The Blacksmith Queen (The Scarred Earth Saga, #1) - G.A Aiken Page 0,89

your remaining brothers, my king?”

It wasn’t the question that caught her attention. It was the way he’d said “king.” There was a tone to it she didn’t like. A sarcasm.

Of course, Marius, drunk as well and deep into the mortified virgin’s cleavage, was completely oblivious.

“They will be hunted down and killed, one by one, my friend!” Marius yelled back to the delight and cheers of the court.

“And the other queen?”

There it was. Proving to Beatrix that the duke wasn’t drunk at all and that her sister had already become a problem. Just as she’d always known she would be.

Beatrix glanced behind her at Agathon and gave a small nod. He lowered his gaze and quickly disappeared behind the satin curtains that hid the hallway exit.

“There is no other queen!” Marius replied, still oblivious. “The only queen of these lands sits by my side.”

Marius gestured to his left but quickly realized it was his mother who sat next to him. Squinting, he looked down the length of the table until he spied Beatrix.

“I mean . . . there she is! My beau—” He cleared his throat. “My very handsome bride and your undoubted Queen Beatrix.”

“But the Witches of Amhuinn also named her sister as queen. Will she be queen of other territories? Perhaps you’ll share the Hill Lands with her.”

“She will be queen of her gravesite,” Marius shot back. “That pretender will never wear the crown; she will never sit on the throne.”

“Rumor has it that she has already gotten the backing of the Amichai tribes. What if they come from the mountains to be her army?”

Marius gazed drunkenly at Duke Gennadius and managed only to repeat, “But I am king.”

Panic and insubordination. Beatrix watched it spread among the royals in the hall like a fast-moving plague.

The Dowager Queen was quickly on her feet, attempting to soothe with words. But Beatrix knew better. She’d been preparing for all this since she’d read her first scroll on the early Old Kings. She’d only been three at the time and her mother had thought she was merely playing with the parchment, so she kept taking it from Beatrix’s grasp. It had been Keeley who’d realized that Beatrix could read and returned the scroll to her. Then brought her more. Then brought her books.

She’d always be grateful to Keeley for that.

Slowly, Beatrix pushed her chair back and stood.

“My lords,” she began, happily cutting off the Dowager Queen’s useless speech. “Duke Gennadius. I understand your concerns and I’ve already put plans into place to address any trouble that may come from the Amichai.”

The Dowager Queen’s gaze quickly snapped to her but it was Marius who asked, “You have?”

Beatrix moved away from the table and across the floor so that she stood before the table where the duke and his wife sat.

“My lords and ladies, I need all of you to understand that my main concern as your queen is the safety of these lands and of your persons. I, and of course your king, are already ensuring the protection of this great kingdom by increasing our armies. But I wasn’t sure that was enough. Your safety and the safety of your families are all that matter to both the king and me.”

Beatrix held out her arms and Agathon quickly walked over to her. His head down, hair covering his face and his delightful shame. He handed her the child. A toddler. Duke Gennadius’s youngest.

The duke started to stand, but one of the lords beside him caught his arm. The duke’s wife covered her mouth, eyes wide over her hands.

“This is our true concern,” Beatrix announced, holding the babe close. “This innocent, defenseless child is all we care about. Protecting our children from outsiders. From those who don’t care about them at all.”

Beatrix walked in front of all the tables so that each royal could see the duke’s child in her arms and understand the full meaning of her act.

“And to ensure the safety of your children, I had all of them brought here to the castle while you’ve been attending the coronation.” She smiled; not because she had to but because she wanted to when she saw all the panicked looks and heard the terrified gasps. “I just wanted to make sure each child was truly safe, and I knew they’d be perfectly safe here. With us. Your king and queen. And while our war is going on,” she told the lords and ladies who would provide the resources, gold, and soldiers she and Marius