Shadow Queen - By Deborah Kalin Page 0,100

too narrow to support the whole of a man’s foot, which was for the prester. None ruled higher than the Duethin but the ravens above, and not even the mara could know what they wanted of us.

I hesitated, turning back. ‘I’ll bloody it,’ I said.

‘It can be cleaned, lady.’

No it can’t. I couldn’t tell if the voice were Grandmother’s or my own, not anymore.

‘Take it,’ he repeated.

The seat was cold, the polished wood silken beneath my chapped fingertips when I laid my hands along the armrests as I sat, bloodied conqueror, and looked out upon my empty hall.

‘Stay there,’ Sidonius ordered, as if he were the Duethin. Then, with a wry smile, he added, ‘I hope it’s comfortable.’

Alone in the cavernous hall, I fought back my shame. This was not what I had imagined. Dieter still lived, as did Sidonius, and the slave-born general would not be satisfied with a vague and nebulous promise of aid.

The throne, however, was returned to my House. And I had driven out Dieter – I could drive out his brother, too.

First Dieter’s soldiers, then the thralls and freeborn of the Turholm, were marched into the sanctuary by the Iltheans. There were so many that I wondered if any were left to guard the walls, any left cleaning up the dead and tending the wounded. Every person still alive crammed into the room, tracking in yet more blood, staring up at me on the throne. Without exception they looked at me with hatred in their eyes.

I didn’t have the heart to force them, nor bend them to my will.

A Duethin doesn’t quail from command, child, said Grandmother.

To shy away now would betray every decision I had made since Aestival night. Whether I had the heart for it or not, I must finish what I had started. Dieter was unseated and the bonds of his arcana broken, and now was my chance to reclaim my birthright.

Though it broke my heart to compel my own people, I nodded to Sidonius. Well versed in the art of conquering, he understood my unspoken instruction, and a moment later it began. With Ilthean swords at their backs, every Turasi left alive knelt and bared their neck to me. By the time they were done the blood from their as yet untended battle wounds pooled at the bottom of the steps, and every knee was smeared with it.

I was near to wilting with the pain of my broken rib. Every fealty offered under duress tasted sour, catching in my throat. By the last I was shaking, my hands huddled in a white knot in my lap, unshed tears burning my eyes. Thank the ravens it was over!

Now it was time to take command.

I looked to Sidonius. ‘General. Do you have a report on the whereabouts of your brother?’

Achim had slipped into the hall partway through the ceremony; the Amaeri shadow-worker now stood at the bottom of the steps, beside Sidonius and Sepp. I wished Roshi were here, not in an enemy camp surrounded by soldiers.

‘He has not been found yet,’ Answered sidonius. ‘No doubt he has fled like the cowardly dog he is.’

I bit back my response. Defending Dieter’s character was not the first of my priorities right now.

‘Then we will find him in due course,’ I said, my voice even and strong. ‘In the meantime, I think it best we dispense with the usual feasting and frivolity, and tend to our wounded. If you would send to your camp, General, and have Roshi fetched here …?’

‘Certainly, my lady,’ he replied, though he didn’t pass the command to any of his men. Instead, he glanced at Achim and, after receiving the Amaeri’s nod, climbed the steps to the throne. First, second, third – fourth.

Dread dried my mouth.

‘But first, lady,’ Sidonius said. ‘You will bend your neck to Ilthea.’

‘You are mistaken,’ I replied, my voice bouncing off the polished walls, sinking into the draperies.

‘You will acknowledge the sovereignty of Ilthea,’ He commanded, steel in his eyes and voice.

‘You won’t make me into a puppet,’ I said. ‘Ilthea has my gratitude for her aid, but I won’t hand my people over to her rule.’

‘You will,’ said Sidonius. ‘And if you do not stand of your own free will, I will force you to it.’

‘Drag me from the chair and bend my knee for me, General? It would not look well.’

‘I won’t be physically picking you up, lady. I will use your own strange power against you,’ he countered.

The colour drained from my cheeks.