I marched through the grand hall with the council at my back. I felt like I’d earned their support over the last twenty-four hours—at least for now. But I needed a win today if I was going to keep it.
“You set the tone,” Vendela murmured at my side.
“Don’t freak her out,” Druan said, matching his stride to mine.
“What are you doing here, Druan?”
“Protection. You can’t walk out of here on an envoy to the usurper without protection.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Amara and Ben right behind me. I stopped in my tracks and turned to him. “And what do you think you’re doing?” I glared at him. “Go back to your room.” My voice was a whisper but I wanted to rage at him. Calling this kind of attention to himself could be fatal.
“No way I’m missing this. Besides, they all think I’m part of Dru’s team now that Fiske has returned to his hidey-hole, playing farmer boy with sister Sylvi. No one knows, Thea. Relax.”
I turned my glare on Druan instead.
“The kid’s a skilled fighter,” he reminded me. “He held his own in battle. We need all hands on deck today and he wants to be here. You might not like it, but the boy has a right to make his own decisions.”
“You’re right, I don’t like it.” But I couldn’t tell Druan all the reasons it wasn’t safe for Ben to leave the Citadel.
“I don’t care. Don’t worry about the kid, I’ll keep him out of trouble, I promise. Do what you came here to do.”
“I’m trusting you to keep him safe.”
“On my honor, I will make sure he doesn’t get in over his head.”
I finally agreed. Hiding Ben in plain sight might work.
“Do you know what you’re going to say?” Vendela asked as we set out again.
I nodded, staring through the front doors of the Citadel. “Pretty much.”
“Pretty much? You need to do better,” Vendela hissed as we walked through the massive doors.
“We’re just testing the waters today. I want to see if she’s willing to budge. If there’s a possibility of peace instead of war.”
Neela’s envoy already waited for us on the opposite side of the bridge arching over the rough waters of the Queen’s Bay. Neela stood alone at the center of the bridge. It was a show of power that she felt confident enough to meet with me one on one. It was meant to intimidate me. And it worked. Neela was a frightening sight to behold.
After my last meeting with Neela, I couldn’t have picked her out of a crowd, so consumed with my rage over my mother’s treatment at her hands. But I was fully present and focused now. Neela was tall and muscular, she outweighed me by at least thirty pounds. She was dressed as a warrior from the lowest pits of the Warder realm, looking like no queen I had ever seen, but she exuded regal authority, despite her well-worn clothes. I eyed the vast span of her red wings, the shade of her auburn hair. Three sets of wings—royal wings—just like mine. Except for the left side of her body, where the feathers were burned away. A gold mask covered that side of her face, and matching body armor covered her left shoulder down to her wrist, her hand hidden behind a black glove.
“What happened to her wings?” I asked.
“When she was thirteen, her father tried to set fire to them for sport. The entire left side of her body was burned.” Druan’s teeth made an audible click as the muscle in his jaw worked. “King Ulric is known for his brutality and it’s no secret he has no use for a Valkyrie daughter. I’m told her mother spent most of her married life in a prison world of his making with her own daughter as her Warder. They must have escaped together.”
“I’d like nothing more than to send them back where they came from.” I meant it too, though I felt for the young girl who’d suffered under her father’s brutal hand.
“Stay here,” I instructed. “I have to meet her alone.”
“Nice try.” Druan argued.
“I can take care of myself, Dru.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “But what I cannot do is appear weak in front of her now.”
“At least take Pasha with you,” he relented.
I nodded, leaving him and the other members of my envoy to cross the bridge on my own. Pasha followed close on my heels; a low growl rumbled in her chest to let me know she was with me.
I approached the usurper in the same gear I’d worn to meet with the council the day before, except this time I wore my pair of axes crossed over my back in a halter that made it easier to draw them when needed. Somehow my pristine wardrobe looked like I was trying too hard. But maybe that could work in my favor. I opened myself up to the power of the gods, seeking to fill my vessel. Carefully and so she wouldn’t notice, I pulled a trickle of the power from Neela into myself. When she didn't’ react, I pulled a little more until a steady stream flowed into me.
“Cousin.” Neela spoke first, her tone clipped.
I nodded once in response.
“Back from your vacation in the human realm? And I see you’ve brought your little kitty cat too.” She barely glanced at Pasha, but my little kitty cat didn’t like to be ignored.
Pasha’s hackles raised and she let out a ferocious growl, showing her teeth in all their toothy glory.
“We didn’t come here to be mocked. You usurped my mother’s throne and I’ve come to negotiate terms with you.”
“So negotiate.” Neela waved a gloved hand in my direction. I wondered if her hand had received the same treatment as her wings.
“I’m giving you a chance to bow out gracefully now that I’ve returned.”
“Bow out?” Neela sneered. “Why would I do that?”
“The Valkyrie people recognize me as the rightful heir. It is time for you to step aside, Neela. Time you return to your own realm and reunite with your family.”
“But you are my family, cousin.” Neela forced a fake smile. “I think it’s time we all get to know each other again. I’ll even throw a ball to celebrate your return to my court.”
“Surrender now. End this siege and release my people under the influence of your magic.”
“I don't’ know what you mean. They are all here of their own volition.”
I snorted a very un-queen-like laugh at her ignorance. “You should know I can see magic, Neela. I can see every ugly thread of every bond that connects my people to you against their will. Do not play games with me.”
Neela’s fake smile withered from her face. “I have no need to surrender, Thea. I have the blessing of the gods. What do you have?”
“The rightful Queen Brenna, four elders of her council, Queen Astrid of the Citadel, and her heir all stand with me—without magic to bend their will. I also have my birthright and the blessing of the gods as well.”
“You lost their blessing when you shirked your duty. It belongs to me now.” Neela laid a hand on the sword at her hip.
Pasha hissed, flicking her tail in agitation at the perceived threat.
I smiled, sinking my fingers into Pasha’s thick fur. Neela had just confirmed what I already suspected. She had no idea I was siphoning from her this very moment. It wouldn’t be an easy fight, but I was confident I could best my cousin. I just didn’t want it to come down to a war. “Surrender now and we can avoid bloodshed. The Valkyrie people have suffered enough. I am prepared to make you an offer.”
“What kind of offer?” She tilted her head, eyes narrowed.
“When I ascend, I will honor you and your mother with a full pardon and award you each a royal title with lands and estates. You may return to your father’s court if you choose, or you may live out your days in exile in the northern regions of Valsgard—under the careful eye of my guard, of course.” It was a fair offer. One I didn’t want to make, but I was willing to bet my life that freedom from her father was all Neela ever really wanted.
“That is quite an offer,” Neela said, but her tone gave nothing away. Though I suspected she was tempted.
“Do you accept?”
“Would you?”
“I was born to rule this realm.”
“I’ll take that bit of entitlement as a no.” Neela scoffed. “You may have been born to rule, but I’m the one who deserves it.” She took a menacing step forward despite Pasha’s warning hiss. “You lost your birthright when you walked away like an ungrateful fool. You neglected your people and I stepped in to save them.” She slammed a fist against her chest. “Those who have resisted have brought their hardships upon themselves. With me as their queen, the Valkyries will flourish and they will support me when I reclaim this world for them, dissolving the other eight realms into a single kingdom under my rule.”
“You’re delusional if you think the other kingdoms will allow you that kind of power.”
“When I am the only living vessel for the power of the gods, the other kingdoms will have no choice but to bend to my will.”
So that was her plan for ascension. She might lose her Warder magic when she became queen, but if there was no one powerful enough to contest her claim to the throne, she wouldn’t need it.
“One woman cannot hold that much power, Neela. There is a reason we have two queens and two heirs between Valsgard and the Citadel. With four strong vessels, we can contain the power we all need to survive. If you try to take it all, it will rip you apart and destroy our whole world. You cannot make yourself a god.” The woman really was insane if that was her plan.
“And what makes you think you get to walk back in here after three years to pick up where you left off? A Queen Heir doesn’t get a furlough, Thea. She does her duty for her people because she must.”
Neela was partially right. Did I deserve the chance to prove to my people I could be trusted to care for them? To be their queen? Probably not, but I intended to fight for the chance to redeem myself. No matter what they thought of me, I couldn’t leave them to Neela. If only to save them from this monster who would see them all under her control. It no longer mattered to me who was queen, as long as it wasn’t my cousin.
I approached my enemy like she was a predator ready to spring. “You’ve executed thousands of my people because they refused to follow you. You’ve enslaved thousands more with your Warder magic. You think to rule through fear and intimidation, but these are not the actions of a benevolent ruler. A reign of terror like yours has an expiration date. The Valkyries will not abide a tyrant on the throne. Not while a true Queen Heir resides in the Citadel.”
A fleeting look of uncertainty flashed across Neela’s face. But her mother, Svana, came to her side, whispering something in her daughter’s ear. Neela’s eyes widened in alarm before she threw her head back and laughed.
“You expect me to surrender, allowing you to take my throne out from under me while you offer some country estate as a parting gift? Yet you stand there with a pack of wild bounty hunters at your back, and a few starving members of your mother’s council? You think I would ever surrender to you when a man who shouldn’t exist stands among you?”
My mouth went dry as fear crept up my spine.
“What would the council say if they knew a foresworn Valkyrie male stood among your loyal bounty hunters? Would they be so quick to support you then?”
Gasps sounded behind me and I froze. I couldn’t openly support Ben, but I couldn’t allow Neela to take him either.
“Guards, take the boy.”
“No!” I lunged between Neela and Ben as a contingent of Valkyries swept down from the palace. Pasha drove Neela back from me, but the others were on Ben like carrion birds on roadkill.
“Leave my bounty hunters to me.” I drew an axe from my halter just in time to clash with Neela’s sword. “I will handle the male.”
Bedlam erupted behind me as Druan and Vendela fought to save Ben from their clutches. He was as good as dead now that his secret was out. If Neela didn’t kill him, my council would.
“If you haven’t executed him yet, you clearly aren’t going to,” Neela hissed in my ear. “My mother and I will destroy the Ahlstrom dynasty. I’ll keep your Valkyrie boyfriend safe for you, but you will never sit on my throne now, cousin.”
Anger surged through me like a charging bull. Ever since my return, my magic seemed to respond with my temper, growing darker by the day. But I was beyond caring anymore. I embraced my rage, pulling it around me like a dark cloak. If Neela wanted to play rough, I was ready for the fight of my life.
Screaming like a feral beast, I kicked Neela in the stomach, sending her flying back against the bridge railing. A little more power behind my kick and she would have found herself at the bottom of the bay.
As she tried to stand, I pushed her back to the ground, my foot at her throat. Throwing my head back, I drew on my magic, surging around us like a cloud of dark smoke. Neela’s magic responded, but she was no match for the burn. I lashed out at her with the burn, striking her like a red hot whip.
She screamed as her skin blistered with each strike. Pulling the darkness toward me, I siphoned from her, directing the power of the gods into me. I relished the feel of so much power surging inside me as I pulled on Neela’s life force. The choice of the gods wouldn’t matter if she was dead.
With a crack of her foot against my back, Neela broke free, grappling with me for control. Desperate, she pulled back, breaking my hold on her power.
“Enough.” Druan charged between us as Vendela and her kindred took up the fight with Neela, driving her back across the bridge. “Live to fight another day, Princess.”
“I was winning.” I shoved him, raking my talons across his face. “I could have ended this now.”
“Not without the boy’s death on your hands.” Druan dragged me back toward the protection of the Citadel, forcing me to witness what I had missed. During my fight with Neela, her guards had swooped in to take Ben across the bay to the palace gates. Even now, he struggled against them as they dragged him toward the dungeon.
“Ben!” I screamed for him, but it was too late. I turned on the Druid, focusing my rage on him as the one responsible. “You promised.” My talons ached to close around his throat. “You promised you would keep him safe!”
“How was I supposed to know the boy was a Valkyrie when you told me his father was a Berserker and his mother a human?” Druan and Amara closed in behind me, guiding me through the Citadel gates.
“How dare you stop me from destroying her!” I raged. “I am your Queen Heir!”
“You aren’t my queen anything.” Druan pushed me down on the grand staircase. “And if you don’t get control of that temper, and the dark power raging behind those eyes, you never will be.”
“She’ll kill him,” I whimpered.
“She’ll make a spectacle of him first. That’s her way. She’ll use him as propaganda against you and your family. And that gives us time to rescue him. If I hadn’t pulled you out of the fight, she would have gotten the upper hand and then she would have killed him right in front of you. This way we have time. He has a chance.”
“I will kill you with my bare hands if she harms a hair on his head.”
Druan rolled his eyes, the clear gray like storm clouds just waiting to unleash their fury on me. “Put your feelings for your little boyfriend aside and go do damage control with your council.”
I leaped to my feet, yanking Druan toward me. “If he dies, I will end you.”
Druan backed away, surprise and something akin to respect flashing in his eyes. “I see. We will bring him home, Thea. I promise.”
But I wasn’t sure I trusted in his promises where Ben was concerned.