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There would be no taxation this year, rather a distribution from the royal coffers. The accountant appointed by the high council reported they were stuffed full. Amazing Uncle Bors had not stashed it elsewhere, or maybe he had with some but we’d never know. And he’d never get to spend it now. I’d been assured he’d never darken my doorstep again.
Stopping by a mirror in the front hallway, I smoothed my chignon and examined my expression. Did it look bland enough to face the high council and the man they sent to fetch me? An image of him walking away came into my mind, and I stuffed it down.
The man in question appeared next to me as if summoned by my thoughts. “Majesty?” The slight rumble of the deep tone as his lips moved over the word gave me chills. He held out his arm, and I laid my hand on it, fighting a shiver at the heat of his skin through his thin white shirt sleeve, and allowed him to escort me to the throne room where the high council stood ranged in front of my seat. Facing it. Leif walked me past them and up the steps to my throne where I sat.
Then, I don’t know what I expected him to do, but he took a step back and to my right, where he stayed. Why?
As I mused on these things, Marcus, the youngest of the council members, moved to stand close to me, where I could easily see his lips and not miss any words. “Your Majesty, we have summoned healers to assess your health.”
“You mean my hearing.” I was no fool, and nobody thought anything else was wrong with me. “And when I fail their tests, as I surely will?”
He shrugged. “No matter. You are queen. But you will know more.”
More? I didn’t need to know more. My hearing was worse with each passing month. And the healers who had visited me in past years had given me their assessment already. Grim. I studied his face, but he said no more. Instead Leif produced a bound notebook from somewhere and passed it to me. The book was labeledPossible causes of hearing loss, genetic and environmental and how to improve prognoses.Lovely. I had made it this far with no help whatsoever. Now so-called experts were going to come in and rock my proverbial boat. Worse, this decision indicated a far less hands-off policy than I’d hoped for from the high council.
I lifted my gaze to Marcus. “Are you leaving today?” It was inexcusably rude, but I didn’t really care at this moment.
“Yes. But we leave an advisor to help you. And will send others later.”
To quote my sister, wasn’t that just awesome. To quote Creek, one of her mates, it was a cluster fuck.
Chapter Four
The high council sent the healers despite my argument against it. I had a foul attitude about the whole thing, that much was certain. I huffed like a child and sat down in front of the healers, who were nothing more than staunch older men with their noses in the air, their pompous attitudes about helping people and healing like a thick, coarse blanket that covered everything in the room.
My dress fell into place as I sat down and rested my arms on the arms of the throne like a relaxed but regal queen.
“We realize the complications and history of the situation, Your Majesty.” One of them, a man with a bald head and a rotund belly bowed. It was ridiculous.
“Please face me directly when you speak so that I can see your mouths moving.” And not miss a fabulous word.
They shared a look, irritating me.
They still thought they could heal me. Or at least improve me. I’d read the book Leif gave me, and it was at least forty years old and poorly written by one of these men. I wasn’t sure which one, nor did I care. I saw nothing in it that offered any practical assistance to my situation. They were menaces to my peace and, frankly, were wasting my time.
A queen had shit to do.
We are going to conduct some tests, Your Majesty,” said another. “We would appreciate your patience for the duration.” He moved his lips in exaggerated fashion that actually made it harder to read.
I almost growled at the word duration. That meant this stupid, ridiculous process was going to take a span of time, and already I was tapping my foot, hating every second of it. But I counted on the support of the high council, so I had to at least go through the motions.
“Let’s get this over with.”
Then began the torture. They said it was testing but, through the whole thing, I fought back tears and rage. They should simply accept that life was life, and sometimes it dealt you a fucked-up hand.
I had accepted it. Why couldn’t they?
My hearing didn’t work well. The rest of me was just fine.
But instead of being grateful for that, they insisted on fixing me.
Instead oflong live the queen, they might as well have chantedlong fix the queen.
I zoned out sometime after the headphones were put onto my head. I could hear some of the lower tones only because they hummed in my ears and caused a physical vibration, but other than that, there was nothing. If they used my ability to hear those things as a gauge, they would find my hearing nonexistent.
But that wasn’t true, at least not yet.
They scratched notes on papers and had little side meetings until they seemed to come to a conclusion
