Protect the Prince (Crown of Shards #2)(10)

“For years, you’ve all been playing a long game, trying to curry favor with Cordelia, Vasilia, and even Madelena. Well, I’m here to tell you that you’ve all lost.”

A collective sound of uneasy agreement rippled through the room.

“Cordelia is dead, Vasilia is dead, and whatever deals they struck with you are dead as well.” I looked from one noble to another. “I am queen now, and I will not be bullied, cowed, or otherwise intimidated or insulted by any of you.”

“So what will you do?” Fullman asked, a sneer still in his voice.

I stared him down. “I will be fair, and I will be just, and I will do what is best for Bellona. To make us strong and ready against the growing threat of the Mortans and anyone else who is stupid enough to fuck with us. And if any of you have a problem with that, then you can leave Seven Spire right now and never come back.”

I phrased it in terms of the kingdom, but everyone knew that I really meant me.

Once again, silence descended over the room, and no one moved or spoke. The harsh echoes of my words were still reverberating through the air, but cold calculation was already seeping back into the nobles’ faces as they thought about the best strategy to get what they wanted. Bellonans recovered very quickly that way.

I had been brutally honest, but I also had to be reasonable. I had to give the nobles something, some excuse to at least pretend to go along with me today, or I wouldn’t have a throne to come back to after my trip to Andvari. I glanced over at Serilda and Xenia, who both nodded. We’d discussed this at length.

So I tipped my head to Fullman and Diante. “But you’re both right about one thing. I need help to make Bellona strong again. And that’s why we are here today. So I can make sure that your concerns are being addressed, and we can all work together to do what is best for Bellona and guide our people and our kingdom to even greater prosperity.”

I looked over at a tall man with short, curly black hair, dark brown eyes, and ebony skin who was standing next to the buffet tables. He was wearing a long-sleeved blue tunic like the other workers, but the crown-of-shards crest stitched in silver thread over his heart marked him as the kitchen steward. Theroux, another member of the Black Swan troupe.

“But no law says that we have to do what’s best for our kingdom on empty stomachs,” I said.

A few people laughed politely at my attempted joke, which was more than I expected, given how I’d lashed out at them. A small victory, but I’d take what I could get.

I gestured at the kitchen steward. “Theroux and his staff have prepared some delicious refreshments. So please, enjoy their hard work while I meet with everyone.”

I nodded at Theroux, who whispered to the servants around him. They grabbed their trays of food and drinks and started circulating through the crowd again.

I did the same, moving from one noble to the next, and making inane chitchat just as I had done at hundreds of other events. Only this time, people moved toward instead of away from me, which was a bit overwhelming and claustrophobic, but I gritted my teeth and carried on.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Paloma frowning at me. We had agreed that I would talk with the nobles, but she’d expected me to do it sitting on the dais, not down in the crowd. But there were too many people and too many scents, and I couldn’t tell where the jalape?o rage was coming from unless I mingled with everyone.

If I did only one thing right today, then I was going to find the person who wanted me dead.

An hour later, I had made one lap around the room and had spoken to the most important nobles, although I still wasn’t any closer to identifying who wanted to murder me.

But most of the nobles had been appeased, and I was about to head up to the second-floor balcony to see if my would-be killer might be lurking there when Diante plucked a glass of sangria off a servant’s tray. She held the glass up high, and everyone quieted and faced her.

“It’s long past time we toasted to Queen Everleigh’s reign,” Diante called out. “Shall we?”

I looked at Diante, who gave me a bland smile in return. She hadn’t forgotten how I’d humiliated her, and she was making it clear that she was still in the game. The other nobles followed her example, even Fullman, and soon everyone was holding a glass of sangria.

A young, pretty blond servant hurried over to me. Unlike the plain crystal glasses that everyone else was drinking out of, a silver goblet inlaid with dark amethysts perched on her tray.

“Here you go, Your Majesty,” the woman said in a high, singsong voice. She must have had to fetch the goblet from wherever it was stored because she was a bit out of breath.

I smiled. “Thank you.”

She smiled back and dipped into an awkward curtsy. She must be new. Or perhaps she was nervous at serving the queen. Part of me still couldn’t believe that I was actually that person now.

The young woman straightened up, smiled again, and held out the tray. Everyone stared at me, wanting me to grab the goblet so they could get on with the act of toasting and supposedly celebrating my reign. I held back a sigh. Perhaps the blackberry sangria would at least make the rest of the court session bearable.

I had just touched the goblet when the scent of jalape?o rage filled my nose again.

To hide my surprise, I curled my fingers around the silver stem and pretended to admire the jeweled goblet. I’d lost the scent among all the perfumes and colognes, and I’d almost given up hope of finding it again.