Chapter 78 Rumors spreading

Chapter 78 Rumors spreading
"The thought crossed my mind. But the seal was authentic. And Elowyn is the only person in this palace who hates both me and Freya enough to try something like this."

"Hates Freya? Why would she hate Freya?"

"Because Freya is no longer useful to her. Because Freya came to me and confessed that Elowyn coached her through the pregnancy announcement. Because Freya knows too much about Elowyn's schemes, and Elowyn wants her silenced."

Cardan stared at me. "Freya came to you?"

"Yesterday. She extended an olive branch. She said Elowyn made her do the announcement at the dinner."

"And you believed her?"

"I believed that she was afraid. And I believed that the pears were meant to kill her and her child." I met his eyes. "Elowyn is not the woman you think she is, Cardan. She's not your protector. She's not your ally. She's a viper who has been poisoning this court for years."

He was silent. His jaw was tight, that muscle beneath his eye twitching.

"I know she's scheming," he said finally. "I know she's ambitious. But poison? Murder? That's not Elowyn. She's cruel, but she's not..."

"Not what? Not capable of killing an innocent woman and an unborn child?" I sat up to face him. "She tried to frame me for extinguishing the sacred flame. She tried to destroy our marriage. She brought Freya back specifically to hurt me. What makes you think she wouldn't go further?"

"Because she's my sister." His voice cracked. "Because I grew up with her. Because I know her. Freya would never hurt a fae child, or a pregnant woman no less. She adores children."

"Do you really? Or do you know the version of her she wanted you to see?"

The words hung in the air like a blade.

Cardan looked at me, at my eyes, my face, the truth I was offering him. And I saw the war happening inside him. The brother who wanted to believe in his sister. The king who needed to see the truth.

"I'll assign additional guards to Lady Freya," he said quietly. "And I'll have the basket examined by the royal physicians. If the poison is as you described, I'll investigate further."

"And Elowyn?"

"I'll talk to her myself." He reached for my hand. "But Nyx, if the evidence is inconclusive, if we can't prove she was involved..."

"Then she'll get away with it. Again."

"I know." He pressed my hand to his lips. "I know. And I'm sorry."

I didn't know if he was apologizing to me or to himself.

—————- 

The next morning, I received word from Sera.

The royal physicians had examined the pears. They had confirmed the poison. But the servant who had delivered the basket had vanished. The seal was found to be a fake seal to mimic mine. And the greenhouses had no record of any sun-kissed pears being harvested in the past week.

The evidence was gone.

Elowyn had covered her tracks perfectly. 

I stood at my window, staring out at the golden city, and wondered how many more times she would slip through my fingers before the viper finally struck true.

\-----------------------

The news of the poisoned pears leaked within three days.

I had known it would. Secrets in the Aurelian Court were like water in a cracked vessel, they always found a way out. But I had not expected the story to twist so quickly, so viciously.

"The court is saying you sent the pears yourself," Sera reported, her face tight with anger. "They're saying you wanted to kill Lady Freya's child."

"That's absurd. If I wanted to kill the child, I wouldn't use poisoned fruit. I'd use something far more effective." 

"This court doesn't care about logic. They care about drama. And this is the most dramatic story they've had in months."

I stood at the window of my chambers, staring out at the golden city below. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and somewhere out there, a thousand courtiers were whispering my name like a curse.

"Elowyn must be behind this," I said. "She's spreading the rumors herself."

"Almost certainly. But we can't prove it. The evidence from the pear basket is gone. The servant has vanished. And the court is eager to believe the worst of you." Sera paused. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

"Don't be sorry. Just keep watching. Keep listening. Elowyn will make a mistake eventually. She always does."

But I wasn't as confident as I sounded.

\-——————-

The days that followed were a study in isolation.

I had long grown accustomed to the court's hostility, the cold shoulders, the whispered insults, the way courtiers fell silent when I entered a room. But this was much different. This was a deliberate, coordinated campaign to ostracized me. Ladies I had never spoken to suddenly had opinions about my character. Lords who had barely acknowledged my existence now flocked to the palace to discuss my "dangerous influence" over the King in hushed tones.

Even the servants seemed different. They avoided my eyes. My handmaidens did what they could to shield me from the worst of it, but they couldn't be everywhere at once.

"It's like the early days again," I told Liriel, as she helped me dress for yet another dinner I didn't want to attend. "The whispers, the isolation, the cruelty they showed me. The feeling that everyone is waiting for me to fail. This court is so fickle." 

"But it's not the early days," she replied firmly. "You're not alone anymore. You have allies and you have friends now. And you have the King."

"The King can't fight every battle for me."

"He shouldn't have to. But he will. That's what husbands do."

I almost smiled. "When did you become such an optimist?"

"When I watched you survive everything this court has thrown at you and come out stronger." She adjusted the collar of my gown. "You're the Queen of Aurelia, your Majesty. Not just in title, but in truth. And queens don't hide from gossip. They rise above it."

"Very inspiring. Did you practice that speech in the mirror?"

"Three times this morning."

I laughed despite myself. It felt good to laugh, even if only for a moment.

\-—————————-

Cardan called the court to order on the fourth day after the rumors began.

The throne room was packed. Courtiers lined the walls in their finest silks and jewels, their faces carefully neutral. The High Lords had assembled at the base of the dais, Castellan, Ambrose, the others. Elowyn was there too, standing near the front with her ladies, her expression a mask of wounded innocence.

Lady Freya was absent, confined to her chambers on the physicians' orders. The real story was that she was resting. The rumor, the one whispered in corridors and behind fans, was that she was too afraid to show her face.

I stood beside Cardan's throne, my head high, my shadows carefully contained. I had chosen my gown with deliberation: deep violet silk, the color of the Morrigan bloodline, embroidered with silver thread that caught the light like captured starlight. I was not hiding or going to cower from their vicious gazes. 

Cardan rose from his throne. The room fell silent.

"I have heard the rumors spreading through this court," he said, his voice cold and commanding. "I have heard the whispers about the Queen Consort. The accusations and the lies."

The courtiers shifted uncomfortably.

"Let me be absolutely clear." He stepped forward, his silver eyes blazing. "The Queen is innocent. The attempt on Lady Freya's life was made by someone else, someone who sought to frame the Queen for their crime by forging her royal household seal. I have ordered a full investigation, and I will not rest until the truth is known."

"And if this truth implicates the Queen?" a voice called from the crowd.