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Powerful as I am, I still need stability in the eyes of my lords, Erida thought.I need an heir to sit the throne I build.
“It has been a strange winter,” Harrsing muttered, turning her gaze to the windows. Darkness pressed against them, broken only by the lights of the city. “There’s word of snow in the south, and fire in the north.”
Fire. Gidastern.Erida kept still, swallowing down her discomfort.
“And the sky,” one of the ladies breathed, forgetting herself.
“What of the sky?” Erida asked sharply.
“Surely you’ve seen it, Your Majesty,” the girl answered, not daring to meet the Queen’s stare. “Some days it looks red as blood.”
“Red as victory,” Erida corrected, her tone sharp. “Red is the color of mighty Syrek, the god of Galland. Perhaps he smiles on us.”
Her undergarments came off next and Erida went to the vast copper tub by the fire, the water steaming. With a low purr, she sank into the water, feeling the long journey home slough off her skin.
Lady Harrsing remained perched in her seat, an imperious bird watching over the Queen.
“One hour at most,” Erida reminded her, tipping her head back to let the maids wash her hair. “I’ve only just returned to the city. Certainly Ambassador Salbhai will not think me rude? Besides, he can treat with the other diplomats. Lord Malek and Lord Emrali would certainly leap at the opportunity to entertain a Temur ambassador.”
Something strange flashed in Harrsing’s eyes. Erida thought it might be shame.
“Malek and Emrali have been recalled to their courts in Kasa and Sardos,” Lady Harrsing finally said, reluctant.
With a splash, Erida shifted in the water. She weighed her options quickly, keenly aware of the many observing eyes around her. If the kingdoms of Sardos and Kasa had called back diplomats from Erida’s court, there was certainly trouble afoot. If not danger.
But Erida of Galland feared no kingdom or army upon the realm. Thewater splashed again as she shrugged her shoulders, making a show of her disinterest.
“Very well,” she said, gesturing for Harrsing to continue.
The lady nodded.
“A great number of other nobles have arrived in the city already, ahead of the coronation.”
Indeed, Ascal seemed more crowded than usual, and not just with lords and ladies of Galland. Commonfolk would be flocking in from the countryside to celebrate their queen, toasting her victory with free ale and wine. Not to mention delegations from Madrence, Tyriot, and Siscaria were on their way, to witness the making of their new monarch.
“What news of Konegin?”
Her treasonous cousin’s name tasted sour in Erida’s mouth.
Around the chamber, her ladies slowed. Only the maids kept at their work, scrubbing Erida’s arms down to her fingernails.
Harrsing heaved a breath and banged her cane once on the ground, frustrated. “There has been little word since his failure in Madrence.”
Erida did not miss the careful wording. Hisfailure. It was a gentle way to describe an attempted usurpation.
“I’ve made my own inquiries but received little in the way of news. I suspect he is on the other side of the Long Sea by now, seeking a hole to hide in,” Bella muttered.
“My cousin gambled his life and future on seizing the throne. He will not give up so easily,” Erida replied.
Around the room, her ladies lowered their eyes, hands trembling.
Erida almost scoffed at them. She had little desire to coddle terrified children. But her ladies were of noble blood, descended from kings and high lords. It was in no one’s interest to make them afraid.
Animals are most dangerous when they are afraid, Erida thought.
She looked on her ladies in turn, daughters and wives of powerful men. Seeking greater power in their proximity to the Queen. Spies, all of them.
Erida felt like an actor on a stage, pantomiming for a crowd in the street. She summoned all her court training, all her days spent schooling her face and voice.
