Capture the Crown (Gargoyle Queen #1) -Jennifer Estep Page 0,87

on the queen’s left, while Delmira was on her mother’s right. I was next to Delmira, with Corvina across from me. Leonidas was on my right, with a noblewoman across from him. More nobles filled out the rest of the table.

Another series of bells rang, servants streamed into the throne room, and the queen’s birthday dinner officially began.

I had never been to a Mortan dinner before, but it was as fine, grand, and extravagant as any formal occasion I had ever attended in Andvari, Bellona, or Unger.

Dish after dish was placed before me. Cold vegetable soups brimming with spices. Hot fruit soups adorned with crispy, caramelized sugar chips. Stacks of fried green tomatoes served with cilantro sour cream. Peaches, pears, and raspberries tossed in a tangy ginger-lime vinaigrette. Soft yeast rolls dripping with savory dill butter. Hard, crusty baguettes drizzled with sourwood honey. Most of the dishes were small, no more than three bites, but each one was exquisite.

The more generous main course was sweet-and-sour meatballs served with fat raviolis stuffed with parmesan and ricotta cheeses and dusted with toasted sourdough breadcrumbs seasoned with sage. For dessert, there were dried fruits paired with a variety of cheeses, along with sweet nuts and spiced chocolates.

I washed everything down with a light, refreshing cherry lemonade, sighed with happiness, and placed my napkin on the table. If this was my last meal, then it had been a most excellent one.

Once the dessert dishes had been cleared away, the servants brought out trays of after-dinner drinks. I chose a flavored ice sweetened with mangoes, strawberries, limes, and a splash of mango liqueur. The cold, fruity concoction was so delicious that I sipped it slowly, trying to make it last as long as possible.

There hadn’t been much conversation during dinner, although one noble after another had gotten up at the start of each new course to wish Maeven a happy early birthday, since the grand occasion wasn’t until tomorrow. Hearing the nobles sing their queen’s praises made me grind my teeth, but I had concentrated on my food and managed to ignore most of their flowery platitudes, along with the snide whispers they were truly thinking about their not-so-beloved queen.

Now that the food was gone, I didn’t know what would happen. I glanced at the double doors in the distance, but they remained closed. No escape yet.

The woman across from Leonidas leaned forward, looking past Corvina and Milo and focusing on Maeven. “Let me also wish you a happy early birthday, my queen,” she said in a sultry voice.

“Thank you, Lady Dumond,” Maeven replied in her deceptively pleasant tone, although she gave the other woman an icy glare, just like she had Corvina earlier.

Lady Dumond? I studied the other woman. She had the same auburn hair, rosy skin, and gray eyes that Corvina did, although she was at least twenty-five years older, in her late fifties, like Maeven was. She had to be Lady Emperia, Corvina’s mother and the current head of the Dumond family.

I shifted in my chair, even more uneasy. The Dumonds were known to be just as cruel as the Morricones, and I couldn’t afford to draw their attention either.

“Tell me, Delmira, who is your guest?” Emperia turned her attention to me.

I silently cursed myself. Sometimes I thought that my magic enjoyed playing tricks on me. More often than not, every time I thought about someone, that person immediately zoomed in on me, like a gargoyle streaking toward its prey.

Everyone stared at me. Maeven, Milo, Corvina, Emperia, Delmira, Leonidas. I was swimming in a sticky soup of enemies. I just hoped I didn’t end up boiled alive like a lobster before the end of the evening.

“This is Lady Armina from Ravensrock,” Delmira said. “She was attacked by bandits, but Leonidas was nearby and rescued her.”

Emperia’s gaze sharpened. “How very lucky.”

“More like incredibly romantic,” Delmira pronounced, giving me a sly look. “Just like something out of a storybook.”

Perhaps if that storybook involved stolen tearstone, dozens of murders, numerous betrayals, and the attempted and almost successful assassinations of both Leonidas and myself. Not to mention my being kidnapped and taken to a foreign palace where I was surrounded by enemies, all of whom would dearly love to see me dead. Including my aforementioned rescuer, the prince, my childhood nemesis, who had grown up into a strangely fascinating, delectably handsome man.

I didn’t know of any storybooks like that, though. Perhaps Delmira had one in her chambers that I could borrow to pass the time—after I