.” Her eyes are puffy. “How are you?”
“Well as can be expected after interviewing offenders. How are you?” It’s clear she’s upset, but I don’t know if she wants to talk about it.
She gives a forced smile, tight around the edges. “I’m all right. What can I do for you?”
I debate pushing her, seeing if I can get her to come around and tell me what’s wrong—if there is more than losing Wilric, which is bad enough on its own—but we have four other people here that are all witness to it. While I trust my three people, I don’t know about her servant. Besides, if it’s about Wilric—like I think it is—I don’t want to make her go through that pain in front of so many others. “I assume you know the situation with the Kurah.”
“The attack was terrifying. I was able to hold off a man with some tricks you taught me until help arrived. It saved my life.”
Maybe that’s what spurred the tears—thinking about me and Wilric teaching her how to fight. “I didn’t see you in action. I wish I had.”
She waves away the thought. “You were safe, where you needed to be.”
“You should have joined us.”
“Honestly, it was a thrill to fight for my life. I can see why you like it.” Her smile loosens, becoming more real.
Mine feels forced, but I push on. “There are a lot of reasons why I liked it. I’m glad your skills are improving, but that’s not what I came to talk to you about.”
“The other ladies-in-waiting are getting better too. Even Inyi isn’t so squeamish,” she says. “What did you wish to discuss?”
“I wanted your opinion, as my Head Advisor, about what I should do with the Kurah. You’ve given me sound advice in the past, even if I didn’t always listen to it. I’d like to know what you’re thinking on this matter.”
She quickly hides her surprise. “Of course. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it, not just with the recent attack, but also since this started coming into play. I think you need to meet with them again and outline exactly what you’ve done for them and how you want to lower their taxes. What’s more, you need to tell them what will happen if they don’t change their ways. How much worse th
ings are going to be.”
“It’s a good plan, but do you think I should lower the taxes?”
“Not unless these attacks stop. We can’t let them rule the country through fear and intimidation.”
“That’s what I was thinking. And we need to discover who is behind everything. Serious punishments are warranted because this behavior is unacceptable. We need Kada to set up a meeting.”
“What happened to Kada and Mina at the council meeting, anyway? It’s not like them to be late, though I’m certain they’re grateful they were.”
Maybe or maybe not, given the circumstances. “They were found tied up in their rooms. They were unhurt, but both claim the attackers came in through their windows, to get through to the council rooms.”
Jem taps a finger to her lip. “Interesting. I’m surprised the attackers didn’t hurt them.”
“I am as well, though grateful.” And slightly suspicious. What is it about those councilors that kept them from harm? “They’ve requested to have their rooms moved and are in the process of making that happen right now. Jaku’s looking into how the attackers got to their rooms in the first place.”
“Their rooms are right next to each other, I believe.”
I didn’t know that. I’m surprised she does, but then, she keeps on top of things. “They were. We’re moving all the council members into different rooms, away from each other.”
“Wise move.” She turns to her servant. “Would you please get Kada for us?”
“Yes, Mistress.” The servant scurries off.
“How is everything else?” Jem asks.
I wonder if she means the search for ending the First Queen. “It’s a slow process. I’m grateful for all the extra help I’ve received lately. It’s been significant, but I don’t know if it’s enough.” Will it ever be?
“I understand. I will continue doing what I can.”
I change the subject, not wanting to focus on Androlla when there’s nothing I can do to fight her at the moment. “How’s your family?”
We spend the next half hour talking before her servant finally returns, out of breath. “Forgive me for taking so long. Kada was downstairs, looking for a new room. Everyone else is looking up here, and I expected her to be with the rest. She will be here shortly.”