by Morgan Rice
It seemed to him that she’d built herself up again, returned to what she had been. If there’d been any doubt in Sebastian’s mind that she would never change, it was gone now.
She stepped close to him, her lips slightly parted. Almost automatically, Sebastian caught hold of her wrists, certain that there would be a knife in one hand or the other.
“You can keep me like that, if it makes you feel stronger,” Angelica said. “Rupert did.”
Sebastian pushed her back.
“Do you know about what happened to Rupert after you poisoned him?” he demanded.
“He died,” Angelica replied. “Let’s not pretend it was something to be sorry about. He was a mad dog who needed to be put down. You should know that better than anyone.”
“He was my brother,” Sebastian said.
“Which means you’ve seen more of the things he’s done than anyone else,” Angelica replied. “A nice, clean death from poison is a lot better than anything he would have done to me in the long term.”
Sebastian shook his head. “Clean? Clean? Rupert didn’t die from the poison. It just… destroyed him, made it so there was nothing left of him. I had to…”
Angelica was quiet for several seconds. For a moment or two, it looked as though she might actually comfort Sebastian, and he didn’t know what he would do if she did that. Instead, she smiled.
“Does it hurt, Sebastian?” she asked. “Does it hurt that you’ve had to become the kind of killer you never wanted to be?”
Sebastian stood there, his hands clenched into fists against his anger. “Yes, it hurts.”
“I wonder, does it hurt even more knowing everything that I’m going to do next?” Angelica asked. “Your beautiful, empty-headed Sophia has commanded you to let me go, and you’re going to have to do that, because you love her, and you’re so dutiful. At the same time, you know that I’m going to be back. I’m going to enjoy knowing that every day from now on, you’re going to be waiting for the moment when I slip a knife into her. You’re going to have your child’s food tasted for poison. You’re going to see enemies in every shadow.”
“You’re right,” Sebastian said. “Sophia has commanded that you be let go.”
She was right too that both love and duty demanded that he do it. Sophia was the queen now, and to go against her instructions would be to undermine her newfound authority. Angelica’s family was powerful, too, and they couldn’t afford to antagonize them. All of that was true…
…and none of it mattered.
“Guards!” Sebastian called out. The doors to the royal chambers opened, and a pair of soldiers came in.
“Not going to finish escorting me yourself?” Angelica asked.
“Not for this part,” Sebastian said. He looked over to the guards. “There is a courtyard on the south side of the palace where Angelica had a headsman’s block set up for my death. Escort her there, and execute her as cleanly as you can.”
“What?” Angelica said, shock etched on her features. “But you can’t!”
“Sophia has forgiven you,” Sebastian said, “but I haven’t. You have had a hand in the deaths of my mother and my brother. You have tried to kill me, Sophia, and my unborn child. Every moment that you live, you’re a threat to my family. I will not let you live.”
“You can’t do this!” Angelica insisted. “If you kill me, my family will descend on this city and tear it apart. The Assembly of Nobles—”
“Will recognize a traitor when it hears about one,” Sebastian said. “But you’re right, Angelica. It might be that you are so popular that you can’t be killed. That you have so many friends that doing it would make things too hard. So I’ll give you a chance. These guards will escort you to your place of execution. If, on the way, so much as one person asks for your release, they will let you go. One noble, one servant, one friend. If there’s anyone in this palace you haven’t treated cruelly who wants to see you live, you get to go free.”
He signaled, and the guards moved forward to grab her arms. He stepped forward, brushing his lips against her forehead.
“Goodbye, Angelica. I won’t be seeing you again.”
He turned and left while Angelica screamed and fought, brushing a tear from his eye. Angelica didn’t deserve his tears. Instead, he kept walking, back toward the throne room, back toward the person in his life who was worth a thousand of Angelica and more.
Sophia was still there, in the middle of a growing crowd of people who probably all had questions about what would happen next. Sebastian smiled at the sight of her, hiding away all thoughts of Angelica. Sophia wouldn’t approve of what he’d just done, but it was one revenge he couldn’t let go.
To his surprise as he approached, there was also a second throne set beside hers.
“What’s this?” Sebastian asked, staring at it. It was practically the twin of the one Sophia sat on, set level with it on the dais that held the first.
Sophia smiled. “I had them bring it from one of the reception rooms. I didn’t feel right with you having to stand somewhere off to one side while I was here.”
“But you’re the queen, Sophia. I’m just—”
“You’ll be the king beside me,” Sophia said. “We’ll rule together, make decisions together, heal this country together. Who knows, maybe having your family and mine on thrones beside each other will start to pull some of the divisions back into one.”
It was a nice thought, although Sebastian suspected that what he’d just done had done at least as much to pull those strands apart again. He sat down beside Sophia, trying the throne out for size. He reached out his hand for hers, and she took it.
“So,” he said, “what do we do now?”
Sophia looked to him, then out across the crowd of people who had gathered there, with their questions and their problems, their worries and their hopes.
“We start ruling,” she said.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Sophia should have felt overwhelmed, sitting there in the wake of the battle, the details of an entire kingdom suddenly there for her to manage. Instead, as she sat there looking out over the assembled crowd of nobles and servants, soldiers and officials, it felt natural. It felt right.
It helped that Sebastian was there to share it with her, sitting by her side on his own throne, safe and hers. It helped that the other people she loved were there in the room too, from her brother and sister, to the reassuring presence of Sienne beside her, to her cousins. Yet it wasn’t just that. For probably the first time in her life, Sophia felt as though she was doing what she was supposed to be doing. She felt like she had a purpose, like she fit.
“They’re waiting for you to announce what you want to do,” Sebastian whispered.
“About what?” Sophia said.
“About everything.”
Everything was a lot, even when Sophia felt that it was the right thing for her to do. She looked around, trying to decide where to start, reaching out with her talents to pick out the concerns and thoughts fluttering around the room like butterfly wings.
Will she kill me? I insulted her, but I wasn’t the worst of them, was I?
I knew I should never have been friends with Angelica.
Sophia picked them out: the young noblewomen who stood dotted around the room, looking as nervous as if she had a blade pressed to their throats. Maybe they felt that she did, in every sense but the physical.
“There are those in this room who have wronged me in the past,” she said. “Who mistreated me when I seemed to be an outsider among you. When I was ‘Sophia of Meinhalt’ there were plenty here who thought I had no business trying to marry your prince, and who tried to push me out.”
She shook her head with a rueful smile.
“Now you think that I’m here for some kind of revenge on you. That I invaded a kingdom just so I could behave as badly towards you as you did to me. I’ll say it now: I’m not interested in revenge. I’m not the Dowager. I’m definitely not Rupert or Angelica. If you
want my friendship, I will not let the past stand in the way.”
She practically heard the sigh of relief from around the room. “That friendship will be based on merit, though,” she went on. “You’ve seen what I can do. I will know who is only trying to use me for something. I will know who smiles to my face, while being cruel to those weaker than them. The way this court works is going to change.”
Some of them were probably more worried now. Some, the ones Sophia cared about, were probably relieved by it.
She looked out to find Lord Cranston next. “Is the city secure, my lord?”
He nodded. “It is. Things have become… surprisingly peaceful in Ashton. Those of the royal forces who could not run have surrendered. The people are on the streets, but they mostly seem to be waiting to see what is happening next. Frankly, I suspect that the usual violence of the city may actually have gone down a little.”
Sophia smiled at that thought. She imagined that it would return to usual soon enough. There were always people who didn’t have it in them to be peaceful.
“Lord Cranston, as you know, my sister is now commander of my armed forces,” she said. “It occurs to me that she will need experienced soldiers around her, and soldiers to command. Will you and your men join my armies permanently?”
“That depends,” Lord Cranston said with a smile. “What does it pay?”
“I’m sure Kate can discuss the details with you,” Sophia said. “In the meantime, I have a task for you. When I was a child, assassins came to my home and burned it. Assassins came to the homes of my parents’ supporters.”
“You want them found and killed?” Lord Cranston asked.
Sophia shook her head. “Imprisoned, not killed. I will not answer one slaughter with another, but I will not let mass murder go unpunished, either.”
“You are far more generous than I would be, your majesty,” Lord Cranston said, sweeping a bow, then heading for the door.
Sophia sought out Hans among the crowd. Her cousin had bandages wrapped around his side, suggesting a wound sustained in the battle.
“Hans, you are organized and diligent. I need someone to watch the kingdom’s treasury. Will you do it?”
He nodded. “Although if you can persuade Oli to come over, he might be better.”
“I think Oli would prefer to run the palace library, or start a school for all those who are abandoned and lost.”
“Forgive me, your majesty,” a woman in the robes of a priestess said, “but we have places for children like that.”
“The Houses of the Unclaimed?” Sophia said, and she couldn’t help a note of anger in her voice. She felt Sebastian’s hand reach out to cover hers, pulling her back to herself. “They are places of cruelty, that have nothing to do with love or care, and the practice of indenturing people to pay debts ends today. It is enslavement by another name, and I will not allow it.”
She sought out the spot where some of those from Stonehome stood. “For too long, we have had a land where those with power only have it because of the suffering of others. Where those who are different are blamed, because it is easier than looking at the things that really need to change. From this moment, the laws forbidding magic are rescinded. There will be no more burnings, no more killings.”
“So witches are free to go around doing what they wish?” an older man toward the back of the hall called out.
“They will be subject to the law, the same as anyone else,” Sophia said. “Use magic to kill, and you will be tried, just as if you had used a knife. Use it to control others, to hurt them, and you’ll be a criminal. If you just live your life, if you use it to help people, you will not be.”
She turned to Frig and Ulf, who were lounging by the wall, looking uncomfortable in the presence of so many people.
“Cousins, I have a job for you if you’ll do it. My parents’ home, Monthys, lies abandoned far to the north. I want you to go there. Take builders and craftspeople. Make it beautiful again for me. Besides, I think the woods and the mountains there will suit you.”
“They will,” Ulf said.
The man who had spoken before stepped forward. “And is Monthys to be your seat of power now?”
He looked old enough to be someone’s grandfather, bent by age, the finery he wore well worn, looking as though it had been bought when he was a much younger, larger man.
“Forgive me,” Sophia said, “but who are you?”
“I am Lord Algernon Hawksmoor,” he said, looking over at her with a challenging expression. “I am a member of the Assembly of Nobles, and I am old enough not to care what you do to me if I speak out!”
“I wasn’t planning to do anything to you,” Sophia said.
“Really?” Lord Hawksmoor said. “Not even if I say that you are a tyrant?”
Sophia found it hard not to laugh at that.
“Why would you say that?” she asked.
The older man stood there defiantly. “Already, in this room, you have sought to change the laws of the kingdom by proclamation, without the assent of the Assembly of Nobles. You have come to the throne through violence. You have sought to have people arrested by your order, not according to the law. You have given key positions to members of your family. You have made it clear that you plan to have a standing army in your name, filled with foreigners and mercenaries. Now you are planning to rule from an estate days from the kingdom’s capital city. What else would you call yourself?”
“Sophia is no tyrant,” Sebastian said, beside Sophia.
“Forgive me, your highness,” the older man replied, “but I would like to hear what our new ruler has to say for herself. I’m sure that all of the nobles of the Assembly would.”
Sophia stood. “Then they shall hear me. Come with me, Lord Hawksmoor. Everybody, follow me.”
“Where are we going?” Sebastian asked, hurrying to follow her.
“To the Assembly of Nobles,” Sophia said.
***
She walked through the noble district at the heart of a building crowd. It wasn’t just the people from the throne room now. As soon as Sophia stepped outside, there were onlookers waiting to catch a glimpse of her. She could see Sebastian, Lucas, Kate, and the others looking around as if waiting for an assassin to jump from those crowds, but Sophia could feel the mood of the people there. They weren’t going to hurt her.
“We’re going to the Assembly of Nobles,” she said to them. “Come with us. Be part of this.”
She led the way, Sienne padding along at her side, Lord Hawksmoor on her arm so that it wasn’t quite certain which of them was supporting the other. With every step, it seemed that more people joined their procession, until at last they stood outside the Assembly of Nobles. Sophia took a breath, and then stepped through the doors.
There were nobles within. It was obvious that some of them had gone there because there was nowhere else for them to go. They sat in the great chamber as if they could talk the invasion out of existence. Sophia went to the heart of it, not sitting on the throne there, not yet. Some of the nobles who had followed went up to their seats almost out of habit.
“My lords,” she said, “you know who I am. I am Sophia Danse, daughter of Alfred and Christina Danse, Lady of Monthys, and Regent of Ishjemme.”
She waited for it to sink in that she had not said that she was queen.
“Lord Hawksmoor here has accused me of tyranny, and it is true that I could walk to that throne if I wished and claim it. I could put a crown on my own head. I could dissolve this assembly and rule by royal command. I have no wish to do that.”
“So you accept our authority?” Lord Hawksmoor demanded. “The arrangement made with the former rulers—”
“Is not my arrangement,” Sophia said. “Let me be clear: I have no wish for things to stay as they are, either. Some things will change. Indenture will end. The killing of those with magic will end. The Assembly of Nobles is a fine idea, because a ruler should not rule alone, but there should be more than just nobles
in it. Ordinary people should have a say in their lives, not have to hope that their ‘betters’ see their problems. These things will happen, because I have just conquered Ashton, and I do not need to ask your permission for them.”
She let some of the hardness fall away from her voice once she’d said it.
“But I have no wish to break this kingdom apart. I do not want a reign founded on violence. You have no king and no queen right now. I have the strongest claim through my family. Sebastian has the only remaining claim through his. Let me be your queen. Let me marry Sebastian, and let us heal this kingdom. Will you give your assent, my lords?”
She looked around the chamber, and a chorus of ayes went up. She looked to Lord Hawksmoor.
“Aye,” he said.
Sophia looked past him then, to the people beyond. “And what about all of you?” she asked. “Will you have me for your queen?”
The cheer that came from them was almost enough to stagger her.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
As his ship slid along the fjords of Ishjemme, it was hard for Endi to judge what note to take with his approach. He had a flotilla of ships behind him, yet he had no wish to appear as a conqueror. He was returning from a war, yet this was no moment to appear to return as the triumphant hero, not with his father’s body aboard. He knew, more than anyone, how important appearances could be, and this moment mattered more than most.
“I want us to approach quietly,” he said in the end. “Signal to the watchers, but do no more than that. My father is dead. This is no time for a joyous approach.”
“Yes, my lord,” his ship’s captain replied.
They flowed along the length of the fjord, past the statues of former rulers and figures from legend. Once he returned, Endi would command that statues were raised to his father too. Lars Skyddar should be remembered.
“I will be all that you were,” Endi whispered. “And more.”
His father had done so much for Ishjemme. Maybe remembering those parts would help the people to ignore how he had tried to give it away at the end of his life. Endi looked out at the statues of Lord Alfred and Lady Christina Danse. Maybe he would have those taken down too.