The Queen's Assassin Page 29

  Instead Lady Lilianna elopes with Prince Esban. Soon they are crowned King and Queen of Renovia.

  However, the queen has a secret. Her birth name is Lilianna Dellafiore, and she is a direct descendant of the mage Omin and Queen Alphonia, a bloodline hidden from the Tyrant King for centuries upon centuries.

  Lilianna tells Esban the truth of her lineage the night he proposes. The past has no bearing on the present, he tells her. And in any case he intends to keep her birthright a secret, to keep her safe.

  Only Deia Herself knows whether Lilianna was as taken with Esban as he with her. Chroniclers of Later Times will doubtless debate this point—did the sole Dellafiore survivor truly love the dashing young prince, or was the match orchestrated by the Guild to restore the bloodline to its rightful place on the throne of Renovia?

  But secrets don’t remain secrets for long, and the Aphrasians, suspicious of Lilianna from the very start, soon discover exactly who, and what, she is. A Dellafiore back on the Renovian throne is the utmost threat to their very existence.

  When Esban announces the impending arrival of their first child, the Aphrasian monks take it upon themselves to eliminate the usurper and her progeny. An assassination on the queen is attempted, but fails, and the perpetrator is caught by the queen’s personal bodyguard, a Guild assassin named Cordyn Holt.

  The guilty man is revealed to be an Aphrasian. In response, a furious King Esban orders the scrolls returned to the royal family. The Aphrasians resist, for none relinquish power without strife. They commit high treason, taking up arms against their king. All pretense of being his loyal servants is gone; they have long grown accustomed to power in their own right.

  And so the king decides to bring his army to Baer Abbey, to finish the Aphrasian order once and for all. The king’s army emerges victorious, if weakened. King Esban is killed, leaving his widow and newborn baby.

  With her father’s death, Princess Lilac becomes Queen of Renovia.

  The Deian Scrolls are never found.

  But a Dellafiore once again sits on the Renovian throne.

  — III —

  ASSASSIN & QUEEN

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  Shadow

  THE ENGAGEMENT RECEPTION, HELD IN the grand marble ballroom, is everything a bride could possibly dream of: hundreds of friends and well-wishers, inside a gorgeous castle decorated with the fullest, most vivid blooms to be found for miles around, excellent food prepared by royal chefs, free-flowing champagne, a beautiful dress. And the future groom? A powerful young king.

  But the bride is me, and I am miserable.

  And I can hear people whispering, buzzing about the coming wedding. I could try to ignore it, but I’m also trying to listen for word of Caledon’s whereabouts, so I have to endure the chatter.

  So far he’s nowhere to be found. I need to speak with him, desperately. I need to explain, but he vanished after the engagement was announced. I couldn’t even look at him while it was happening, but it was the only way to save us. To save both of us. My mother made that clear.

  His pardon was my one condition for going through with the marriage to Hansen.

  The queen—my mother—floats toward me.

  My mother is the Queen of Renovia. I have known this for my entire life. And I have been in denial about this truth my entire life. For my own safety, I do not speak of it, let alone think of it. When I was little, my aunts cast a spell to keep me from the truth. When I was older, I learned to guard my words on my own. In my mind, my mother is merely a high-ranking member of the Guild who serves at the palace.

  Royal bodyguards follow me everywhere I go. They have always followed me, but I learned to shake them early in my childhood.

  I liked to pretend I was merely a maiden of Nir, a farm girl from the Honey Glade. But I have always known who I am. The day I was running in the forest, I was running away from the truth, because I had told my aunts and my mother I wanted to join the Guild and they forbade it. My place was as a princess, not a spy, they argued. I had a royal duty to fulfill.

  I am Princess Lilac, hidden away to ensure my safety, given to the greatest assassins of the Guild, Moriah Devan and her wife, Mesha Abad. When my mother summoned me to the palace, when the trunks arrived, the jewels given to me were the crown jewels.

  I didn’t want to be the princess, so I disobeyed the queen and ran away to become Cal’s apprentice. I wanted to show them I could be as dangerous and deadly as they were. I wanted to show them I had the strength. Instead I put myself and my country in danger. If Cal hadn’t been so quick with a blade, if the duke had had enough time, he would have been able to kill me and his duchess would have taken my form. Duchess Girt wasn’t as dumb as she looked; she was actually a witch.

  The Aphrasians would have taken the crown once more.

  But they didn’t, because Cal is good at his job.

  Now the queen is right in front of me, her eyes hooded as they have always been. I cannot read her thoughts or emotions. I have never truly known my mother.

  When she called me to the ambassador’s house, it was to tell me I was betrothed to King Hansen. I refused to comply and fought with her and my aunts that night. There had to be some other way to bring peace to the land. They allowed me to return to Girt only because there was no safer place in the country than at the side of the Queen’s Assassin. They knew that Cal would keep me safe. They were right.

  I told them that night that I would never marry King Hansen. Yet here we are. Funny how things work out like that.

  “Selling me to Montrice was part of the plan all along, wasn’t it?” I ask my mother.

  Her back stiffens. “What a foolish thing to say,” she tells me. But it is not an answer.

  When the ambassador found out that Cal and I were to be executed for the duke’s murder, the queen was already in Mont.

  She was too late to stop the trial, but she was able to negotiate our release and force the king to accept me as a bride in return for not sparking a war between our kingdoms. She threatened to tell the neighboring kingdoms of Montrice’s betrayal, how they had harbored Aphrasian rebels in order to frame Cal and me for the duke’s murder. By funding the Aphrasian resistance in Renovia, Montrice had broken the treaty between the former nations of Avantine. Renovia could make an alliance with Argonia and Stavin instead, but the queen preferred Montrice and its highly defensible fortresses. Besides, it appeared Montrice and Renovia were owed an engagement.

  The king accepted her offer. It helped that he already found me beguiling, he told my mother.

  Viscountess Karine walks over to me and curtsies. “My greatest wishes on your auspicious engagement, Your Highness,” she says, beaming.

  “Thank you,” I say, and nothing more. I don’t want to encourage conversation. Lucky for me, she curtsies again and departs. There are some benefits to royalty, I discover. People don’t impose themselves on you as much. They keep their distance.

  When I turn back to the queen, she motions to me. “Come here, child.”

  “You’re hardly my mother,” I say, feeling bolder by the second. “You shipped me off to be raised by the Guild, and only appeared when you felt like it.”

  “You have no idea what you speak of,” she says. She looks stricken. But it was her decision to send me away, to ensure that we were estranged.

  “If I hadn’t asked for his pardon, you would have left Cal in that prison cell! He uncovered the conspiracy and found the enemy’s true face! You had no qualms about leaving him to rot, when he was only following your orders! That was cruel, Mother.”

  She opens her mouth, but she’s interrupted by a tinkling sound from across the room, then more noises joining in. People are tapping their crystal goblets with their rings, spoons, anything they have at hand.

  The king stands at the front of the room. He puts his hands up to quiet everyone first, then looks at Queen Lili
anna and me, holds his hands out toward us, and says, “My future queen!”

  He’s inviting me to sit at the front of the room alongside him, a visual display of our combined power. The people want to see us together. Want to believe in a love match, the symbol of a new peaceful future for our two kingdoms. That’s fine. I’d rather sit there with a fake smile plastered on my face than continue to talk to my mother.

  I do my best impersonation of an elegant stroll to assume my place next to my fiancé. Once I’m there, footmen begin their service.

  Queen Lilianna takes her leave, nodding to Hansen and me. The rest of the party returns to their gossip and wine and food, and my betrothed returns to ignoring me, leaning his body as far from mine as possible to speak to the beautiful courtier next to him. The one who looked at me with so much disdain when he handed me some wildflowers not too long ago.

  I am alone in a foreign court, and the whereabouts of my only friend are a mystery to me.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Caledon

  CAL MUST SPEAK TO SHADOW but he can’t bear to attend the engagement party. He slips away in the wave of people migrating from the great hall to the grand ballroom and retires to his room in the tower instead, where he lies on his bed and listens to the hum of revelers below, their flits of laughter drifting up to him from outside on the balconies.

  He doesn’t want to see Shadow—Princess Lilac—no, Queen Lilac—with King Hansen, and he’s already had so many shocks that morning, he doesn’t think he can handle any more. None of it seems real. He’s gone from certain death by hanging to uncertain death by battle to . . . well, practically wishing the first had come true so that he won’t have to witness Shadow’s union to another.

  He’s alive and may return to his home in Renovia, but he must return without the only thing he cares about. He must leave Shadow behind.

  The vizier told Cal that King Hansen would want to winter here in Montrice and set out to Renovia in spring, to summer there. The king has never even been to Renovia. Now, along with Shadow, he will rule it. He will be Cal’s sovereign.

  The duke’s body has been spirited away to the catacombs, and there is no sign of Jander. If Cal is to burn the body, he must do it soon, but how?

  There is a knock on the door.

  The door opens. Queen Lilianna walks inside. Cal leaps off the bed and bows quickly. “Your Majesty.”

  She nods in greeting. “Caledon Holt, you uncovered—and eliminated—the Aphrasian spy, and more important, you brought my daughter to Montrice safely. Without you, this alliance would never have been possible. Our two kingdoms no longer need live under constant threat of warfare and strife.”

  Cal bows reluctantly. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

  “Caledon Holt, the greatest assassin of our time, it is I who must thank you for your service. There has been a plot against my daughter’s life since before she was born. My spies told me they would strike before her eighteenth birthday, so I called her to the palace for her safety. But I knew she would never come to court willingly, and that she would seek you out in Deersia. She has idolized you since she was a child.”

  Cal is startled. Unbeknownst to Shadow, her lies were made of truth. “After all, there is no place safer for the princess than with the Queen’s Assassin.”

  He bows, even as he has chills all over his body.

  But the queen is not finished. “Love is useful, is it not?” she asks.

  “Pardon?”

  “She refused to marry King Hansen, even when I told her it was her duty to the kingdom. But you made the choice for her when she learned the only way to save you was to marry him. We were able to broker peace without war or bloodshed. All it took was a spark between two young people, and the kingdom is saved. She could not bear to see you die in prison. Her love for you is the kingdom’s gain.”

  Cal’s mind is reeling.

  Shadow is marrying Hansen to save his life.

  Her love for him has saved him and the kingdom, but doomed herself.

  They have been betrayed. They are pawns in the queen’s game, caught in a trap they willingly walked into, both of them. Their heroics and bravery only led them to a gilded cage.

  Yet Renovia has no need of heroes; Renovia needs peace, and his sworn duty and loyalty lie in what is best for the kingdom. He is the Queen’s Assassin and he will do his job best by murdering what is in his heart.

  “Your Majesty, the duke—the Aphrasian—or whoever he is—he is more than a shapeshifter. His body must be burned with the fire of Deia,” he tells her. “There is little time to waste.”

  She shakes her head. “It would be wrong to draw so much attention to yourself or to alarm our Montrician hosts. Regardless of his treachery, the duke lies in state in his chapel and to take the body now would be unseemly. See that it is done on the morrow.”

  “As you wish, my queen.”

  “When you have fulfilled your duty and returned the scrolls, I have set aside some land for you near Serrone. A barony would suit, don’t you agree?” the queen asks.

  He bows his head. “You are too kind, Your Majesty.”

  “A word to the wise. Forget my daughter. Let her find some happiness in this marriage, which will be impossible if you remain in her thoughts. When you reclaim the scrolls, you will be titled and landed and can live the rest of your life in our peaceful countryside.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” says Cal.

  Fireworks burst into the sky over the castle. They both look out the window to see them light up against the black night, green and purple of course, intended to represent the joy of the union, but instead it mirrors the breaking heart inside his chest.

  “Time for me to return to the festivities,” Queen Lilianna says. He nods and bows, looking down at the floor, glad that he will soon be alone with his sorrow again.

  As she reaches the doorway, she turns and lifts her chin into the air. “Shadow is a princess. Even if she was not betrothed to Hansen, she could never marry you. It was never meant to be, my son.” The queen’s eyes soften. “Perhaps you will meet another maiden, marry, and have children of your own. You are the son of my husband’s greatest and most loyal friend, and I wish you nothing but happiness and contentment.”

  “My deepest gratitude, Your Majesty.” He bows again.

  She nods curtly. “Good.” With that, Queen Lilianna floats out of the room, the folds of her gown billowing around her.

  The door clicks behind her. Outside, an enormous purple heart erupts in the night sky, followed by a green arrow that shoots up and pierces it right before it falls apart and turns to ash on the ground.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Shadow

  “CAL.” I SHAKE HIS SHOULDER gently. “Wake up. It’s me. It’s Shadow.”

  I crouch at the side of the bed and nudge him again, but Cal’s sound asleep, his mouth hanging open, brown hair tousled every which way. He looks adorable. I almost don’t want to disturb him—I wish I could just climb into bed with him and go to sleep. Like we did at the inn, which now feels like a lifetime ago. Knowing what I know now, I’d do so many things differently. We had so little time together. Tomorrow I will be wed to Hansen. This is our last chance.

  “Cal, it’s me,” I whisper once more. I am terrified of being found in his room, and yet I cannot leave. I must tell him everything. I must explain.

  This time his eyes fly open, and when he sits up there is a dagger at my neck.

  I jerk away to avoid accidentally getting hurt. Once he’s awake, he’s immediately the Queen’s Assassin.

  “Shadow?” he says as his vision adjusts. “Is that you, or am I dreaming?” He’s still holding the dagger.

  “It’s me. Really me.” I lean back and pull my cream robe tighter, embarrassed; coming here seemed like a better idea before Cal actually woke up. What if he doesn’t want to listen? What if he no longe
r cares for me, if he ever did?

  “Shadow,” he murmurs, not quite awake, and as if he can’t quite believe I’m here.

  “Yes. Can you put your blade away? I’m sorry I woke you.” I’m sorry for so much more than that.

  He sits up, completely clear-eyed now, and sheathes his weapon. “Don’t be. I’m glad you’re here.” He almost reaches his hand out to me, as if he wants me to grasp it, but he hesitates.

  That makes me feel better. But I wish he had taken my hand. “I had to sneak away. This was the only time I could see you before—”

  “Yes,” he says, cutting me off. It’s almost as if he can’t bear to hear the words.

  There’s an awkward silence between us for a few seconds. Then we both begin to speak at the same time:

  “Let me explain . . .”

  “Why did you lie to me?”

  His question stops me short. My initial instinct is to deny that I did, but I’m through with all that. There can be no more concealed between us. “I thought if you knew who I really was, you would keep your distance,” I confess. “And you certainly wouldn’t bring me to Montrice with you.”

  “It was all a story, then, wanting to join the Guild, wanting to be my apprentice?”

  “Just because it’s a story doesn’t mean it’s not true,” I say.

  “Do I even know anything real about you?”

  That hurt. Although he did not know my true identity, he knew my soul. But I understand his pain, for it is mine as well. “To be honest, I feel like I don’t quite know myself.”

  “You are Princess Lilac,” he says. “Were you there? That day in court? When the queen gave me my orders?”

  I nod. “Yes, it was me. I ran to the palace to tell the queen that you’d saved me from the grand prince, so you would not be punished for killing him.”