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Malachi huffed.Then you should sit at the step under her throne. Should you like your neck to remain attached to your body.
“Thank you, Malachi,” I said kindly. “I owe you one.”
Yes, you owe me a battle story,he offered.I haven’t forgotten.
I smirked. “I didn’t think you had.”
Just as I was about to head for the queen, I found myself eyes to eyes with another prince in a crown. Queen Estalena’s brother. And judging by the two people at his side, it didn’t take much to figure out I was looking at the former king and queen of Dra Skor.
I bowed slightly. “Prince Jagen.”
He did the same. “Prince Keiran. These are my parents. The former King Reyald Mallick and Queen Nyra Mallick.”
I bowed again slightly. “Great to meet Your Highnesses.”
“Likewise,” Esta’s father stated with a cool displeasure.
Both parents looked similar to the prince. Their skin color matched Jagen’s and they both had dark hair, though Esta’s father was now graying. He looked more thin and haggard than the former queen did, but that could be because of makeup. He had a shrewd look about him that made me believe with certainty he had been a king. That he was used to finding and fixing weaknesses.
He should have intimidated me, but being raised by the monster that I was, I felt challenge in his gaze and did not falter. I might not have worn a king’s crown right at that moment, but I did wear a crown. I was a Valanova heir, and I would not falter under any intimidation tactics.
Never again would I bow to a monster in a crown.
“Thank you for saving one of our own,” the former queen offered more warmly.
I noted her eyes were green as an emerald. Like Esta’s dragon eyes. Was I correct about them being green? “No need to thank me. It was simply the right thing to do.”
The king snorted. “Likely.”
I pinned my eyes on him and resisted the urge to take a step forward, to use my height to my advantage. “It is the truth. I assume your cool countenance is because you falsely think I am just like my father. It might do you well to remember that I was the one pinning down his magic so my brother could drive a sword through his neck.” I paused and flashed him a smile. “Now if you will excuse me.” I left it at that and spun to find a drink.
“Are you all right?” John asked me a moment later, having apparently overheard the entire thing.
I managed to find a water to drink. I took a sip before answering, the coolness calming my nerves. “Perfectly fine.”
“You were right to remind him that you are not another Theon,” John offered.
I sighed. “Yes, but how long will it take, how long must he be gone before I can stop proving it at every corner? I helped kill my own father, yet all that seems to matter is the Valanova attached to my name.”
John reached out to pat my shoulder. “More than a year. But you will give the name Valanova an entirely different reputation. You and your brother both. Do not grow weary.”
I nodded. Seeing Morana heading in our direction, I added, “I am going to go speak with the queen.”
“Good luck,” John offered.
As I neared the queen, she puffed a smoke ring at me.I don’t require your conversation.
“That may be, but I’d like to extend it all the same.” I smiled.
I didn’t say a word more but sat down at the bottom stair before the massive chair. Even my father’s throne hadn’t been that big. He was even more of a beast, just in a more compact form.
For a while I watched the ball before me. There was dancing starting up, and it was more like what I had seen in Nerede than we were used to in Kavan Keep. It was lighthearted with quick steps. For a moment I somewhat wanted to join in, and wondered if Amory would do me the honor, or as the queen’s proxy if she even could.
Avoiding my cousin?
“Your cousin?” I asked. For a moment I thought she meant Amory before it hit me. Morana had dark hair just like the royal family. “Morana? Your general?”
Yes.
