The Cogsmith's Daughter (Desertera #1)(46)

“Agreed.”

“Good. Now, we’re running out of time.” Queen Zedara glanced over her shoulder. “The masquerade will start winding down any moment, and I haven’t even gotten to the reason why I met you here yet.”

Aya bit her lip. “And that is?”

“I need you to work faster with the king.”

Aya let out a sound between a choke and a chuckle. “I can’t. I tried working fast when I first met him, and he practically laughed me out of the palace.”

“Yes, Varick told me.” Queen Zedara placed a hand on her shoulder. “But you’re doing better now. You’ve created some serious interest. He hasn’t visited my bedchambers since the day at the mask maker’s shop.”

Aya felt her eyes widen. Exactly how much did the queen know? “And you think that is my influence?”

Queen Zedara smiled. “Judging from the stories Isadona told me about his courtship, yes, I do.”

Aya shook her head. “So what do you expect me to do exactly?”

Zedara removed her hand from Aya’s shoulder and ran it through her hair. “I don’t know. All I do know is that you’re doing so much better, and I cannot stand too many more days of being married to this monster. Every time I look at him, I see Isadona’s head fall to ground. Do you know what that’s like?”

Aya nodded. She did.

“Yes, yes, of course you do!” Queen Zedara grimaced. “Surely you don’t want to spend any more time waltzing with him or feeling his hands crawl all over you. Not when you see your father’s face reflected in his empty blue eyes.”

“I see my father’s back.” Aya stared up at Queen Hildegard’s statue. “I see his back as he is dragged to execution. I hear his screams.”

Queen Zedara returned her hand to Aya’s shoulder, gently rubbing her tense muscles. “Then let’s speed this up. Let’s put ourselves and the entire kingdom out of our misery.”

“How?”

The queen smirked. “King Archon had several drinks before you arrived at the party, and now that you’ve left and he doesn’t have to keep himself steady to waltz with you, I guarantee he’s drinking more. The alcohol and memory of you will drag him to my bedchambers. When he comes, I will pretend to be hurt that he was dancing with you, and I will reject him.”

Aya raised her eyebrows. “Will he allow that?”

“My guards will throw him out.”

Aya crossed her arms. “Your guards aren’t supposed to protect you from His Majesty.”

“Trust me.” Queen Zedara imitated the gesture. “They will do as I say.”

Queen Zedara’s tone made Aya’s bones cold.

“Tomorrow, King Archon will still be stinging from my rejection. It will make him idealize and desire you, the sweet obedient ward, even more. If you show even the slightest interest in him, he will seize the opportunity to have you.”

“And then? I can’t let him take me. I refuse to bed my father’s murderer.”

Queen Zedara huffed. “How lucky for you.”

Aya’s mouth slammed shut. She couldn’t even imagine what it must be like for Queen Zedara. It had to be worse than bedding all of the merchants who came to the Rudder. Aya took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. But you know I can’t bed him. If I do, I break the law. I put myself at risk for death.”

“Yes, I know. I wouldn’t ask you to do that.” Queen Zedara shuddered. “All I’m asking is that you let him get a little physical with you. Not enough to commit a crime, just enough to secure his attraction. Once he has a little taste, his palate will be only for you, and he’ll be ready to cast me aside.”

“And then, Your Highness?”

“And then, the next time you meet, he will do as he did with Isadona. He will pledge his undying love for you, and he will ask you if you will have him, if only he can get his wife out of the way.”

Aya smirked. “Then that’s when we’ll get him. That’s when you and Lord Varick will overhear the king’s confessions, and we will finally rid Desertera of him once and for all.”

Zedara smiled a slow smile that spread over her face like a snake slipping through the sand. “Yes, Aya. That is when we will bring him to justice.”





CHAPTER THIRTEEN


As the nobles poured out of the ballroom in boisterous clumps, Aya and Queen Zedara went their separate ways. Instead of going back to Lord Varick’s estate as she had planned, Aya decided to wander around the palace for a bit. She needed to process what Queen Zedara had told her.

If she’d been outside, Aya would have spit in the dirt. After everything her own father did to keep her taken care of and safe—after he was unfairly ripped away from her—to know that Lord Varick hadn’t protected his daughter, hadn’t even cared that his child had been killed, infuriated Aya. It was unfair that such an unloving, worthless father was allowed to live when hers had been killed. Of course, Aya was the first person to acknowledge that life wasn’t fair, but it didn’t lessen her anger or the acid wallowing in her gut.

Aya stopped to lean against the statue of some forgotten poet and breathe. She tried to be rational, to think logically. She had to admit that it was possible that Lord Varick had loved Isadona more than Queen Zedara believed. After all, Isadona was his child. Surely a father had to love his daughter for more than her breeding potential. Maybe he simply hadn’t realized the depth of his love until Isadona was executed. Maybe he still tried to hide his affections because it hurt too much to admit his own guilt in her death. If anyone understood that kind of guilt, it was Aya.