“The first time I came here, Matthew escorted me,” Liv murmured. She was nestled up against Keri, the two of them having shifted to share her bench during the course of the ride. “Julianne and Henry had just told me that they wanted to adopt me, and then they dressed me up in the fanciest dress I’d ever worn and sent me to a tea party to spy for them. That was the first time I met Triss, Sidonie, and Milisant.”
Though the sun had set, the gardens surrounding the royal palace had been strung with lanterns, hanging from the branches of the trees like scattered stars. Royal guards and footmen waited at the foot of the stairs which led up into the red-brick palace, where each carriage in the line rolled to a halt in order to disgorge its passengers.
“I imagine the princess wasn’t very pleased to see you that day,” Keri said.
Liv laughed. “No. That was when she trapped me in a duel. She was a horrible, nasty bitch, even then. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me what she turned into when she finished growing up.”
“And the duel on the beach was the first time I saw you in person. I was furious, you know – and so was Sakari,” Keri explained. “They hadn’t told us you were half-Elden. It was just presented as: ‘come watch our ever-so-talented princess put this kitchen girl in her place.’ And then we saw you, but they wouldn’t let us put a stop to it. When you introduced yourself with your Elden name – did you know I threatened Benedict?”
“No.” She turned and pulled back just enough to be able to see Keri’s face. “What, during the duel?”
Keri nodded. “I started to say that if you died, I would kill him myself, but Sakari stepped in and tried to smooth things over.”
Liv couldn’t help but smile. She felt a warm, pleasant tingle through her chest and into her belly, and she could very easily picture a slightly-younger Keri grabbing Benedict by the doublet. “I would have liked to see that,” she admitted. “That was the day I met you. I remember you saying that I’d done my family proud, and no one had ever said that before.”
“I promised myself then that I would protect you,” he said.
It was all Liv could do not to kiss him again in that moment, but their carriage had rolled forward to the front of the line, and it was time to disembark. “Then protect me tonight,” she said, instead. “This place is going to be full of enemies.”
Keri laughed, and pulled himself to his feet. Placing his hand on the carriage door, he said, “I’ll follow your lead here. At the Hall of Ancestors, you needed me. Tonight, it's the other way around. But as much as I can, I will be your shield.”
He swung the door open and stepped out, then turned around and offered Liv a hand. She accepted, gathered her skirts, and climbed out onto the cobblestones. Then, she shifted her hand to take his arm, and turned to wait for Miina and Blaise. Ghveris loomed above them, his bulk comforting, his helm high enough to easily see over the tops of the carriages. Kaija and eight of her guards swung down from their saddles: the final two who had accompanied them would watch the carriages, to prevent any sort of sabotage.
The two couples climbed the wide stone steps together, in a line four wide, with Ghveris and Kaija coming behind, followed by Liv’s personal guards in their blue and white jack-of-plate, their polearms in hand. She recognized one of them is Lina, and smiled at the realization that Kaija had made certain there was a guard with a tether at the house, and with them.
The two royal guards at the top of the stairs crossed their pikes. “Apologies,” one of the men said. “Your soldiers must remain outside. Only guests will be permitted entrance.”
Liv could have crushed both of them to the ground with the merest hint of her Authority. She could have frozen them into blocks of ice, or dissolved them into dusty skeletons with the word of time, or messily disposed of them in any of half a dozen other spells. But the evening was not about magical power – not yet, at least. No, this was about political power. And Julianne had taught her how to wield that weapon.
“I see. I suppose you should tell the council of regents we won’t be able to attend this evening, then,” Liv said, reaching over with her other hand to pat Keri’s arm. “Ambassador, do you think you can arrange for us to visit the theater tonight, instead? I know it’s short notice, but certainly something can be arranged.”
“I can’t imagine they’d be foolish enough to turn a queen away,” Blaise responded, his eyes twinkling with delight. “They’ll make room for us, no doubt. Let’s call the carriages back.”
“Wait!” The royal guard who had spoken called, actually taking a step down toward them. “Your Majesty. My sincere apologies, but we never allow armed soldiers who are not members of the Royal Guard into the palace. But you may be assured of your safety in our hands.”
Liv met his eyes and allowed the silence to drag on for a moment. At no signal from her, Kaija, Lina and the other guards stepped forward, even going so far as to climb the grassy slopes to either side of the steps, where they faced off with the royal guards. She hadn’t planned it, but Liv decided to use the gesture to her advantage.
“You know that each and every one of my guards fought with me in Varuna?” Liv said, holding the royal guard’s gaze with her own. “They fought their way up Nightfall Peak and into the rift where the Lady of Blood waited. They faced wyrms, Antrians, blood-letters, and every sort of nasty trick one of the old gods threw at us. Some of these men and women took weeks to recover from their wounds. I’m curious – what was your name?” she asked.
After a slight hesitation, the guard responded, “Sir Gerard of Brackpool, your majesty.”
“Sir Gerard, when was the last time your royal guards fought a wyrm?” Liv asked.
The knight shifted his weight. “I do not believe any of my men have ever faced such a foe,” he admitted.
There was a murmur of conversation behind Liv, and she realized that more guests must have been climbing out of their carriages this entire time. They had an audience. “Antrians, then, like my friend Ghveris?” she asked.
“Your majesty, I do not see what –”
“It’s simple, Sir Gerard,” Liv said. “These men and women beside me? I would trust every one of them with my life, without the slightest hesitation. Where I go, they go. You have two, and only two, choices. You may refuse them entry. If you do, I will leave and enjoy a very pleasant evening in the city before we pack our things and depart Freeport tomorrow morning. I suppose you will have to explain to the council of regents why they won’t be able to speak to me, but that’s really your problem, not mine.”
Liv shrugged. “Or you can step aside.”
She could see the moment the man broke. He looked away from her, and his eyes scanned over the nobles gathering behind them, and the long line of carriages snaking down the cobblestone drive toward the streets of Freeport.
“As a courtesy to Her Majesty, the Queen of Whitehill,” Sir Gerard announced, raising his voice, “her royal guards will be permitted to enter the palace. This is a privilege afforded to a visiting monarch alone. No other exceptions will be made.”
Liv smiled as sweetly as she could manage – after all, there was no need to figuratively rub salt in the man’s wounded pride. “Thank you, Sir Gerard of Brackpool. I hope that the remainder of your evening is pleasant and without complication.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Surrounded by her people, she marched up the steps and into the palace.
?
After that, they were not made to wait in line. The barons and their wives, their sons and their daughters, moved to the side and made a path through the foyer and to the same immense ballroom where Liv had once danced with Cade, so many years before. She could so clearly recall the feeling when they’d been announced: the sensation of the crowd turning to look at them, that moment of attention which had made her want to hide – and then, just as quickly, the dismissal, as hundreds of barons who could not have cared less about her turned back to their far more important conversations.
This time, it was Blaise Crosbie who handed a card to the footman. Liv couldn’t be certain whether it was the same man – she’d been too wrapped up in her own anxiety to recall his face. But she supposed that whoever was chosen for this duty would need to have a fair voice, and she wasn’t disappointed.
“Her Majesty, Livara t?r Valtteri of House Syv?, Queen of Whitehill and the Eld of the North, accompanied by Lord Inkeris ka Ilmari, of the Unconquered House of B?lris! Ambassador Blaise Crosbie, accompanied by Lady Miina t?r Eilis, of House D?ivi!”
The announcement rang out through the ballroom, and conversation stilled. So far as Liv could see, every knot of conversation paused, every face turned toward them. They walked in, beneath the light of the five enormous chandeliers which hung from the ceiling, and the crowd parted to make way.
Liv wasn’t quite certain where she was going – in another moment, she would have perhaps made for the tables off to one side, and claimed one for their group – but she needn’t have worried, for the council of regents strode out from the crowd to meet them in the center of the room.
Caspian Loredan took center place, with Duke Richard on one side of him, and Duke Thomas Falkenrath on the other. Liv saw that, while he wore the other stormwand on his hip, he also used the same staff he’d had at Coral Bay, which he leaned his weight on.
“Your majesty,” her old teacher greeted her, with a very precisely calculated bow. “It is our very great pleasure to welcome you back to Freeport after so long away. Thank you for accepting our invitation. It is my hope that, over the next few days, our discussions with the great council will prove fruitful for both kingdoms, and indeed for all the peoples of Isvara.”
That was a hand off if ever Liv had heard one, and it had not escaped her how the old man’s voice was raised to reach every corner of the room clearly. “Archmagus Loredan,” she began, allowing herself to smile. “My teacher. I have missed you, and our time at Coral Bay. I hope that the students there are well?”
He inclined his head. “The past year has been trying, but the school still stands, and our task remains what it ever was: to train the next generation of mages. I observe that you yet wear your guildring.”
“Of course.” Liv allowed her voice to ring just a little louder. “In fact, one of my personal reasons for coming is to request that you test me, as you are currently the only living Archmage.”
“An archmage test?” Thomas Falkenrath blurted out.
“Yes, but that is a personal matter, and not for this evening,” Liv said. If there had been any whispers or murmurings in the crowd, those had all gone away, leaving only silence. “I thank the entire council of regents for your kind invitation to Freeport, and your generous hospitality. Duke Thomas, I am pleased to see a man with your honor and strength of character taking responsibility for the kingdom. It was you, after all, who negotiated an end to the war.”
Falkenrath inclined his head. “I trust you recall Duke Richard, as well.”
“I do.” Liv turned her smile on the man who’d once thought himself skilled enough to kill her. “You look far healthier than when last I saw you, your grace. What a relief.” Richard paled, but she continued. “You may recall Lord Inkeris from the battle – he was the one who took the dowager queen’s head.”
A goblet rang out against the floor, and Liv caught a glimpse of a woman whose face had suddenly gone deathly pale. She was wearing the colors of House Sherard, and Liv thought that her nose bore a clear resemblance to that of Merrek, the boy who’d once broken her arm.
“Ambassador Blaise Crosbie you all know, of course,” Liv continued. “But let me also introduce my cousin Miina, my –” she forced the words out of her mouth, knowing that she was admitting defeat “--lady in waiting.”
“I believe that I met your aunt, many years ago in Al’Fenthia, Lady Miina,” Caspian said, inclining his head. “You are all quite welcome here this evening. Come – shall we find something to wet our throats?”
Liv allowed the archmage to lead them over to one of the side rooms. When last she’d been here, Benedict had used these chambers to hold court and conduct his political machinations; in fact, he’d threatened her. Now, it seemed, they were important enough to claim one entirely for their own use.
The noise of the crowd came back, even louder than before they’d made their entrance, the moment Liv and her party left the central ballroom. At a few hand motions from Kaija, Liv’s guards scattered, four taking up residence in the corners of the sitting room, while two bracketed the door, along with a pair of royal guards. Ghveris and Kaija, for their part, arranged themselves behind the chair that Keri offered to Liv.
Duke Thomas lifted a carafe of wine and began to pour goblets, but when he offered one to Liv, Keri took it instead. If she’d been further away, Liv might not have been able to hear him mutter an incantation under his breath, but the flicker of blue light at his eyes was impossible to miss. He swirled the wine around the goblet for a moment, then took a deep breath in through his nose. Finally, he passed the goblet to her, and Liv took a sip.
“Bheuv?” Caspian asked.
Keri nodded, accepting a goblet for himself. “I have Beatrice to thank for that – her and Pandit Sharma. They use the word very differently in Lendh ka Dakruim.”
Within a few moments, Falkenrath had handed out seven goblets of wine. Rather than sit down, he raised his. “May this visit heal wounds that should never have been opened,” he said. Goblets clinked together, and everyone but the guards took a sip.
“I presume you’ve planned how this will all play out with the great council,” Liv said, once she’d set her goblet back down on the table.
“The council shouldn’t be a problem,” Richard of Carinthia said. “If we’d waited too much longer, it might be – but no one wants to look like they’re still clinging to Benedict’s mistakes. Between Thomas and I, we have over two dozen barons sworn to us alone.”
That was a relief: Liv had no desire to spend another few days corralling votes, as she’d done before the council at the Hall of Ancestors. She had enough debts to repay from that to already keep her occupied for years. “You don’t anticipate any problems?” she asked.
“With the council? No,” Caspian said, and Liv thought it was an oddly specific way of answering. “The show you put on in there will stir things up, but I doubt it will change anything. I’d resist throwing any more rocks into the pond until after we’ve ratified the peace terms, however.” The old man tapped his fingers against the table. “Just how much of that was for the crowd, anyway? You were a journeyman when you left Coral Bay.”
“Not a bit,” Liv said. “I have an archmage spell that I am prepared to demonstrate whenever you like – provided you can arrange a location.”
Her old teacher hesitated. “It might be better to show me in private, first,” he said, after a moment. “And then there is the matter of your Authority. I know that when you left, you were only just developing it – but I also know that you beat Genevieve.”
“No, public will be far better,” Liv said. “I want everyone to see. It will make things very clear to any of Benedict’s supporters who might think they can push for revenge in a year or two.”
“Facing the authority of three masters is quite different from a single person,” Caspian pointed out.
Miina laughed out loud, and everyone turned to look at Liv’s cousin. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you haven’t seen her in a year, but I don’t think you have any idea how ridiculous you sound. My cousin faced down a goddess and forced her to flee, and you think she won’t pass your little tests? Line up as many mages as you want, but let me place a few bets first, so that I can win a pile of gold.”
Caspian pursed his lips. “I will arrange for a testing location,” he agreed. “Does this mean that you are prepared to discuss re-unifying the Mages Guild? I was given to understand that Ambassador Ridley had found some… resistance to that idea.”
“That is putting it mildly,” Keri remarked. “I was in the room. I believe Lia Every told her that she was insane. That they’d licked Genevieve’s boots, and were –” he coughed. “Dockside whores.”
“But you disagree?” the archmage said, turning to Liv.
“No,” Liv said. “No, I don’t. The guild rolled over to Genevieve Arundell for the promise of a word of power. You may not want to hear this, archmagus, but when the time came for the guild to prove itself – it failed. You failed. You all should have been right there with me in Varuna. We needed you, and you weren’t there.”
here. I am more available there than I am here.
Dramatis Personae
Livara T?r Valtteri Kaen Syv? - Guildmage, former scullery maid at Castle Whitehill, the bastard daughter of Maggie Brodbeck and Valtteri Ka Auris. Mountain Queen, and Lady of Winter. Putting on a show. [35 Rings of Mana, not counting mana stored in items.]
Blaise Crosbie - Ambassador to Lucania, sons of Baron Arnold, brother of Beatrice (among others). Enjoyed backing that play. [12 Rings of Mana]
Caspian Loredan, Archmagus - Head of the College of V?dic Grammar, serving on the Council of Regents for Lucania. Eating a bit of crow. [26 Rings of Mana]
Inkeris "Keri" ka Ilmari k?n B?lris - A young warrior of the Unconquered House of B?lris, father to Rei. 100% felt something when he watched Liv beat Millie. [20 Rings of Mana.]
Gerard of Brackpool, Sir - Royal Guard. Pwn3d.
Miina t?r Eilis, of House D?ivi - Daughter of Eilis, niece of Eila, cousin of Liv, Lady in Waiting. Hype woman. Going to be searching for a good bookie. [21 Rings of Mana]
Richard, Duke of Carinthia - A distant descendent of the royal family. "I am the senate!" [14 Rings of Mana]
Thomas Falkenrath, Duke of Courland - Council of Regents. Did not expect this archmage thing. [17 Rings of Mana]
