This was nothing like the Queen’s study. It was sparser and more formal, with something that looked more like a throne for the Queen. This seemed more like a room where she could intimidate people.
Perian swallowed and bowed to the Queen as she sat on that throne on a dais that made her level with Perian even though he was still standing.
Cormal was halfway between the two of them, clearly ranged with the Queen and keeping a close eye on Perian. Perian could have told him that he could pull desire from either of them anywhere in this room, but he didn’t suppose that would help the conversation any.
“Are Renny and Kee all right, Your Majesty?” Perian asked the Queen, who was staring at him like he was a particularly large problem that she needed to solve. “Cormal said they were as well as could be expected. What does that mean?”
“Princess Larenia appears to have regained full health,” the Queen informed him, making Perian waver for a moment in pure, heady relief. “She’s been full of energy and a desire to try everything that has previously been denied her.”
Perian smiled at the image. The Queen did not smile back.
“Prince Kinan,” the Queen pronounced, “is visible. We can all see and hear him. But he is still intangible.”
“Oh, no!” Perian exclaimed.
While that was a vast improvement, it wasn’t at all what Perian had been trying so hard for. He opened his mouth to offer to try again, but the Queen spoke first.
“It is clear that you have reached the limits of your usefulness.”
Perian froze. He felt a trickle of fear down his spine, but it was a fear that had been there since the moment Cormal had called him a carnalion.
Perian swallowed. “Are you going to kill me, Your Majesty?”
Cormal said, “You’re a danger to the country. You’ve killed a man.”
Perian clenched his jaw. “I’ve never been a danger to the country. I’ve only tried to help people.”
“People have died.”
“A convicted felon who somehow escaped his prison sentence tried to assault me and then kill me!” Perian snapped. “I’m sorry someone died, but I can’t be sorry that I tried to save myself and that I stopped him!”
“But you didn’t simply stop him, did you?” Cormal asked. “You fed on him, as a carnalion would.”
Perian sucked in a deep breath. “I was half naked and restrained in metal shackles to the bed. I did the only thing I could think of.”
“But no one else has that resource available to them, do they?” Cormal asked.
It always came back to that. Perian squared his shoulders, faced the Queen, and repeated his question.
“Are you going to have me killed, Your Majesty?”
She stared at him with an expression that he couldn’t decipher.
“It would seem the simpler solution,” she said, “best judged to ensure the safety of the country.”
Perian’s hands were cold and sweaty. “Do you really think so?”
“All demons should be destroyed,” Cormal said flatly.
Perian shot him a look. “Even thinking, feeling, reasoning ones that have never harmed anyone? Even ones that are best friends with Renny?”
“Was that your plan?” the Queen asked. “To become invaluable?”
Perian sighed. “There was no plan. There never has been. I genuinely care for Renny, and that’s why I helped her and Kee. I’m sorry that I couldn’t do more.”
The Queen continued to stare at him for a long, long moment, as though she could see right into his heart, and maybe she could. But Perian wasn’t sure that she was actuallylooking.
“You have performed a service for us,” the Queen said. “Our son is partially returned, and our daughter’s healthrestored.”
