Rona watched Eliason leave the room, her eyes staying on him as if he were an insect, and she might need to squash him at any moment. Thoughts from her past intermingled with the present for a moment, and she narrowed her eyes even further. Why she had allowed him to stay in her castle for so long momentarily escaped her, and part of her wanted to fling him out into the world, sending him as far away as he could go.
“It’s a shame,” Zora said quietly. Rona’s head swiveled slowly to face her cousin. The queen did not speak, only waited. “I know he hasn’t spent much time in his home province, but Katrinetta has always been fond of him.”
A chirp escaped the queen’s lips. “You can’t actually be suggesting Eliason Goedwig would’ve been a good choice for my daughter?”
Zora shrugged. She was one of the few council members who never seemed to care if she raised the queen’s ire. “I’m
Three long days of standing in the heat, greeting guests, meeting many attractive, and a few not-so-attractive, men had Kit exhausted, and she was beginning to wonder why she’d ever consented to this ridiculous Choosing in the first place. Of course, then she remembered she hadn’t. She’d been born to it, and whether or not her aching feet approved, she was bound to continue.“Don’t worry. Today will be much easier,” Avinia assured her as she brushed out her long hair. “You’ve already received all but ten of the Representatives, and according to the scouts your mother sent out, only four or five of the remainder will arrive today.”“Which means you may sit in your chambers until you are called for,” Isla noted.Her mother had explained the situation the day before, but Kit was fairly certain that the closest delegation would arrive within the hour, so she would still have to trek all the way out to
On the sixth night of the welcoming, her mother declared the next day Kit would be free to speak to the Representatives, and while she was glad to finally have the ban lifted, the proclamation made everything seem much more real.Kit took refuge in her flower garden, the one place where she still felt at peace. The sun was beginning to set, and two of her guards kept watch for intruders off in the distance, but their backs were turned, and she doubted they were truly paying her any mind.She hadn’t seen much of Eli, and sometimes she forgot he was back at all until she came across him in the hallway. He’d always smiled and greeted her, and she’d arrange her face so that she might appear to be happy if he weren’t studying her too closely and then go on about her business. She’d always just assumed he wouldn’t be here for all of this, and if she ever saw him again, it would be after she’d already chosen the man she’d spend
Avinia’s voice off in the distance jarred Kit back to reality. While she was fairly certain they hadn’t broken any rules, she couldn’t take the chance. Kit pushed herself away from him, but Jecobian’s mouth would not release her neck. She tried again, wanting to say his name, to feel it on her tongue, but not allowing herself to speak. She doubted her own mother would have her head for any of this, particularly since the queen seemed to like Jecob, but she didn’t want to take the chance. One more shove, and he looked up, finally hearing Avinia’s cries, too.He pulled on her arm, as if he would lead her farther into the garden, but she knew better. Avinia would have the entire guard out looking for her. She gestured back at the gate and realized she was allowed to speak to her cousin. “I’m coming! Just a minute!”With a heavy sigh, Jecobian leaned down and kissed the back of her hand, and Kit soaked in the warmth tha
The next morning, her mother arranged a large meal for every Representative to join them in breaking the fast and celebrating the ban on interaction—speech anyway—between the princess and her suitors. While Kit thought sitting out among the men would’ve been more fitting for such a situation, she was positioned up on a dais in the middle of the room where she could see all of them but not speak to a single one very easily. Still, she’d had the opportunity to greet each of them again, and it was nice to chat with the men as they came in and found their assigned seats in the dining hall. Her mother had spared no amount of trouble in having fancy name plates created that showed the crest from each of the provinces, and the gentlemen were impressed at the lengths the queen had gone to make them feel at home.She sat next to her mother and Duchess Zora on the riser, more interested in the men before her than the fare on the table. Some of them seemed nervou
Kit had pushed her way through the double doors when she spotted Jecobian standing on the wide porch waiting for her. He turned with a broad smile on his face, and taking her arm, led her down the wide, marble steps, a little way away from her guards. Behind him, she could see groups of Representatives dotting the yard. Some of them were sitting on the grass carrying on conversations, others were headed in the direction of the largest barn, while Cassius and about half of them were standing in a group not too far away. He held a slingball in his hand, and Kit assumed he was organizing a game. As intrigued as she was that Jecobian wanted to speak with her, it had been ages since she’d watched a good slingball match, and she’d love to see one again.“My darling Princess, how are you?” Jecobian said taking both of her hands and spinning her to face him. “I wasn’t able to sleep a wink last night for thinking of you.”Kit would&rsqu
A few of the men moved one of the benches near where they’d already marked off two areas that would serve as scoring zones, and Kit made her way over, still on Cassius’s arm, with Eli and Jecobian on either side. One seemed ready to prove his manliness and the other likely wished he was still out on an adventure as far away from the castle as possible.“Very well, let us draw teams,” Cassius announced, giving her a polite bow before rejoining the rest of the men. Jecob seemed exhilarated as he bounced on the balls of his feet while Eli crossed his arms and stared at the ground. “Landon, I shall let you have first choice.”“Thank you,” the other man said with a little nod. “Well, I suppose I’d be foolish not to choose the princess’s commander first.”Eli looked up, and Kit could see the surprise wash over his face. He moved to stand by Landon, and Kit smiled at him, but he was still not amuse
The game began with Landon attempting to sling the ball over the tops of the opponents heads into the hands of his teammates while Cassius’s side tried to knock them down or steal the ball. Landon nearly missed connecting with Jate, but the ball hit the ground and rolled right to Gavin of Wanesborough, and just like that, it was Cassius’s ball.“Oh, how I love watching a nice game of slingball!” Avinia marveled next to her.“You ladies have been so quiet,” Kit murmured, her eyes not leaving the game. Jecobian was also shirtless, and after their encounter the night before, she wasn’t surprised to see how chiseled he was. He seemed to be paying her more attention than the game presently. Reeve was playing slinger for Cassius’s team, and he was able to toss the ball straight to his captain who ran a good twenty paces before Landon grabbed him from behind and tackled him to the ground. Sweat was already starting to glisten of
Kit did not think Jecob’s comment about the other team being losers was funny, so she ignored it. “The other team will receive a kiss on the cheek from me, and the winners shall have a different sort of kiss!” More cheers went up, though some of the winners sniveled that it wasn’t fair that the losers received anything.While Kit wasn’t looking forward to kissing some of the men, she thought this might be a good opportunity to gather some information. She thought nothing would get too out of hand, what with so many onlookers, and she was just about to step forward to begin the awards when Landon asked, “What about the commander? He played just as hard as the rest of us.”“True. He scored nearly half of our points,” Jate agreed.Kit looked around, not even aware that Eli wasn’t with the rest of them. He had his scabbard and chainmail back on and was headed away from them. “Yes, Commander, I agree.
Eventually, Kit stepped back, signaling she was done, and her party faded into the hallway. Eli was right, there was much to be done, and Kit wasn’t even sure where to begin with the task of restoring the realm to its former glory. But there was no doubt her first appointment with the council would be to approve the new law that would allow her to rule before the end of her Choosing, one that would allow her to keep all seven of the men who stood around her now.As if reading her mind, Zora, her great-aunt and a distinguished member of the council stepped forward. “Queen Katrinetta, I would like to present to you a new law, passed by the council earlier this day. All it needs is your signature.”Confused, Kit took the sheet of parchment and began to read. When her eyes reached the bottom of the paper, she looked up. “How did you know...?”“Junno explained everything to us,” Nil said, stepping forward. “And we agree
“We love you, Kit. We’ll always be here for you,” Jate said to her right.“Even when we’re broken,” Danyen added, getting a giggle out of her and the others.“It’s our privilege to be with you,” Drake said in his deep, steady voice.Reeve took her hand. “Your belief in us has shaped us into who we are.”“And given us the confidence to stand with you as you become queen,” Landon said in her ear.“It’s all been well-worth it, Kit, to see you take the throne.” Cassius was still battered, but he looked much better now, with a smile on his face, than he had since Kit had found him in the dungeon.Kit shifted her eyes to Eli, assuming he would also say something. His eyes darted around several times, and she could tell he was attempting to come up with something no one else had said, but they’d all expressed themselves so well, it was a difficult
No longer frightened of the woman who used to terrorize her, Kit raised her arms between her mother’s bringing them down to the sides quickly so as to prevent her mother from ever making contact with her neck. Rona’s arms snapped down and she winced in pain. Her eyes bulged in surprise at her daughter’s strength. Kit took advantage of her mother’s stunned expression long enough to plant her fist in Rona’s right eye. Her mother rocked backward, grabbing at her face as Kit felt Eli’s familiar hand on her shoulder, seeking to calm her. Clearly, the older woman was no physical threat to Kit or anyone else.The bejeweled, golden crown atop Rona’s head wobbled as the queen staggered from the blow. It slid free, tumbling toward the floor. Kit reached out a hand and plucked it from the air. “The goddess have spoken!” she declared, ignoring the fact that it was the force of her own strike that had dislodged the crown. Nearly everyo
Watching the battle take place from the hallway had been unsettling for Kit, especially when she saw Eli faltering. For a moment, it had looked as if Vin might be victorious. Her attention had been pulled away when she learned Danyen was injured. Despite Galter’s best efforts to stop her, the princess insisted on going in and tending to him, and she had been there, placing pressure on the wound when Armant arrived. Danyen apologized for not being as handy with a sword as he was a quill, but Kit had only kissed him and assured him he was perfect in her sight.And then she’d seen hesitancy in Cassius and Eli as they considered mercy for Vin, the monster who had hurt and tortured so many. Ending him seemed like the right thing to do for all of the people of Yewforia, though she could never fault her men for weighing the costs of taking a life, even when that life was as worthless as scar face’s.She’d been stunned to see Jecob standing on the dais,
Across the room, Eli heard a shout and a roar of laughter. He could hardly let the situation distract him, but his head flickered in that direction for a moment, and he saw Danyen on the ground, grasping his middle. Drake was there and ended the laughing soldier who’d stabbed Danyen, but the Representative looked seriously wounded. Looking around the room, as he saw Vin trying to take advantage of his distraction, out of the corner of his eye, Eli spotted a member of his own guard who had just finished a man off. “Nen! Go to the infirmary and fetch Armant, as quickly as you can!”Eli hardly had time to see the guardsman nod in understanding before Vin’s persistence paid off, and his sword caught Eli in the left shoulder. It was a glancing blow as Eli dodged to his right, but this wound was deeper than the last and hurt more. It was not enough to slow him, though. Eli came flying back at Vin with a vengeance, thinking of his comments about Kit, how he h
The scene in the throne room was chaotic at best. Looking around, Eli quickly ascertained the situation. While the revolutionaries and several members of the Princess’s Guard had the upper hand, there were still twenty or thirty members of the Queen’s Guard and military doing their best to defend the door to the queen’s chambers.Across the room, Eli caught sight of a familiar set of dark eyes grimacing in his direction, and the Commander narrowed his focus as he stared him down. Scar face didn’t take his eyes off of Eli as he began to work his way through assailants, cutting them down easily as he moved toward his target. As he advanced, the aura of pure evil shifted the room such that darkness seemed to blot out everything around them until only Eli and the man who’d tried to end him remained. One of them would not walk out of this room.His concentration was broken when he heard another recognizable voice shout, “Goedwig! You&rsqu
The door to the castle was nearly nonexistent. Shards of wood hung from the upper posts, a few clung to the doorjambs, but for the most part, what had been an elegant entryway was now reduced to nothing but splinters and flecks of gold paint, thanks to the battering ram Eli had mentioned earlier.Realizing the only weapon she had was the small dagger, Kit scoured the ground for a sword. She saw one lying on the floor just inside of the castle entrance and picked it up, certain the poor fellow reposing nearby would no longer need it. She turned to tell her ladies they should do the same but noted they were already armed. Seph and Isla both had swords, though not as large and cumbersome as the one Kit had just procured, and Avinia had a bow she must’ve been carrying on her saddle, a quiver strung to her back.Armant and the other men who had come along with him stepped forward. “This is where we must leave you. We’ll head to the infirmary and check on t
“Are the two of you at peace now?” Kit asked Eli and Cassius.“I suppose so,” Eli began. “If he wants to go off and get himself killed, there will be one less person to share you with.” He smiled at Cassius, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, and the larger man reached around Kit and popped him in the arm.“You’d better not get yourself killed. Any of you.” Kit looked around and saw all seven of the men she’d chosen nearby, five of them already saddled and ready to go, the other two done arguing. While she hadn’t made Drake’s appointment official, she would, as soon as she knew the outcome of the battle at hand.Kit’s hip was still aching from where she cut it on the door earlier. Normally, she’d be able to mount Belle by herself, but with her leg torn up, she decided it would be easier to ask for help. Turning to Eli, she asked, “Will you give me a boost?”&ldq
Avinia had quite an entourage with her, including several wagons’ worth of food and water, clean clothes, a few weapons, and Armant with medical supplies. She’d enlisted some castle servants to drive the wagons, and as soon as they reached the remaining prisoners, they also helped the physician as he began to assess wounds and care for the sick and injured. Bea, his nurse who was also a faithful member of the revolt, was there to help as well.Kit wasn’t sure who to go to first. Both of her cousins, along with their husbands, dropped down from their horses, and Kit could see Avinia’s eyes searching for her through the crowd. But she also wanted to run to Drake and Danyen, who were bringing up the end of the line, along with Gavin, Asher, and a few of the other remaining Representatives.The men would have to wait. Avinia rushed over, embracing Kit quickly before she backed up. “You smell terrible.”“Thank you. I just sli