C H A P T E R F O R T Y - S I X On the afternoon after her meeting with Micah, Raisa sought out Mellony in her suite of rooms in the Queen’s Tower. She had to talk to her sister about Micah—sooner rather than later. It was a conversation she dreaded.
Leaving her guard in the corridor, Raisa entered her sister’s sunny sitting room—only to find Mellony and Missy Hakkam at a table by the window, playing cards.
Bones, Raisa thought. She was in no mood to deal with Missy.
“Your Majesty!” they chorused, rose and curtsied. Missy returned to her seat, but Mellony crossed to Raisa and embraced her, kissing her cheek. Ever since the news had come about Han’s death, her younger sister had treated Raisa like a fragile piece of Tamric spun glass.
“Would you like to play with us, Raisa?” Mellony asked eagerly. “It might take your mind off…everything.”
“Magret won’t even play with us anymore,” Missy said, throwing down her cards. “And if we make Caterina play, she cheats.”
“What does it matter if you aren’t playing for money?” Raisa said.
“It’s the principle of the thing,” Missy said.
“Everybody’s tired,” Raisa said. “Magret and Caterina have been taking shifts on the walls. If anybody has any spare time, they spend it sleeping.”
“I worked in the kitchen yesterday,” Missy said, with a martyr’s air. “My father insisted, said I had to set an example. It was ghastly hot, and I broke a nail scrubbing burnt barley out of the cooking pot. There’s no way to make barley palatable anyway.”
Stung into honesty, Raisa muttered, “Well, you won’t have to worry about that too much longer. We’re nearly out.”
“Thank the Lady,” Missy said. “I don’t care if I never eat barley again.”
Until you’re starving, Raisa thought. She’d just heard a series of bleak reports about their food supply. It might last another week if they were careful. And then what?
“I rather like working in the kitchens,” Mellony said. “I’ve never done much cooking, and I’m learning a lot. Mistress Barkleigh is a good teacher, if you show that you’re willing to work. She says that anyone who oversees a household should know her way around a kitchen.”
Missy rolled her eyes. “Mistress Barkleigh is an ill-tempered witch. Anyway, maybe surrender wouldn’t be so bad. Arden is a civilized country, not so very different from us. King Gerard may honor the claims of landholders here. He’ll need thanes to manage the—”
“When Montaigne took Tamron Court, there was a massacre,” Raisa snapped. “His soldiers rampaged through the city, raping and pillaging. The southern attitude toward women is different than what you are used to.”
Missy’s eyes went wide. “I don’t believe that! Anyway, General Klemath will prevent that from happening. He wouldn’t possibly—”
“General Klemath is a traitor,” Raisa said. “Besides, it’s Marin Karn in charge. We’ve met before. I have no desire to meet him again.”
“Well, they’re in the city already,” Missy said crossly. “It’s reasonable to think that any pillaging has already happened.”
Which was true. Fellsmarch was not a walled city. The mountains were the wall they’d always relied on. Raisa tried not to think what might be happening outside the castle. Which reminded her of the task at hand.
“Lady Hakkam, thank you for keeping my sister company. You are dismissed for the afternoon.”
“Really, I’m happy to stay, Your Majesty,” Missy stammered. “I don’t really have any—”
“Perhaps Mistress Barkleigh could use some help.” Raisa nodded toward the door.
Missy stood, fluffing out her skirts. “Frankly, I can’t wait for the siege to be over,” she said. “I’m tired of seeing the same old people day after day.” With a curtsy to Raisa, she flounced out.
There’s something we agree on, Raisa thought. There are some people I’m tired of, too.
“I picked some flowers for you, Raisa,” Mellony said. She crossed to the window and returned with a vase of wilting black stars and autumn lilies. “Lady Hakkam has a shade garden that’s still blooming even in this heat.”
“Thank you,” Raisa said. She brought the flowers to her nose, breathing in the scent of sweet decay. She set the vase on the table next to her.
Mellony sat down next to Raisa and lifted a thick leather-bound book onto her lap. “Would you like me to read to you? Speaker Jemson lent me another book of poetry. Or I could play the harpsichord. Lady Dubai showed me a new piece. I don’t quite have it down, but I could give it a try.” From the way the words tumbled out, it was almost as if Mellony anticipated bad news and didn’t want to hear it. Or maybe that was Raisa’s conscience pricking her.
“I need to talk to you about Micah,” Raisa said.
“I’ve been wondering where he is,” Mellony said, resting her hands on the book in her lap. “I haven’t seen him all day. Is he on duty, do you know?”
“Micah is gone.”
“Gone? Gone where?” Mellony looked stricken.
“He’s gone to the mountains,” Raisa said, raking both hands through her hair. “He’s going to try to organize a rescue.”
“Why would he leave?” Mellony whispered.
“I told him to go,” Raisa said. “It’s either that or surrender. He can’t beat two armies by himself.”
“He should have stayed here,” Mellony whispered, her blue eyes pooling with tears. “What if something happens to him?”
Sweet Lady in chains, Raisa thought. I wish I didn’t have to deal with this now, along with everything else.
“There’s more.” She extended her hand, the one on which she wore Micah’s ring.
Mellony’s hand snaked out and caught hold of Raisa’s wrist. “That’s Micah’s ring,” she said, pulling it close. “His signet ring. Isn’t it?”
Raisa nodded.
“What does this mean?” Mellony said, her lower lip trembling. “You’ve exchanged rings?”
“It means we are betrothed,” Raisa said. “I have agreed to marry him.”
Mellony’s eyes widened. “But…but you don’t even love him! You told me you didn’t. Or was that a lie?”
“It wasn’t a lie. I meant what I said. I don’t love him.” All of the bitterness of the choice she’d been forced to make welled up in Raisa. “You wanted to be queen, didn’t you? Well, this is what it’s like. You don’t get to marry for love.”
“But…but…you’re using him! You’re using him for your own selfish reasons. You just want him to risk his life to break the siege. And that’s wrong!”
Guilt sharpened Raisa’s tongue. “Don’t be naive, Mellony. Everybody uses everyone. That’s the way the world is. I didn’t make it.”
“What about Father?” Mellony demanded. “Does he know about this?”
“No, he doesn’t know yet,” Raisa said. “How would he?” Collecting herself, she took Mellony’s hands in hers. “It’s important that we keep this a secret for now, because some in the clans won’t understand why I’ve made this decision.”
Mellony yanked back her hands. “I don’t understand it, either. If Father were here, I would tell him right away. He would stop this.”
“Mellony, don’t you see? It’s important that we work together if we’re to have any chance of—”
“Don’t lecture me!” Mellony interrupted, her voice as cold and hard as We’enhaven marble. “We can work together as long as you give the orders. Your lover Lord Alister is dead and so now you’ve decided to take Micah away from me!”
“Mellony, you’re fourteen,” Raisa snapped. “You don’t know anything about love.”
“And you do?” Mellony spat. She stood, drawing herself up to her full height. “I’m grown up, Raisa—old enough to marry. When are you going to notice that? Why did you have to be the older sister?”
She turned on her heel and walked out.