Crush the King (Crown of Shards #3)(74)
According to Auster’s spies, the Mortans were riding strixes back and forth from their camp to the various Regalia events on the island. I wondered if Maximus would kill one of those creatures to take Lyra’s place. I hoped not.
Cisco had already left the ballroom, but Heinrich, Dominic, and Rhea came over to congratulate me, as did Eon, Ruri, and their consorts. I smiled, accepting their well-wishes. They moved off, and my friends gathered around me again.
Cho let out a loud whoop, lifted me up and off my feet, and spun me around before setting me back down. “Now I know how Xenia felt when you beat Zariza at the Tanzen Falter earlier.” He beamed at me, as did the dragon on his neck.
I squeezed his arm. “That’s because you are a most excellent teacher, just like Xenia is.”
Xenia sniffed. “A card game is not nearly as complicated as a dance.”
Cho ignored her words, picked her up, and spun her around too. He set her back down, and Xenia snapped up her cane and poked him in the chest with it.
“Don’t ever do that again, dragon,” she warned.
Cho winked at her, as did the dragon on his neck. Xenia’s lips twitched up into a smile that she couldn’t quite hide.
“I’m so proud of you, Evie,” Auster said, his voice raspy and his eyes suspiciously red and watery. “This is the first time a Bellonan queen has won the kronekling tournament in more than twenty years.”
I stepped forward and hugged him tight before drawing back. Auster cleared his throat, blinked a few times, and schooled his face back into its usual stern expression.
“That was wonderful, highness,” Sullivan murmured, kissing my cheek. “Absolutely wonderful.”
“Well done, Evie,” Serilda chimed in. “Very well done.”
She smiled, but her blue eyes were dark and troubled, and she kept glancing at the archway that Maximus had gone through. I didn’t ask her about the possibilities she was seeing with her magic. I didn’t have to. I knew Maximus was already plotting how to retaliate for my humiliating him.
I might have won this round, but the true game between me and the Mortan king was far from over.
*
The kronekling tournament was the final event of the night, and everyone streamed out of the ballroom, left the DiLucri castle, and walked down the steps to the waterfront.
Some people headed over to the pleasure and gaming houses to extend their celebration, while others waited for rowboats that would take them back to their ships in the harbor. More than a few folks stumbled by, already drunk on whatever ale, liquor, or other intoxicants they could afford. Music and laughter rang up and down the boulevard, and every single building blazed with light.
Keeping an eye out for more assassins, my friends and I quickly made our way to the Perseverance Bridge, where Auster’s guards were waiting. Together, we crossed the span, heading back over to the relative safety of the Bellonan side of the river.
Many of my fellow countrymen and -women were also on the bridge, moving from Bellona to Fortuna and back again. Some folks had already celebrated a little too much, and we passed a couple of people hanging over the side of the stone railing, violently vomiting into the water below.
“Remind me not to eat any fish while we’re here,” Paloma said.
The farther we walked along the bridge, the more Captain Auster relaxed, as did the rest of my friends, and we slowed down to admire the breathtaking nighttime view. Strings of blue, white, red, green, and other colored fluorestones had been wrapped around the railings and masts of many of the ships, making the vessels look like they were swathed in bright electric spiderwebs. The glows spread out across the water, and the waves danced to and fro like liquid silver.
But there was one dark spot in the center of the harbor—the ship that I’d noticed earlier, the one without any flags, crests, or other markings. No pretty fluorestones were wrapped around its railing, and the vessel was totally dark. I squinted, but I didn’t see anyone on deck, and no lights glimmered in the round windows below. The ship might as well have been a rock sitting in the water, for all the life and personality it showed. Curious. Very curious.
The thrill of beating Maximus was wearing off, and I was growing tired, so I followed my friends the rest of the way across the bridge.
We made it back to the Bellonan camp. Cheery music trilled through the air, and people were moving through the rows of tents, into the common areas, and back again, drinking, dancing, singing, and laughing. Everyone had thoroughly enjoyed the first day of the Regalia.
My friends split off to take care of their chores, while Sullivan and I stepped into my tent. Calandre and her two sisters were waiting to help me undress, and there was one other person—or creature—inside my canvas chambers.
Lyra.
The strix was still in her coldiron cage, which had been placed on a long table along one of the tent walls. Driscol’s chest of gold coins and Zariza’s ogre pendant also glimmered on the table. Camille and Cerana were bent down, peering through the bars at Lyra, who stared back at them, not moving a single feather.
“I see that you had an eventful evening,” Calandre drawled.
“Oh, yes. I leave in a ball gown and come back with my very own strix. Why, it’s like I’m living a fairy tale.”
She laughed, while her sisters continued to stare at the strix. Lyra stared back at all of us, still not moving a single feather, although I could smell the creature’s wariness and suspicion. She probably thought I was going to cut her throat and drink her blood like Maximus had done to the other strix. I shuddered at the thought. I could still smell the poor creature’s blood in my nose—and the magic it had given the Mortan king.