Chapter 28 Riding with the enemy
That night, I sat alone in my chambers, still wearing the golden gown, still wearing the diamond crown.
Ash was curled on my pillow, watching me with sleepy, concerned eyes. My handmaidens had been dismissed. The palace was quiet.
Queen Nyx.
The title felt foreign. Wrong. Like a coat that didn't quite fit, shoes that pinched my feet, a mask that didn't match my face.
I had been crowned today. Anointed. Celebrated. And yet I had never felt less like a queen.
In Hel, I had ruled alongside my brother. In Hel, I had been respected. Feared, yes, but respected. In Hel, I had known who I was.
Here, I was a stranger in a golden cage. A consort with no power. A wife with no husband. A queen with no kingdom.
I touched the obsidian pendant beneath my gown. It pulsed warmly against my skin. Three wishes. Three escapes.
Not yet, I told myself. Not yet.
I took off the crown. Set it on the dresser. Stared at it for a long moment.
Then I went to bed.
\-————————————
The invitation arrived at dawn.
A morning ride through the royal forest. Lord Valois requests the honor of Queen Nyx's company. Horses will be waiting at the eastern gate.
I stared at the elegant script for a long moment.
"He's bold," Liriel observed, reading over my shoulder. "Inviting the Queen on a private ride, alone, the morning after her coronation."
"It's inappropriate."
"Deeply."
"Elowyn will be furious."
"Absolutely apoplectic."
I should have refused. I should have sent a polite, formal rejection. I should have stayed in my chambers and nursed my complicated feelings about crowns and husbands and golden cages.
Instead, I found myself saying, "What do you know about Lord Valois?"
My handmaidens exchanged glances.
"We've been asking around," Sera said. "He's the nephew of King Henri of Valdris. The King has one son, the Crown Prince, Philippe. But Philippe is sickly. Has been since childhood. The court physicians don't expect him to live another five years."
"And if Philippe dies?"
"Sebastian becomes King," Thalia finished. "He's next in line. His mother was the King's younger sister. She died when he was young. The King raised him alongside his own children."
"So the man sitting at our banquet table, laughing with the Queen, is the future King of Valdris." I paused. "What is he doing here? Playing diplomat? Negotiating loans?"
"Unclear," Liriel said. "But his presence here is highly irregular. The Crown Prince is still alive. There's no formal reason for the heir presumptive to be traveling to foreign courts, making alliances, charming queens."
"Unless he's looking for something."
"Or someone."
I thought of Sebastian's warm hazel eyes. His easy laughter. His unerring ability to say exactly what I wanted to hear.
"He's dangerous," I murmured.
"Very," Sera agreed.
"Good." I stood. "Let's not keep him waiting."
\-————————————-
The eastern gate opened onto a sea of gold.
The royal forest stretched for miles beyond the palace walls, ancient oaks and silver birches, their leaves turned amber and crimson by the cooling autumn air. Sunlight filtered through the canopy, dappling the forest floor in shades of gold and green. It was beautiful, in the way everything in Aurelia was beautiful. Pristine. Polished. Utterly artificial.
Sebastian was waiting beside two horses, a sleek black mare and a muscular chestnut stallion. He was dressed for riding: dark breeches, a fitted coat, no ornamentation. He looked like a man who had done this a thousand times.
"Your Majesty." He bowed as I approached. "I wasn't sure you'd come."
"Neither was I."
"And yet here you are."
"Here I am." I let him help me onto the black mare. His hand lingered on my waist a moment longer than necessary. I pretended not to notice. "Shall we?"
We rode in silence for the first mile, a few guards lingering a few yards away. Being Queen now came with my own personal security. It was great. The forest swallowed us, muffling the sounds of the palace until there was nothing but birdsong and hoofbeats and the whisper of wind through leaves. It was peaceful. It was also, I suspected, very deliberate.
"You're quiet," I observed. "I expected more charm."
"I'm saving it. The forest deserves silence, don't you think?"
"I think silence makes me suspicious."
"Everything makes you suspicious."
"Everything in this court is suspicious. Yourself included."
Sebastian laughed. "Fair enough. What would you like to know?"
"Why are you really here, Lord Valois? And don't tell me it's about loans and trade agreements. You're the heir presumptive to the human throne. You don't travel to foreign courts to negotiate interest rates."
"Maybe I'm just curious."
"About what?"
"About you."
I pulled my mare to a stop. "Me."
He stopped beside me, his hazel eyes warm and unreadable. "The Princess of Hel. The shadow bride. The woman who was promised to a king and ignored for eighteen years." He tilted his head. "The stories about you are fascinating. Some say you can command the darkness. Some say you can speak to the dead. Some say you once killed a man with nothing but a look."
"That last one is exaggerated. I used a dagger."
He laughed. "See? Fascinating."
"You're avoiding the question."
"I'm not avoiding it. I'm circling it." He urged his horse forward, and I followed. "My uncle is dying, Queen Nyx. Not quickly, he could linger for years, but the physicians say his heart is failing. My cousin Philippe is a good man, a kind man, but his lungs are weak and his body is weaker. He will not survive the throne. And I..." He paused. "I am not ready to be king."
"That's not something most people admit."
"I'm not most people."
We rode deeper into the forest. The path narrowed, forcing our horses closer together.
"I came to Aurelia because my uncle asked me to," Sebastian continued. "The loans. The debts. The border disputes. They're all real problems, and someone needed to address them. But I also came because I wanted to see the golden court for myself. I wanted to understand the kingdom that has been bleeding my people dry for generations." He glanced at me. "And I wanted to meet you."
"Me."
"The Princess of Hel, marrying into the Aurelian Court? It's a political earthquake. I have never met a royal from Hel. Everyone wants to know what you'll do. Whether you'll stabilize the kingdom or tear it apart." He smiled. "I'm personally hoping for the latter. It would make things much more interesting."
"You're very honest for a spy."
"I'm not a spy."
"You're something."
"Aren't we all?"
We reached a small clearing. A stream ran through it, crystal-clear water tumbling over smooth stones. Sunlight filtered through the trees, catching the water and scattering it into diamonds.
Sebastian dismounted. Offered me his hand.
I took it.
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