The Cold Queen, my mother had called her.
I felt the truth of it as our gazes clashed across the room. A shiver raced down my spine that left a chill so potent, my bones felt like they cracked and split. My body knew what my mind was only now just realizing.
These people terrified me.
But that didn’t change anything.
I grappled control of my body. Father Garius had taught me all about fear. He’d taught me how to combat it. How to make it submissive to the greater attributes of self-discipline and willpower.
I held her stare. I did not waver, even while inside I trembled. I did not flinch, even while my hands clutched the fabric of my gown. I did not turn away from that chilling glare until my uncle’s voice called for my attention.
“You claim to be Tessana Allisand of the house of Extentia, my sister’s oldest daughter, heir to the throne of Elysia. On what grounds do you come before this court?” My uncle’s voice boomed through the room.
“Because I am who I say I am.” My voice started small and unsure, but I realized I needed conviction to prove my point. “My father was Fredrix Allisand, the Hundredth King of the Nine Kingdoms. My mother was Gwynlyn Fennick Allisand, Queen of the Realm. My brothers were Alesk, Benedict, Erix, and Brayne. My younger sister was Katrinka. All were taken from me more than eight years ago—massacred in our home.” My voice broke as memories surfaced. “I saw their throats slit and their bodies drained of blood.” Tears fell from my eyes, but I hardly noticed. “They were murdered. Here in this palace. I am who I say I am. And I have returned to claim what is rightfully mine.”
When I had blinked away the last of the tears and could see clearly again, I noticed some of the council watched me with glassy eyes.
And some looked as though they would be very happy to end Conandra now. As well as my life.
A gruff, hard king leaned forward. His hair was as white as the snow-capped peaks of the Diamond Mountains, but his skin was tanned and weathered. The navy blue and forest green of his crest identified him as the King of Kasha, Devonish Katansa. “So, you can cry, child. Now give us something real. We want facts and proof.”
He had a point. “The morning my family was murdered, I was with Taelon Treskinat. His family had come to visit the palace to celebrate my newest brother, Brayne. I’m not sure if you remember, but at that time I was betrothed to Taelon. My father had six children that he wished to marry off. I was meant for Soravale and their oldest prince. A monk by the name of Father Garius from the Brotherhood of Silence was also visiting the palace. It will be in the records books. He is the high priest at the Temple of Eternal Light in Heprin near the Rolling Hills of Gane. When I found my family dead, Taelon urged me to go with Father Garius before my family’s murderer found me as well. Taelon believed that I would not survive the day, that whoever killed my family would hunt me down. He took the Crown of Nine from my father and gave it to Father Garius. Father Garius then smuggled me from the palace and through the eastern half of the realm. He kept me at the Temple of Eternal Light until only a few months ago. At which point he gave me the Crown of Nine and told me it was time to return home.”
“The priest told you to return home?” The King of Barstus, Maksim Zolotov, asked this time. His official titled declared he was the ruler of the Serpent’s Sea and Defender of the Ice Mountains. In other words, he was a powerful ally for my uncle. “But how can this be since the Brotherhoods do not speak?”
“You are right in saying that. They do not speak. But I do. And after living with them for eight years, we developed ways of communicating.”
Maksim snorted. “It must be quite the method if he could communicate such subtleties as that.”
“Despite their silence, they are highly intelligent, well-educated men. It is simply that they don’t communicate verbally.” I tried to keep my patient tone, but it wasn’t easy. “Father Garius saved my life, your majesties. We shared a bond that transcended verbal communication.”
Maksim snorted again. I couldn’t tell what it meant, but I hoped he believed me, even if it was reluctantly.
The rulers peppered me with questions, and I answered as best as I could. They wanted to know exact details about my parents and brothers. They asked about their lives and their behavior while they were alive. Then they asked about their deaths and what it was like to find them the way I had.
They asked me to explain in as much gory detail as I could remember how my parents died. Exactly how had their throats been slit? In what direction? How much blood had there been?
They wanted to know how the last years of my life had been lived and who I associated with. How I got here from Heprin. They especially wanted details of my education and training. I answered them as best as I could, while still retaining a few secrets about my journey here and especially about my training. The questions went on for a long time. One monarch after the other jumping in.
“And you just walked from the castle?” Ravanna Presydia, the queen of Blackthorne demanded. “Nobody recognized you or tried to stop you?”
I had already answered this question countless times. Frustration bled into my words when I clipped out, “Father Garius avoided highways and villages. We were not seen. And as to your question of leaving without being noticed, I was only nine at the time and nobody tried to stop us. I remember that we did not see a soul as we moved through the castle. It was as if the entire staff had disappeared. Or maybe they’d discovered my family’s bodies by then and were overcome with shock. I prefer to believe the latter.”
Her mouth pressed into a frown. “And you say that Taelon Treskinat simply took the crown off your father’s head? That brings another question as to why someone would go to all this trouble to kill the royal family but leave the Crown of Nine on the floor? Covered in blood.” She looked up and down the line of council members, accentuating her point with a single raised eyebrow. “Wouldn’t the whole point of murdering your father be to take the crown and assume control of the realm?”
Her icy gaze returned to mine. My heart thudded painfully at the cruel words. It still took my breath away to picture them on the floor, bloody, lifeless. “I cannot speculate on the murderer’s intentions.” My voice was barely above a whisper. Several council members had to lean closer to hear me. “As I have said before, at the time I was only a child. I knew nothing more than that my family had been stolen from me. Even now, after all these years left to wonder why or how or what I could have done differently, I still do not have an answer. I have as many questions as you.”
The corner of her mouth lifted in victory. I realized the Queen of Blackthorne did not care who I said I was. She did not want me to win this trial. I could only vaguely remember meeting her as a child and there was not much to the memory other than her standoffishness. But this woman, today, hated me.
“One last question,” she announced. We had been here for hours. My feet were weary, and my back felt stuck with a hundred pins. But Ravanna’s kohl had not smudged nor had her red lips faded. She looked as perfect as she had the moment I first saw her. “You say you were so concerned about your family, your dead parents and siblings. But you left with a stranger only seconds after finding their throats slit? That doesn’t seem like the behavior of a grieving child. That seems more like the contingency plan of the guilty party.”
My mouth dropped open. “Are you suggesting that I killed my family?”
That subtle smile she could not hide lifted the other corner of her mouth. “I am merely suggesting that your behavior seems suspicious. Not only did you flee the scene, but you stayed away for eight years. We have been searching the realm high and low for that crown and you had it stashed away with mute monks in the most backward kingdom in the realm. Only now do you return, when you know the council was deciding to fashion a new crown. Only now do you show up, when we were set to vote on a new bloodline for the Seat of Power. You knew before you ever left your precious monastery that your time was running out. If you had arrived
even three months later, your plans to steal the throne and the Seat of Power would have been too late.”
The room faltered in front of me. My vision swam. “No,” I whispered. Then with more confidence I declared, “No! I didn’t know. How could I have known? It is only a coincidence I arrived when I did. I swear to you, I had no knowledge of your plans to fashion a new Crown of Nine or to redirect the bloodline.”
The council murmured to each other until Hugo cut through the chatter with his booming voice. “Our plans for the Crown of Nine were meant to be kept absolutely secret.” He glared at his fellow monarchs. “We signed an oath in blood, if you’ll remember. If this child discovered the truth prior to arriving in Elysia, someone on this council is responsible.”
The sovereigns fell silent, not one of them willing to own up to the suggested offense. Ravanna settled back in her chair. I watched as she shared a sly look with my uncle before they both went back to ignoring each other.
Tyrn addressed the room, “It is time to call our character witnesses. Bring those who have been summoned forward.” A line of people began to form behind me. It was clear that I was to move, but I did not know where. Tyrn’s cold gaze fell to mine, “You may step to the side as the testimonies against you begin.”
Crenshaw snapped his fingers on the left side of the room. I reluctantly moved to stand next to him.
Over the next hour witnesses were called to recall what they remembered about me and if my testimony aligned with their memory. Most of them agreed that they couldn’t tell after all this time, but several of them pointed out huge discrepancies from what I looked like as a child and what I looked like now.
My old nanny announced that my hair had been lighter as a child and my curls more contained. She suggested that a royal would have retained the most beautiful qualities about her while growing out of the more unattractive ones to fit in with royal society.
As offended as I was for my hair, I couldn’t believe anyone would take her seriously. Royals did not make up the most beautiful people in the land. Nor could a person choose which physical attributes to grow out of and which would remain. But apparently her testimony appealed to the monarchs’ ego because several of them nodded along.
After a while, Tyrn motioned toward Hugo, the last of the sovereigns to call their witness. “Soravale, who do you call to stand before us?”
Hugo sat up straighter and gazed out at the room full of people. “Brahm the Mighty, Brahm Havish, the former first general to King Fredrix Allisand.”
Tyrn jumped to his feet, outrage twisting his face and forcing his shoulders to heave with the effort to breathe. “He has been banned from this palace, nay from Elysia! He is not allowed anywhere near this throne room! Guards! Find Brahm Havish and have him thrown in jail where he belongs!” He turned to his council, “I should have done this years ago! He is a traitor! An anarchist! Guards!”
The guards rushed to restrain a tall, thick man near the back of the room. He was older than Hugo, but not by much. His white hair was closely cropped and the groomed white beard that covered half his face did little to hide the hardness of his mien.
Brahm the Mighty suited him.
Hugo jumped to his feet and raised his voice to compete with Tyrn, “He is allowed at Conandra! The rules state that we can call anyone that can offer pertinent testimony. He was there the day the Allisands were murdered. He saw their bodies. He investigated the entire ordeal. If anyone knows anything about what happened that day, it is Brahm Havish.”
“I will not allow it,” Tyrn declared.
“It is not up to you, Your Majesty,” Hugo retorted. “In Conandra we vote as a unified council. The rest of the members have a right to their opinion.”
“Fine,” Tyrn relented after a heavy silence, his voice thick with threat. “Let them vote. We will see how they choose to proceed.”
“I’ll begin,” Hugo declared. “Aye for Brahm Havish to testify.”
Next to Hugo was Sasha Sennoa, the king from Tenovia. “Aye. Let him speak.”
I had no idea what Brahm would bring to the council, but I remembered him loyal to my father. He would have done anything for the Allisands. And for Elysia. Knowing that he had been banned made his testimony seem even more appealing. If my uncle hated him, then Brahm was one of my new favorites.
“Aye,” Devonish Katansa of Kasha boomed. “I want to hear what he has to say.”
Maksim Zolotov from Barstus snarled, “Nay.”
As did Tyrn, and then Ravanna from Blackthorne.
Three ayes. Three nays. And three left to go.
I watched Brahm glare at the council, daring them to have him removed. As a child he had terrified me. And now, I was certain he would give me nightmares.
But I knew how important his testimony would be. My blood bubbled beneath its thin cage of skin. I gripped my skirt with my fists and threatened to rip a hole straight through the layered material with the force of my grasp.
Vorestra was next, “Aye.”
Aramore, “Nay.”
Still tied.
And finally, Heprin. Gregor Munstein took his time. Pressure built in the air, weighing on my shoulders. Finally, Gregor ran a hand through his long beard, his glossy eyes settling on the back of the room. “I say aye,” he declared in a lighthearted voice, “lest I always be curious about what he had to say.”
Tyrn’s jaw clenched, but he waved a careless hand and said, “The majority rules. Brahm Havish may speak.”
Brahm wrestled his arms out of the guards’ grip and pushed his way through the crowd and down the aisle. By this time the audience buzzed, and conversation had grown to a dull roar.
When Brahm finally stood before the council, Tyrn let the commotion last for several long minutes before finally stomping his foot and shouting, “Silence!”
Everyone quieted. They looked eagerly at Brahm, enjoying the drama and anxious to hear the exiled general speak.
“You are here for questioning,” Tyrn reminded him. “Not to ask the questions.”
Brahm squared his shoulders and looked toward Soravale’s seat. “Then ask me who Tessana Allisand saw dead that morning.”
Hugo shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I don’t understand.”
Brahm’s gaze turned toward mine and I jerked with the force of it. “Who did you see dead that morning? Which of your siblings?”
It felt as though a brick had been lodged in my throat. “I…”
“Answer the question girl,” Brahm bellowed. “Who was dead among your family?”
“My parents,” I choked out. I closed my eyes briefly and remembered the scene as vividly as if I were standing there now. “Both of my parents were dead. And around them, my brothers. Alesk and Erix were next to each other. And… and Benedict beside them.” I closed my eyes as fresh grief threatened to swallow me whole. “Even the baby, even Brayne was dead. My mother held him against her body, but both of their necks...”
This was the first time I let myself fully remember the scene, and now that I was focused, I realized something.
“But Katrinka was not there. My sister was not with them.”
Brahm nodded and his lips lifted in an expression of something like pride. He turned back to the council and explained. “Neither of the Allisand girls were with the royal family that morning. All of the boys were accounted for and both His Majesty and the Queen. But the girls were missing. The royal guard did not find Katrinka until later that day. Alive. She had been stuffed into a cabinet in the kitchen. She was crying and frightened, but very much alive.” A rumble moved through the room. I nearly collapsed. Brahm continued, “But we never found the eldest daughter. Tessana and the crown were missing. We scoured the realm and waited to hear from her captors. But demand for ransom never came.” Brahm’s focus fell on Tyrn. “I would have continued the search had I been allowed. I would still be searching for Tessana and the Crown of Nine had I been permitted to carry out my duties like I vowed. Instead, I was accused of crimes I d
id not commit. I was exiled from my post and this kingdom that I swore to protect. Tyrn demanded that the search for the princess be called off. He knew the crown could be found, and still he ended our efforts before any progress could be made!”
“Enough.” Tyrn growled, stretching out his legs lazily. “You are an anarchist, Brahm Havish. You have always been a troublemaker, but now you’ve gone too far. Take him away.” He sounded almost bored as he flicked his fingers at his guards. “Take him to the dungeons until he has pledged his loyalty to me. Until he recognizes he is the one who made me king after he failed to protect my sister and her husband.”
I barely heard Tyrn’s tirade. My sister was alive. Katrinka was alive. After all this time, after years and years of grieving her, she was alive!
The guards rushed forward to restrain Brahm as he fought and shouted his version of the truth. Hugo stood too, shouting at Tyrn and the guards.
Tyrn ignored both men and declared, “Conandra is over for today. We shall resume tomorrow morning when this audience and council has learned to restrain themselves properly.” Tyrn nodded toward Crenshaw and his meaty hand closed tightly around my arm.
“Had enough, princess?” he laughed in my ear. “Time to go back to your cell.”
I went willingly, even though he dragged me roughly behind him as if I struggled. I didn’t have it in me to fight him. My thoughts were still on Katrinka. If she was alive, where was she?
Why did no one know about her?
Why was she not on Elysia’s throne instead of Tyrn?
If my sister, thought to be the last remaining heir of the Allisand bloodline, was still alive, why did everyone think she was dead? Why had they transferred the bloodline to Tyrn when an Allisand still lived?
By the time Crenshaw tossed me in my room, I could do nothing but collapse on my bed. Shiksa hopped over and curled into me. It was her soft fur and gentle comfort that caused the floodgate of tears to rip open.
I wept for hours. Until I couldn’t see or think or do anything but remember everyone I loved, tears falling for the family whose deaths I’d been forced to relive all over again.
Crown of One Hundred Kings (Nine Kingdoms Trilogy Book 1) Page 24