The music stopped abruptly. The courtier in charge of the ceremony tripped over the name of the next High Lord who was already sauntering my way along the platform. The High Lord frowned. The crowd stared at me in confusion.
I was breaking the protocol, and no one knew why.
“Not all High Lords have been received yet, Your Majesty,” the councilor urgently reminded me.
I made a move to go down the stairs. The long, heavy train of my dress, wrapped around the throne dais, held me in place more securely than any restraint.
“Your Majesty?” Panic slipped into the councilor’s voice. “Are you all right?”
I hardly heard him, desperately searching the crowd for the head of the green and bronze senties. There were some here and there, but they didn’t belong to the man I was looking for.
My gaze crossed with that of Lord Adriyel instead. Standing by the railing of the platform, he watched me carefully. As the heir to a High Lord, he was not required to pledge his loyalty to me. Dressed in a celestial blue tunic, he reminded me of a beautiful, deadly viper, looking for a weakness to strike.
The next High Lord approached and kneeled in front of my dais. “Greetings from Dejahr, Queen Amira.”
Managing a smile in return, I forced myself down into the throne, then accepted his vow of loyalty.
The ceremony continued, as if Kyllen hadn’t just come back from the dead.
Maybe he had not?
This could have been just another vision, more vivid than any before, but still not real.
Was I the only one who’d seen him?
I leaned over to Councilor Delahon. “I want the High Lord of Ellohi to be brought to me at once.”
He gestured to one of the guards to come up, then relayed my order to him.
“Is something wrong, my queen?” The councilor looked concerned.
“Did you recognize the High Lord of Ellohi?” I asked.
“That was not Lord Udren.” He shook his head. “The old lord must be too fragile for the journey now. This must be his heir, Lord Bherlon.”
The councilor clearly hadn’t read the report of Bherlon’s death yet. Both Kyllen and Bherlon had been reported dead, but what if that had been a deception?
“Was it Bherlon? Are you sure?” I wouldn’t mistake Kyllen for anyone else. I would’ve recognized Bherlon.
The councilor frowned with uncertainty. “Well, I only ever met Lord Bherlon once or twice. Long ago.”
Kyllen's sudden appearance seemed impossible. Fantastical. Magical… Too good to be true?
The way he had disappeared just as quickly was even more suspicious.
I’d dreamed about him so often. It wouldn’t be the first time when my mind conjured images of him while awake, too.
Or did someone else conjure them for me?
“How common are illusion spells?” I asked.
Bherlon carried a family resemblance to Kyllen. Both had the same coloring, the same height, and a similar build. How hard would it be to magically enhance that resemblance to fool my grieving mind?
I turned Kyllen’s ring on my finger.
“It won’t protect you from every peril in existence,”Lord Adriyel had said.
Councilor Delahon chewed on his lip, looking worried. “Illusion spells aren’t easy to create. Only a skilled, powerful hag can do it believably enough. But I suppose it’s possible. What is your concern, Your Majesty? Do you suspect someone might be playing tricks on you?”
I shook my head, unsure whether I should voice my suspicions yet.
The guard whom the councilor had sent after Kyllen returned, unable to find him.
“The High Lord of Ellohi must have left the royal platform, my queen.” He bowed.
The remaining High Lords continued to arrive. I smiled and accepted their greetings and vows mechanically.
The image of Kyllen’s face remained in my mind.
Could that smile and those eyes be fake? Everything in me desperately wished for the miracle to be true, but my hope had been crushed before. When that happened, a part of me died with it.
I was afraid, so afraid to hope again.