The Queen's Secret (The Queen's Secret #2) - Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,96

Now that the threat of King Phras and his demonic magic is gone, they may feel more complacent. The worst threat is over. Let a normal reign—and a normal marriage—begin.

Or her fate may be worse than that. Will this discovery result in public disgrace, or even imprisonment? Lilac may be queen of the two kingdoms in name, but here in Castle Mont she’s outnumbered. Hansen and his courtiers have the power to punish her. She’s in their castle, in their country. Lilac has no family other than the dowager queen, and there’s no longer a family stronghold in Renovia. Black magic burned that to the ground.

Yes, Lilac’s burning arrow put an end to the terror of dark magic in Avantine, but that was last week. Today she’s back to being a queen, on show to the people of Montrice, riding out at her husband’s side and making pretty speeches. Her greatest threat now, Cal fears, isn’t crows that can transform into Aphrasian monks or a possessed scribe, but the people around her in the court.

The page leaves Cal outside the Small Council’s chamber, and one of the guards opens the door for him. There are more guards than usual—six, Cal counts—so that must mean the king is present. He walks in, expecting to see the usual faces set in disapproval. But there’s no Lord Burley. No Duke of Auvigne.

Just King Hansen, sitting by himself in the chair closest to the fire, surrounded by his dogs.

The king is dressed more simply than he was earlier in the day, in his green hunting clothes. It’s an odd choice for an evening in the castle, Cal thinks, bowing low. It’s also odd to encounter Hansen here alone. King Hansen has never liked ruling alone. He’s never seemed to like ruling at all.

Hansen nods a greeting and gestures at a chair at the opposite end of the table. One of his dogs, asleep by the hearth, twitches and whimpers with a bad dream.

The king says nothing for a while. They sit facing each other, the fire popping and crackling. Outside, down in the courtyard, the voices of the household going about its business floats up, disembodied. Something is different, and it takes Cal a moment to realize what the absence is: the sound of the castle crows. Horses clatter in and out—messengers, maybe, taking the news of the demon’s conquest to the manor houses farther out in the Montrice countryside, and to the other capital cities.

Hammering begins, and Cal stifles a gulp. It sounds as though scaffolding is going up. Maybe this is the place he’ll be arrested. Maybe the courtyard is the place he’ll die.

Hansen starts, as though he’d been dreaming, like his dog.

“There’s going to be some, uh, you know, celebration.” He waves a hand at the window. “Since the queen killed the demon king. We have to let the people in and dance around the evergreen tree. A letter was delivered by the city’s guilds while we were on our procession today. Do you know what else they want? The flaming arrow incorporated in the Montrician coat of arms, or some such thing. The duke’s against it, of course, but I say—why not? They love the queen now. All good, all good. Of course, I was the one who gave her the bow and arrow, and lit the flame. What do you think of that?”

“It was very prescient of Your Majesty,” Cal murmurs. This isn’t at all what he was expecting from the king. Why has he been summoned here? What is Hansen planning to do with him?

He can’t speak again unless the king invites him to do so. So they sit in silence again, while the dogs snuffle and scratch, and the hammering continues outside. Hansen taps his own cheek, waking himself up.

“The thing is,” he says, “I’ve been thinking. Thinking and talking. To the queen, of course, and I had a word when we got back with your apprentice. Rhema Cartner. She has good sense, you know. So spirited and courageous! Helpful as there have been so many attacks! Night after night. Hard to get sleep around here.”

Cal nods, but doesn’t dare venture a smile. He still has no idea where Hansen is going with this. Hansen sighs, rubbing his eyes like a sleepy child.

“After all this thinking and talking, I’ve come to a decision,” he announces in an overly loud voice that wakes one of the dogs. “I’m the king. I don’t have to be told what to