State of Sorrow (Untitled #1)(124)
There had never been a loser before.
Mael was already there, Arta beside him. Both men were dressed in blue, Arta whispering something to Mael, who seemed to be ignoring him. Sorrow tried to smile at Mael, but the muscles in her mouth wouldn’t move and it wasn’t as if he would have seen; he turned from her the moment he set eyes on her.
Sorrow looked away, searching the crowd for Luvian, but couldn’t find him. Not as a servant, not as a moustachioed man. Not at all.
Someone handed her a glass and she drank the contents, barely tasting the summer wine. Irris frowned, and herded her to where Charon now sat with Mael at his right. Sorrow took up her spot on the left and waited.
“Are you ready?” Charon said in a low voice. Mael nodded stiffly, but Sorrow kept her eyes locked forward, looking beyond the crowd.
“Sorrow?”
“She’s ready,” Irris said.
Charon frowned, but began.
“People of Rhannon. You have cast your votes in this historic election. You have spoken and now will be heard. Without further ado, I have the results of the vote.” He paused to open the first envelope, giving nothing away as he read it.
“The district of Istevar votes for Sorrow Ventaxis.” His voice rang across the courtyard, and as it was picked up and carried, a great cheer rose up from outside once more. To Sorrow it felt like a knife to the heart.
Charon took another scroll.
“The district of the North Marches votes for Sorrow Ventaxis.”
Again the rush of whispers as the news spread, and again a huge cry of joy.
Asha went to Mael, to no one’s surprise, and Sorrow tried to meet his eyes to congratulate him. But he kept his gaze fixed on the horizon.
The East Marches went to Sorrow.
But then the tide turned.
“The district of the West Marches goes to Mael Ventaxis.”
The hesitation was minor, but everyone close heard it, and Sorrow’s head snapped up from where she’d lowered it. She turned to Irris, momentarily forgetting about Vespus. They’d thought the West Marches was a safe seat for her, Tuva had been one of Sorrow’s staunchest supporters, and yet…
The tiniest spark of hope ignited in Sorrow at this unexpected development.
As expected, Balthasar’s South Marches went to Mael.
It came down to Prekara. Kaspira had never truly liked Sorrow… And it was the home of the Rathbones. The birthplace of the Sons of Rhannon, and they despised her…
Over Charon’s head she met Mael’s eyes, and the two of them kept their gazes locked on each other as Charon reached for the final scroll.
“The district of Prekara goes to … Sorrow Ventaxis.”
The cheer was instant, deafening, and Irris hugged her tightly, holding her up as the Jedenvat all clapped and Charon beamed at her.
She’d won.
She’d lost.
From the corner of her eye she saw Mael walk away as people descended on her.
Bayrum Mizil had tears running down his face, beaming at her, as Tuva Marchant gripped her hand and thrust it skyward in victory. Arran Day was shouting something to her, his arm around his father’s chair.
It was as though she was drowning on land; she couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe.
“She’s in shock,” she heard someone say.
Sorrow turned, looking for someone she knew, someone she trusted, but there was still no sign of Luvian, and Irris had been borne away by those wishing to celebrate with them.
Then she saw him. Standing at the base of the steps, with ambassadors from Svarta, Skae and Meridea.
Vespus Corrigan looked up at her and smiled.
And Sorrow knew then, despite her attempts to tell herself she could fight back and that one day she’d defeat him, that the curse her mother had laid on her the day she was born had finally come to pass. To the people of Rhannon, and to the people she cared about.
Sorrow, for that is all she brings us.
The Ventaxis Dynasty Former chancellor Reuben “Windsword” Ventaxis, deceased
Dowager First Lady, “Grandmama” deceased
Harun Ventaxis, chancellor of Rhannon Cerena Ventaxis (née Mizil), former First Lady of Rhannon, deceased
Mael Ventaxis, deceased
Sorrow Ventaxis
The Jedenvat of Rhannon
Lord Charon Day, vice chancellor of Rhannon Irris Day, acting senator for the East Marches Arran Day, absent senator for the East Marches Bayrum Mizil, senator for the North Marches Tuva Marchant, senator for the West Marches Kaspira Blue, senator for Prekara Lord Eldon Samad, senator for Asha Balthasar Lys, senator for the South Marches The Rhyllians
Lord Vespus Corrigan, former ambassador to Rhannon, half-brother to Melisia Rasmus Corrigan, attaché to Lincel, son of Vespus Lincel, ambassador to Rhannon Aphora, Lord Corrigan’s lover
Melisia, queen of Rhylla
Caspar, consort of the queen of Rhylla Eirlys, daughter of the queen of Rhylla Baron Harcel Argus, friend to Eirlys Others
Dain Waters, district commander of the Decorum Ward Meeren Vine, captain of the Decorum Ward Luvian Fen, political advisor
Arkady Rathbone, agitator
Acknowledgements
As ever, the first shout out is for my agent, Claire Wilson. I am a hideous person and she bears me with such generosity and grace. I don’t deserve her, but the wonderful thing about brilliant people is their very existence encourages you to endeavour being worth them. I’ll keep trying, Claire.