Palace of Silver (The Nissera Chronicles #3) - Hannah West Page 0,6

in elicromancers’ ability to keep their own kind in check.

And King Agmur wasn’t only shuttering the Erdemese embassy and severing our diplomatic relations. He was challenging the legitimacy of our new Realm Alliance.

This was the bit of Rayed’s letter that I couldn’t bring myself to explain to Falima, the words that burned:

I know as well as you that many elicromancers are good, but King Agmur rightfully questions their ability to rid the barrel of bad apples before the rot spreads. He wants to scale back trade with Nissera until the realm proves politically stable.

Further diminishing the appearance of stability are Glisette’s and Valory’s dubious claims to their thrones. Glisette is only the “provisional ruler” of Volarre until her father’s advisors consent to changing the laws. Valory seized her position in Calgoran through violence. As far as His Eminence is concerned, Fabian is the only sovereign in Nissera with a legitimate claim to his throne.

Sister, I know this is not news you wanted to hear. But King Agmur is only trying to protect our people’s interests. He will not recognize the authority of the Realm Alliance until these issues are resolved and the disturbances settle down.

In light of this news, have you reconsidered His Eminence’s invitation?

Of course Rayed would remind me of that. King Agmur’s invitation had been so insulting that I had not even mentioned it to Fabian for fear of the repercussions.

Somehow, King Agmur knew that my marriage was “not in every way legitimate,” meaning unconsummated. Rayed fiercely denied disclosing this to him. The king said that if I desired, I could annul my marriage to Fabian and return to Erdem to work for him as a top advisor. He said he would give me my own estate, which I would not have to share with my brother or any other man. He claimed my passion for helping the Erdemese people would be put to good use in my new role.

I had scrawled a scathing refusal within seconds, knowing Rayed would rephrase the message before passing it along to his sovereign. Yet the request had lingered in the back of my mind, itching with possibility and making me feel restless. What if I could better help Erdem’s least-fortunate citizens by advising King Agmur? By leaving Nissera to its elicromancers and advocating for the voiceless within my home country?

Footsteps crunched along the garden path. I turned to find the redheaded kitchen maid, Trista, curtsying to me. “The tasting for tomorrow’s dinner is ready for you on the veranda, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you,” I said, and gathered my archery gear for Falima to carry inside.

Loosening my black hair from its braid, I walked the path that followed the back fa?ade of the palace, which was perched on a cliff overlooking the sea. I gazed beyond the pale beach with its mosaic of rock formations to the ships bobbing in the aquamarine bay and wondered what it would be like to leave this home I had known since childhood.

But it was unimaginable. Nissera was my home, the other Realm Alliance leaders my friends, Fabian my husband.

And Rynna…

My spirit blazed as I thought of her yet again, the fay woman from Wenryn. In the midst of our terrifying journey, the others and I had found rest, healing, and protection at her people’s forest dwelling. She was enthralling and sublime, ageless and ancient, witty and impish and charmingly imperious. Before her, I had never known anything so intense, so meaningful, though I’d cared for a handful of girls. There was the young envoy that used to escort Erdemese immigrants to our embassy when I resided there with my father and brother; Rayed used to tease me for how nervous I acted during our brief interactions. And then there was the niece of the palace pastry chef, who taught me to frost cakes before she left for work in another noble household. And finally, there was the daughter of the Perispi ambassador who had kissed me while we sunbathed on the beach. But upon turning sixteen, she had planned to serve as an altar attendant in one of the religious edifices back in Perispos, a role that demanded lifelong celibacy.

With Rynna, everything felt different, but she was still out of my reach. She belonged to the fay dwelling, a place I could only visit, a place I could never call home. When we met, I drank the nectar from the trees in Wenryn to purge my body of the blight disease. Rynna warned me I would