The Void of Muirwood (Covenant of Muirwood Book 3)(21)

The mayor raised his voice loud enough to boom through the courtyard. “In the name of Marciana Soliven, heir of Comoros, I command you to open the gates! She is the rightful ruler of Comoros, upheld by the people of Comoros! Castellan! Open the gates!”

There was a tremor of anticipation as the crowd awaited his decision. Maia stared at the huge barred gates and heavy doors. It would not be an easy task to burst them down.

A few moments passed with no action on either side, but then there was a clattering sound, then a groan, and the gate started to rise as the winches began tugging on it.

The crowd went wild with cheering before it had risen even an inch. The air was raw with energy, and Maia felt a shiver go down her back. The screams deafened her. She watched with relief as the portcullis lifted and then the yawning chasm of the doors parted and opened.

The first people who emerged were Dodd and Suzenne, hand in hand, grinning at her triumphantly. Maia almost wept with the joy of seeing them together and hale. Behind them was the Earl of Caspur, a limping and bruised Captain Carew, and several other nobles who doffed their hats and joined in the cheering. So she had supporters within the castle as well. Her heart felt ready to burst.

Maia kicked away from her stirrups and was about to jump down when a soldier rushed up to help her dismount more gracefully. Along with the mayor, who had also climbed off his horse, Maia strode forward to greet her friends. She hugged Suzenne fiercely, blinking back tears as Dodd grinned like a fool at her from over his wife’s shoulder. His only obvious injury was a mottled bruise on his cheekbone, and Suzenne looked well behind the haze of sleeplessness.

“You are alive!” her friend whispered in her ear. “We feared it was a trick!”

Maia hugged her even tighter before pulling back and greeting Dodd with a hug.

The Earl of Caspur gave them a moment before stepping forward. He dropped to one knee and gazed up at her.

“Lady Maia, Your Majesty, I thought if your friends were the first people you saw, it would help you understand the truth of our allegiance.” Captain Carew also dropped to one knee, though he grimaced with pain at the effort. Soon the entire group before her had dropped to their knees, her dear friends included. Hearing a flutter of motion, she turned to see the entire courtyard was now kneeling before her. Tears swam in her own eyes as she beheld her people.

“The city is yours,” Caspur continued in a hoarse voice. “The kingdom, you must fight for, but we stand with you, my queen. We are yours to command.”

Maia’s heart nearly burst as she continued to stare at the courtyard, at the tears streaming like rain from the faces of her people. Even the mayor was tear stricken. She felt their fresh hope, their imploring looks that begged her to change things for the better. Her throat was swollen, and she did not know if she could speak. She only knew she must.

Maia faced the courtyard, her heart brimming over. Then she sank to her knees before them. There was a gasp of surprise as she did so.

“I am your servant,” she called out as loudly as she could. As she knelt there, she felt the presence of dozens of Leerings within the castle. Some were in the kitchen for heating and cooking food for the castle. Some were for water. Some made light. She felt them all at once, a combination of usefulness—each one carefully sculpted and carved to serve a purpose. And in that moment she invoked them and summoned the Medium through them. All she wanted was to give the people a taste of it, a chance to feel what she had so enjoyed upon arriving in Muirwood.

Welcome, she bade them to say. Welcome home.

Maia rose and turned to the Earl of Caspur. She did not know where his loyalties truly lay. He had been part of her father’s Privy Council. He owed his wealth and station to her father’s whims. Yet when last they had met, she had seen something in his eyes.

She put her hand on his shoulder. “They are hungry,” she said, gesturing back to the crowd that had assembled behind her. “Open the larders and start feeding them.”

He looked at her in confusion. “All of them? There are too many.”

“As many as you can,” Maia said, patting his shoulder.





It was the strangest experience of her life. Maia had often walked the halls of Pent Tower during festivities, but in those days, she had been a shadow, a pariah, earning looks of sympathy and sadness. This day could not be more different. The castle was buzzing like a hive of bees as her servants strove to fulfill her first order—to feed those who were gathered outside. Bread was baking in the many ovens. Casks of wine and cider were being carried from the cellars. The butchers were hard at work, and everyone was occupied in a task.

In the midst of all this activity, Maia gathered in the throne room with all her supporters. She wanted to be seen, wanted to do things out in the open. The doors of the castle were being kept open, against the advice of the mayor, to allow the people to come and go freely.

“What happened to you?” Maia asked Suzenne, gripping her hands and pulling her down onto a bench situated near the dais and throne. Dodd hovered nearby. “When the kishion pulled me into the fog, Trefew used you to protect himself. I was so worried!”

“You were worried?” Suzenne said in wonder. “Maia, you were taken away by force and vanished in that stinging smoke! You were the one we feared for! Trefew let me go as soon as the kishion fled. He was only concerned for his own skin.”

“I was safe,” she answered, keeping her explanation simple for the moment. “Now tell me what happened here.”