Shalador's Lady

a Queen, so maybe you’re really wondering about someone else.”
    Theran rocked back on his heels, not sure how to answer that—and sure he didn’t want to answer that. “Talon, breaking Dena Nehele isn’t the answer.”
    “Is Cassidy going to be the Queen of Dena Nehele two months from now?”
    “No, she is not!”
    “Then this is the only answer that gives both sides a choice besides war.”
    “Choice.” The word hooked its claws into him and left his heart bleeding. “You call this a choice? Kermilla will never accept this.”
    “She isn’t the Queen yet.”
    “She’s going to be.”
    “But she isn’t the Queen yet. And I guess, right now, that makes you the unofficial ruler of Dena Nehele. So it’s up to you to accept this.”
    Theran staggered back a step. No Queen. No female hand to guide them once it became known that Cassidy had turned away from the Provinces north of the Heartsblood River.
    No Queen again. At least, not until Kermilla formed a court.
    “I guess I’m no longer part of Cassidy’s court,” Theran said.
    “You don’t serve the Queen of Shalador Nehele, so, no, you’re no longer part of the court.”
    So much sadness in Talon’s eyes.
    “Talon . . . are you really going to stand against me?”
    “Let us go, Theran. We don’t want a war, but if you send men against us or our Queen, we will fight. And I tell you now, boy, if we meet on a killing field I will do everything I can to destroy you.”
    Theran’s eyes stung. He blinked away the tears. “That’s it then.”
    “Yes, that’s it.” Talon walked to the study door and opened it. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “May the Darkness embrace you, Theran.”
    Theran said nothing until Talon left the room. Then he whispered, “And you, Talon. And you.”

    Kermilla tapped on the study door and swallowed her resentment—again—about being locked out of Theran’s study. That would change once she was the Queen. Yes, that would certainly change. But for now, she couldn’t demand to know what had happened between Theran and that awful Prince Talon. Just looking at the man’s maimed hand and the way he walked because of the missing part of his right foot made her shudder. At least she wouldn’t have to consider him for her court, no matter how Theran felt about him.
    She knocked on the door, louder this time. And this time it opened.
    When she walked in, Theran was pacing, the restless movement of a man incapable of remaining still. And the look on his face . . .
    “What happened?” she asked. “Did something happen to your cousin?” Not that she cared a finger snap about Gray since he’d been so rude to her, but Theran did care, so it was appropriate to show concern.
    “He’s lost his mind, that’s what happened,” Theran snapped. “With help, I’m sure, from that Shalador bastard Ranon.”
    That didn’t tell her anything. “Theran . . .”
    He strode to his desk, grabbed a document, and thrust it into her hands.
    She read—and felt a fury rise in her unlike anything she had felt before. “That bitch ! She’s taken whole Provinces ?”
    “Everything south of the Heartsblood River is now ruled by Lady Cassidy, Queen of Shalador Nehele,” Theran said bitterly. “A third of Dena Nehele is gone because of a piece of paper!”
    “No! Get them back. Theran, you have to get those Provinces back!” A third of Dena Nehele? A third of the income that should be hers? Unthinkable! “You can’t let her do this to us. To the land and the people who need our guidance,” she amended when she noticed the uncertainty in his eyes.
    “Well, they don’t think they need anything from us.” Theran resumed his pacing.
    “You have to stop this!” Kermilla sank into a chair. That bitch . Should have known better than to offer anything. She’d been willing to let Freckledy rule the Shalador reserves, hadn’t she? Wasn’t much there worth having anyway, but it had been a way to show how generous she could be by letting the Queen who had been dismissed remain in her little village and be useful. Of course Cassidy, being a fine draft horse of a Queen, was useful.
    But no. The bitch got greedy and stole Provinces that should have been hers. And that was something she couldn’t allow.
    That strange fury washed through her again. “You have to do something, Prince Grayhaven.”
    He gave her an odd look—more appreciative of this show of temper than wary of it.
    Finally he stopped pacing, rubbed his