Page 10 of Only Flames Remain

“Am I interrupting?” she asked, her voice feigning kindness. But I knew better.

“Of course not.” Kallias hastened to the end of the bed and stood, placing a kiss against Queen Dyata’s rouge covered cheek.

She kept her gaze fixed on me as I remained sitting.

“May I have a word?” she asked, brow raised.

Queen Dyata was the picture of Veytari perfection. She didn’t even have a hair out of place despite the city having just been attacked. Despite dragons having filled the skies with brimstone and reigning terror down on our people. Her hair was always perfectly coiffed and braided into a crown. Her nails were always manicured and painted. Her lips always stained with a wash of color.

She was perfectly composed.

“Excuse me…” I stood, running my hands down my skirts as I made my way toward the door.

I didn’t have my own chambers in the castle. Whenever I stayed here, it was with Kallias in his personal rooms. If the queen was excusing me, I would need to brave the crowds outside the castle to return to our home in Majur. I needed to check on my mother. I prayed to the old gods that our home remained standing and was not one of the unfortunate casualties to have fallen during the attack. That my mother was safe within its familiar walls.

“Not so fast.” Queen Dyata’s voice was tight at my back.

I wordlessly turned back toward her; my hands clasped together.

She did not move, her back still turned from me. “Mother—” Kallias began, but the queen cut him off with a raise of her hand.

“I would like a word with Aveline.”

“With…me?” I asked, voice cracking.

My palms had begun to sweat, and I pressed them down against my dress, leaving damp stains behind on the already soiled satin. Queen Dyata gave one tight nod and Kallias dropped his arms against his side with a huff. He squeezed my arm as he passed, pressing a quick kiss on my cheek before disappearing behind the heavy oak door, into the corridor beyond.

The queen and I were alone.

“Sit.” The word was a command.

I moved back toward Kallias’s bed, into the queen’s view once more. She didn’t bother to turn or offer me a seat before the crackling fire. I was nervous beneath her gaze, fidgeting with my dress and my hair as I waited for her to speak.

“I know that you and I have had a…rough start to our relationship,” she began.

That was an understatement if I ever heard one. Our relationship could be described as tempestuous, at best. It was only this morning that I had daydreamed about poisoning her. I waited quietly for her to continue.

“You know that I do not approve of you and Kallias together. I do not think the sole heir to the throne of Myros should be married to a human.” She said the word with disgust, her lip turning up. “You also know that Kallias is betrothed to Lady Astryn Hunt of Emberfell.”

Emberfell.

One of our only remaining allies to stand with us against the kingdoms to the west. If Emberfell had a princess of their own, I am sure she would have been betrothed to Kallias. Seven hells, they would have been married already. Luckily, they had only male heirs. That left the Ashbourne royals to settle for a lowly duchess for their beloved crown prince.

The alliance was most important, after all.

I nodded, my gaze falling to my tattered black slippers. Queen Dyata always had a way of reducing me to ash. To make me feel less than, with as few words as possible. She never let me forget that she had betrothed Kallias to a beautiful Veytari fae, and I was a human with nothing at all to offer.

I remained quiet under her gaze. The queen had never approved of us, but Kallias was determined to win her to our side with time. To let her see I could be a good match for him. To convince her to let him choose a love match over an alliance.

“I have a proposal for you.”

“A…proposal?” I asked, my voice clipped with skepticism.

My gaze rose to meet hers, and I couldn’t quite identify what it was that I found there. Her jaw was set, eyes narrowed infinitesimally.

“Yes…a proposal. If you were to accept, which, let’s be honest, you don’t have much of a choice. If you were to accept and succeed…I would allow you to marry my son.” She released a humorless laugh. This was all a game to her.

I straightened on the bed, intrigued. She had my full attention now. I would do anything to gain her favor and be with Kallias. To finally have her blessing.