The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash 4)

“You lived.”

He gave a short huff of laughter. “Yeah, I lived.” He took another drink. “That’s what I do.”

The sardonic twist of his words had me studying his features. “Why? Why are you here. With her? It’s not because she opened your eyes to anything, let alone the truth. She’s not that persuasive.”

Malik said nothing as he stared ahead, but I saw his attention shift beyond the Blood Queen to the dark-haired Handmaiden. It was brief. I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t been watching him so closely.

“It’s her.”

His gaze shot to mine, and then his expression slipped into a half-grin. “The Queen?”

“Millicent,” I said quietly.

He laughed again, another short burst of dry sound.

I sat back. “Maybe I’ll ask the Blood Queen if she thinks you’re here for her or for her Handmaiden.”

Slowly, Malik leaned across the small space between us. “Ask her that,”—that lone dimple appeared—“and I will wrap you in the bones of a deity and throw you into the godsdamn Stroud Sea.”

“That’s a bit of an excessive threat,” I replied, as satisfaction surged through me. It was excessive. Which left very little reason as to why. He had to care. “It’s the kind of reaction I’d have if you threatened Casteel.”

Malik looked at me.

I smiled. “Except mine wouldn’t involve deity bones or the sea. Nor would it be an empty threat.”

He finished off his drink. “Noted.” His gaze flicked to the floor. “She comes.”

The Blood Queen approached. Malik rose. I didn’t. Murmurs drifted from the floor as I stared up at her. Isbeth’s features sharpened as she swept past me and lowered herself onto the chair on my other side. Only then did Malik sit. Dozens of eyes watched as Millicent remained in front of us, joined by the other Handmaidens. Their straight backs provided a rather impressive screen of privacy.

Someone handed the Blood Queen a glass of bubbling wine. She waited until the servant disappeared into the shadows before saying, “We’re being watched, and they find your lack of respect toward a Queen—your behavior—to be disgraceful.”

“And if they knew the truth about you? About the things you’ve done?” I asked, watching a young couple speak as they gazed up at the statue of what I had always assumed was Nyktos but apparently wasn’t.

“I doubt that it would change much for most in this room,” she noted. “But we know what they’d do if they learned who you are.”

“A god and not a Harbinger.”

“One and the same to many,” she murmured.

I stiffened. “Perhaps, but I am willing to prove to them that they have nothing to fear from me.”

“And how will you do that?”

“Well, I could start with not taking their children and using them as cattle,” I replied.

“Was Tawny used as cattle?” She gestured at the crowd with a jeweled hand. “Or any number of the Lords and Ladies in Wait in attendance tonight?”

“No, they will just be turned into creatures who will then prey upon others with little remorse.”

Her dark gaze slid to mine. “Or they will cull the weak from the masses.”

My lip curled. “You really believe that?”

“I know that.” She took a drink.

It took a lot to stop myself from knocking the crystal glass from her hand. “And the children taken during the last Rite? The ones that were hung beneath Redrock?”

“Serving the gods.”

“Lies,” I hissed. “And I cannot wait to see your face when all of those lies are exposed.”

She grinned as she looked out over the floor. “Do you think that I will allow your armies to lay siege to the capital like I have the other cities? Cities I don’t even consider a loss?” She turned her head to me. “Because they’re not a loss. But what has happened in those cities will not occur here. If your armies arrive at the Rise, I will line those walls and gates with newborns. And whatever draken you have left, whatever armies still stand, will have to burn and cut through them.”

I could only stare as I slowly realized that she was serious. My fingers dug into the arms of the chair as the Primal essence throbbed deeply within me. A faint tremor ran through me as I stared at the statue, but I only saw those mortals on Oak Ambler’s gates and the ones beneath Redrock. Beside me, Malik stretched forward as Millicent turned slightly. The couple standing before the statue frowned as they looked down to where the freshly dropped night-blooming rose petals…vibrated.

That was me.

My anger.

I was doing that.

Briefly closing my eyes, I reined in my emotions, and it was a lot like all those times I’d worn the veil and had been brought before Duke Teerman. When I had to just stand there and take whatever he dealt. It was also a lot like closing off my senses to others. Instead, I closed myself off from my emotions. Only when the eather had calmed in my chest did I reopen my eyes. The petals had settled on the floor.