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Even I am not stubborn enough to fight that now.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Einar
It physically pains me to leave Zaina in the morning, especially when she is still in my bed, but there is more work than usual to be done. Things had already been mounting in the weeks I stepped back to “grieve,” even before the people were cured.
First is the task of getting everyone settled. Many wish to return home, to get back to their estates or their families. Some, those whose families lived here to begin with or have political aspirations will stay.
I fight down disappointment when Lady Estrid and Lord Bjorn approach. It isn’t as though even half the castle is leaving, but I can’t deny that I wish these two would stay. He surprises me when he speaks, though.
“We are petitioning to stay at the castle so that I might keep my place in the Council, your Majesty.”
“Granted,” I say with a smile. “And appreciated.”
They both smile back. I will never tire of the sight of these people with their happy, healthy,humanfaces.
I will, however, tire of the endless council meetings surrounded by those faces looking markedly less happy, discussing everything from the trade routes we’ve been ignoring to whether or not Ulla will return to seek vengeance. I can hardly tell them I have a plan working with Zaina when she’s supposed to be dead, so I let them debate for interminable hours.
Should we have an official taster? Would we need volunteers? Now that we are not stretched thin looking for a cure, should we try harder to find her? I am impossibly grateful when the meeting adjourns, if only to not have to hear Ulla’s name repeated so often.
One of the lords approaches me now with a scroll, bowing respectfully before he passes it to Leif to give to me.
It’s strange how after seventeen years, they have all slipped so easily back into their roles and ceremonies. I have a several-hours-long council meeting every morning that can attest to that.
“My King,” Leif says. “Lord Petrus has a slight concern that his brother has begun to encroach upon his estate in his absence.”
My face hardens. It is a low move for his brother to take advantage of the tragedy that befell this castle, one I will not stand for.
“I will send you home with an official proclamation to rid him of that notion,” I tell Lord Petrus.
“Thank you, Majesty.” He bows again before leaving.
Most of the room trickles out of lunch, leaving me a clear view to an irate Odger. I preferred when he had fur on his face, rather than the pale, arrogant features he sports now. When only he and Leif remain in the room with me, the weasel approaches. I don’t bother to hold my sigh.
“Playing favorites, Einar?” He glares at me with irises only a single shade of blue darker than the white around them.
“That’s Your Majesty to you, Lord Odger,” Leif corrects him.
Odger scoffs. “You refuse to grant me the return of my holdings, and yet you send Lord Petrus back with a proclamation?”
I rub the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger, already exasperated with this conversation and this day. “Lord Petrus did not gamble his holdings away,” I remind him. “Your vices are not my problem.”
He opens his mouth to argue, but I cut him off.
“Need I remind you of your treason before this all began?”
His lips part. “You wish to speak to me of treason? When you have been lying to the entire castle for weeks? Or did you think I was the only one who noticed the burning shroud at your dear wife’s funeral was a solid foot taller thanConsortZaina? Tell me, what did happen to Willem’s body after he died?”
Panic surges through my veins, but I keep my features carefully neutral before adopting a condescending smirk.
“Really, Odger? Conspiracy theories, now? We burned it, just as we always do.”
“Then why keep it a secret?” His tone is laced with suspicion.
“I didn’t want people to lose hope when we were so close. I know empathy is a foreign concept for you, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.”
His response is swallowed by a loud voice calling into the room.
