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Kaye's smaller throne still stood off to one side. But the throne for the high priestess had been removed.
A new throne had been placed beside my brother's. The heavy, wooden frame bore intricate engravings of roses and thorns that seemed to burst forth from the throne's surface, petals and thorny tendrils creating a kind of sculpted halo. The throne seemed to bristle with life, as if the very roses and thorns themselves could reach out and ensnare any one who dared approach too closely.
Seated regally upon this new throne was a queen of extraordinary beauty. In an instant, I could see why she had held the court so spellbound.
After all, she had bewitched me just as easily the first time we had met.
Queen Belisent’s rich brown hair had been left unbound and hung around her shoulders. Large, wide eyes that sparkled with a mystifying allure looked back at me, framed with long, dark lashes. Her skin looked as smooth and pale as the petals of a rare, exotic flower. A sweet, intoxicating fragrance I couldn't pinpoint trailed from her, mixing with the smell of the roses.
Small diamonds and amethysts covered the fine, plum-colored silk gown she wore, causing it to shimmer with a lustrous sheen. The gown's skirt pooled at her feet like a river of purple waves.
Beside the queen, my brother sat gazing at his wife with a look in his eyes I had never seen before. Pride. Perhaps even adoration.
As I watched Arthur, golden circlet resting on his brow, I might have almost managed to pretend his nature was different than what it was. My brother was a handsome young man, and he shared much in common with our younger brother, Kaye. His thick, chestnut hair was cropped shorter than Kaye's but was the identical shade. Their eyes were similar, and when Arthur smiled, truly smiled, which was extremely rare, he had Kaye's dimples.
But beneath the veneer of youth and fair looks, Arthur's presence was malevolent. A palpable undercurrent of malice filled the Great Hall, which even the new queen's beauty could not dissipate.
As I stepped closer, Queen Belisent lifted an alabaster hand and placed it to her midsection. It was a nurturing and protective gesture that spoke of the life stirring within her.
My heart sank as I took in the wide swell beneath her opulent gown.
Of course she was pregnant. With Arthur's child.
I lifted my eyes back to the queen’s face and regarded my sister steadily.
Orcades, or Belisent as she was calling herself now, seemed to glow with a soft radiance. Was it because of the new life she carried? Or because she was secretly fae?
Haughty and reticent? Was that what Caspar had called her?
I nearly laughed to myself. Orcades had seemed even haughtier that day beneath the lake when I had set her free from her watery prison. The day she had encouraged me to pull Excalibur from its place in the stone.
And then left me for dead on the floor of the ruins of Meridium, taking the sword for herself.
She’d said she would bring the sword to Arthur. Until this moment, I supposed I hadn't fully believed her.
Nor had I expected her to marry my brother.
Yet here we were.
It was a strange moment of bittersweet understanding as she looked back at me.
Without a word passing between us, I understood she had no wish for me to reveal what I knew.
And so, together, we sisters shared something. A silent acknowledgement of a shared secret. A recognition of a connection that transcended the grandeur and falsities of Arthur's court, however unwanted and unwilling.
Standing there staring at my sister-in-law who was also my sister, I realized I didn't even know if Orcades and I were half-sisters or full-sisters. Had we shared the same mother as well as father? Somehow I doubted it. The dream I’d had of my mother Ygraine—or Idrisane, as she was called amongst the fae—had made it seem as if she and Orcades were contemporaries, not mother and daughter.
I recalled my mother had been tempted to go to Orcades for help before fleeing Gorlois. What did that mean, I wondered? Would Orcades have had sympathy for my mother’s plight? Would she have helped her to escape—and me as well?
Back in Meridium, Orcades had not actually harmed me herself. Vesper had been the one who had thrown the knife. Orcades had simply... not intervened.
I supposed that made her slightly less despicable than Vesper had been.
But then, it wasn’t as if she owed me anything.
The court was waiting. Arthur was rising to his feet to address us all.
He looked out upon the Great Hall, then let his eyes linger upon me.
