Shalador's Lady

the spade out of the soil. Except it was no longer a spade. It was a pitchfork, and Gray held it more like a weapon than a tool.
    For a moment, Theran just stared. It took a lot of skill in using Craft to vanish one object and call in another so smoothly a person couldn’t see the transition. Where had Gray learned to do that?
    Then he remembered that something had sparked his cousin’s temper and looked behind him.
    Kermilla pranced over the lawn toward them, her expression one of sharp delight. That expression usually meant she was going to delight in using the sharp side of her tongue.
    “It’s Gray, isn’t it?” Kermilla said. “The gardener? Have you finally remembered your duties and come back to be useful?”
    What Theran saw in Gray’s eyes made the queer look in Julien’s seem warm and comforting in comparison.
    “I don’t work for you, bitch,” Gray snarled. “I never will.”
    “ Gray, ” Theran said, shocked.
    Kermilla’s face went white with anger. “You should be careful about saying ‘never,’ gardener. Things change.”
    “Some things change,” Gray agreed. “Some things don’t.”
    Kermilla took a step closer. Gray raised the pitchfork, and there was no doubt of how he would use it if she came any closer.
    “I’m a Queen,” Kermilla hissed.
    “You don’t outrank me, and I don’t serve you, so that means nothing,” Gray snarled. “And nothing like you is ever going to lay a hand on me again.”
    A moment of choice.
    Theran put himself between Kermilla and Gray. “That’s enough, Gray. Kermilla, please go back inside.”
    “I want—”
    “ Kermilla. ” He’d pay for giving her an order in front of someone, but Gray would try to hurt her, maybe even try to kill her, if she didn’t get out of sight.
    He waited until Kermilla was safely inside the house; then he focused his anger on his cousin.
    “What in the name of Hell do you think you’re doing?”
    Gray stared at him. “Do you actually serve that bitch? Sleep with that bitch?”
    “Stop calling her that!”
    “I’ll call her what she is.”
    “You don’t even know her.”
    “I may not know her , but I knew one just like her. I have the scars to prove it.”
    “She’s not like that! She’s nothing like that! And you better mind your tongue, boy. When Kermilla becomes the Queen of Dena Nehele, she is not going to forget your insults.”
    “Then it’s fortunate she’s not going to become the Queen.” Gray drove the pitchfork deep into the soil. “Cassie is the Queen of Dena Nehele.”
    “Only until spring. When her contract runs out, Kermilla will rule.”
    “No,” Gray said. “ Cassie is the Queen.”
    “One-year contract, Gray. Then she’s gone.”
    “No. She’s settled in. She’s chosen to rule.”
    “I’m not serving a minute beyond my contract, and when I leave, Cassidy’s court will break and re-form around Kermilla as the new Queen.”
    Gray laughed. “You really think men like Archerr and Shaddo are going to serve Kermilla? You think Ranon is going to serve someone like her?”
    “They’ll serve if I say they’ll serve. Or have you immersed yourself so much in that shitty little Shalador slum that you’ve forgotten who I am?”
    He regretted saying the words the moment he gave them voice—and regretted them even more when Gray’s eyes filled with something frigid and bitter.
    “How could I forget who you are?” Gray said. “You’re Grayhaven. You’re the last of the line, the one who needed to be protected and defended at any cost. For what, Theran? So you can play the pony now for her ? If that’s what you wanted, you should have come down from the mountains years ago and given yourself to the Queens who were here. They were no different than her, and they would have used you just fine. If you don’t believe me, I’ll take off my shirt and show you my back. I guess you’ve forgotten what it looks like.” He paused. “I paid a high price to protect you.”
    “And now you regret it?”
    “Yes, I do. Today, I do. Today, I wish I’d told you to get your own damn box of sweets if you wanted them that much. But you wanted the box of sweets from the bakery and the sweets between that girl’s thighs—and you got them both. What did I get? Two years of pain and fear and nightmares about things you will never know, and ten years beyond that of being frozen in a shroud of boyhood. And for what, Theran? For what?”
    Theran took a step back.
    “Because of you, I’m