Shalador's Lady

CHAPTER 40

Three copies of a document that would break a land that had survived cruelty she couldn’t imagine, even when she heard some of the stories about Dena Nehele’s past. Three copies of a document that would change all of their lives.

And change nothing that matters the most, Cassidy thought as she carefully pressed her seal into the wax on the third copy—and heard the whole First Circle release the breath they’d been holding while she took this last step.

As soon as she sat back, Powell pulled the copy away and positioned it in the center of the big table, along with the other two copies.

“Done,” her Steward said. “Talon?”

“I’ll take the copy up to the Keep first.” Talon carefully rolled two of the documents and vanished them. Then he hesitated. “Once I hand this paper to the High Lord and it’s acknowledged at the Keep, the path is chosen. There’s no going back.”

He was giving her one last chance to walk away. A Queen’s wants, wishes, and will came first, no matter the cost.

“Safe journey, Prince Talon,” Cassidy said.

Her legs felt shaky, so she sat at the table while Talon and the rest of the court left the room. Naturally, Ranon and Gray were last and kept glancing at her as if trying to decide if they should stay or leave.

Shira made it simple by shoving the two of them out of the room. Before the Black Widow could close the door for a private chat, Reyhana slipped into the room.

“I want to help.” Reyhana squared her shoulders and lifted her chin.

How much death has this girl already seen? Cassidy wondered. How much more will she have to see? “You serve in my Second Circle, Sister, so you most certainly are going to help.” She stood up and felt reassured that her legs weren’t as wobbly as they’d been a few minutes ago. “I could use a bit more to eat than the half piece of toast I choked down earlier. After that, why don’t the three of us review what needs to be done?”

“Don’t we first have to find out what Theran is going to do?” Shira asked.

Cassidy shook her head as she joined them at the door. “War or not, we’ve got two months before spring. Fields will need to be plowed, and crops will need to be sown—and the Queens need to affirm their bond to the land. We need to make sure all the Queens know how to enrich the land, we need to confirm that the villages—landen and Blood—have the plows and other tools they need for their farms and—”

“All right!” Shira said, laughing. “All right. Point taken. We have plenty to do.”

Cassidy looked at Shira and knew that, for a moment, they both pictured an orchard of honey pear trees growing out of the bodies of the dead.

Then they both pushed that image aside, and the three of them went to Cassidy’s study and got on with the business of living.

Saetan read the document carefully. Then, assured that Powell had made all the changes he’d written on the draft, he set the document on the library’s large blackwood table and vanished his half-moon glasses. “We’ll make sure this is preserved. A place will be set aside in the library for any other documents or work from Shalador Nehele that you want preserved outside of your land.”

“Thank you,” Talon replied.

Saetan studied the demon-dead Warlord Prince who had been a friend of Jared and Lia. “This is hard for you.”

“Yes, it’s hard. Not so much that it happened, but the reason why it happened. Makes me wonder what I’ve been fighting for these past three hundred years.”

“I can tell you that,” Saetan said. “You’ve been fighting for honor and to protect what you cherish.”

“I failed him.” Talon shook his head. “Theran doing this means I failed him.”

“You don’t know that. Until he steps up to the line and makes the choice to start a war, you don’t know that. And if there is enough of Jared in him, he may surprise you.”

“I served a Queen before I turned rogue. She was the reason I turned rogue. I never felt the pull with her that I feel with Cassie. I don’t think I could turn away from Cassie, no matter what she did at this point.”

“That bond can wane or break, like any other kind of love,” Saetan said. Having faced the possibility of killing a son in order to save his Queen, he knew what Talon was feeling, but there wasn’t much comfort he, or anyone else, could give this man.

“It’s too late in the morning for you to be traveling back to Dena Nehele,” Saetan said. “I’ll show you to a guest room where you can rest until sunset.”

A simple message was sent from the High Lord of Hell to Lord Khardeen, Lady Sabrina, and Prince Daemon Sadi. It said:

Dena Nehele has broken. Shalador Nehele rises with Cassidy as its Queen. May the Darkness have mercy on them.

Theran read the document a second time, then stared at the man who had raised him and loved him—and was now an enemy.

“Why?” He tossed the document on his desk. “Hell’s fire, Talon, why?”

“It’s clear enough,” Talon replied.

“It’s not clear,” Theran snapped. “Nothing is clear. You broke Dena Nehele. You broke the land that survived generations of twisted Queens and Dorothea SaDiablo’s hatred for the sake of a bitch who should be leaving instead of trying to take control.”

“I could say the same about you. And that’s the last time you get to call my Queen a bitch without blood being shed.”

Sick, scared, and furious, Theran clenched his teeth to avoid saying anything more. Talon would shed blood. Even his.

“You can’t do this. She took a third of the Territory.”

“Cassidy didn’t take anything. The Provinces were free to make their choice.”

“And what price would they pay if they didn’t make the choice Lady Cassidy wanted?” Theran asked bitterly.

“You’re trying to dress Cassidy in another woman’s temper,” Talon said.

“You’re asking questions that don’t fit her as a woman or a Queen, so maybe you’re really wondering about someone else.”

Theran rocked back on his heels, not sure how to answer that—and sure he didn’t want to answer that. “Talon, breaking Dena Nehele isn’t the answer.”

“Is Cassidy going to be the Queen of Dena Nehele two months from now?”

“No, she is not!”

“Then this is the only answer that gives both sides a choice besides war.”

“Choice.” The word hooked its claws into him and left his heart bleeding. “You call this a choice? Kermilla will never accept this.”

“She isn’t the Queen yet.”

“She’s going to be.”

“But she isn’t the Queen yet. And I guess, right now, that makes you the unofficial ruler of Dena Nehele. So it’s up to you to accept this.”

Theran staggered back a step. No Queen. No female hand to guide them once it became known that Cassidy had turned away from the Provinces north of the Heartsblood River.

No Queen again. At least, not until Kermilla formed a court.

“I guess I’m no longer part of Cassidy’s court,” Theran said.

“You don’t serve the Queen of Shalador Nehele, so, no, you’re no longer part of the court.”

So much sadness in Talon’s eyes.

“Talon . . . are you really going to stand against me?”

“Let us go, Theran. We don’t want a war, but if you send men against us or our Queen, we will fight. And I tell you now, boy, if we meet on a killing field I will do everything I can to destroy you.”

Theran’s eyes stung. He blinked away the tears. “That’s it then.”

“Yes, that’s it.” Talon walked to the study door and opened it. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “May the Darkness embrace you, Theran.”

Theran said nothing until Talon left the room. Then he whispered, “And you, Talon. And you.”

Kermilla tapped on the study door and swallowed her resentment—again—about being locked out of Theran’s study. That would change once she was the Queen. Yes, that would certainly change. But for now, she couldn’t demand to know what had happened between Theran and that awful Prince Talon. Just looking at the man’s maimed hand and the way he walked because of the missing part of his right foot made her shudder. At least she wouldn’t have to consider him for her court, no matter how Theran felt about him.

She knocked on the door, louder this time. And this time it opened.

When she walked in, Theran was pacing, the restless movement of a man incapable of remaining still. And the look on his face . . .

“What happened?” she asked. “Did something happen to your cousin?” Not that she cared a finger snap about Gray since he’d been so rude to her, but Theran did care, so it was appropriate to show concern.

“He’s lost his mind, that’s what happened,” Theran snapped. “With help, I’m sure, from that Shalador bastard Ranon.”

That didn’t tell her anything. “Theran . . .”

He strode to his desk, grabbed a document, and thrust it into her hands.

She read—and felt a fury rise in her unlike anything she had felt before. “That bitch! She’s taken whole Provinces?”

“Everything south of the Heartsblood River is now ruled by Lady Cassidy, Queen of Shalador Nehele,” Theran said bitterly. “A third of Dena Nehele is gone because of a piece of paper!”

“No! Get them back. Theran, you have to get those Provinces back!” A third of Dena Nehele? A third of the income that should be hers? Unthinkable! “You can’t let her do this to us. To the land and the people who need our guidance,” she amended when she noticed the uncertainty in his eyes.

“Well, they don’t think they need anything from us.” Theran resumed his pacing.

“You have to stop this!” Kermilla sank into a chair. That bitch. Should have known better than to offer anything. She’d been willing to let Freckledy rule the Shalador reserves, hadn’t she? Wasn’t much there worth having anyway, but it had been a way to show how generous she could be by letting the Queen who had been dismissed remain in her little village and be useful. Of course Cassidy, being a fine draft horse of a Queen, was useful.

But no. The bitch got greedy and stole Provinces that should have been hers. And that was something she couldn’t allow.

That strange fury washed through her again. “You have to do something, Prince Grayhaven.”

He gave her an odd look—more appreciative of this show of temper than wary of it.

Finally he stopped pacing, rubbed his hands over his face, and sighed. “There’s nothing I can do, Kermilla. A copy of that document is already at the Keep. There is no way to deny it exists. They did this behind my back, not even giving me the chance to challenge the decision, but it’s done now.”

“Then change it,” Kermilla said.

“How? War? Do you know what another war would do to us right now?” He shook his head. “That’s not a consideration. I doubt there is a Warlord Prince on this side of the Heartsblood River who would be willing to step onto a killing field against Ranon or Talon . . . or Jared Blaed.”

“So you’re going to give up a third of Dena Nehele to Cassidy?” Kermilla stared at him in disbelief. How could he give up her land so easily?

“I told you, it’s already done.” Retrieving the document, which she’d dropped beside her chair, Theran set it on his desk. “No point chewing on a battle that’s already been fought and lost. Not when we have to move fast to meet the next challenge.”

“And what would that be?” She was too upset to try her sexy pout or any other maneuver on him.

Another odd look. “Convincing eleven other men to stand with me and form your court.”

Why is that a challenge?

Before she could ask him, there was a quick knock followed by the bell that signaled that dinner was ready to be served.

Theran opened the study door and looked at her. “Shall we go?”

Wasn’t really a question, so she walked out of the room—and swallowed the resentment that bubbled up again when he put a Green lock on the door.

She needed to form a court, and she couldn’t do it without his help. But once she did, there would be more than one change in Dena Nehele.