Page 96 of Lady of Doom and Devotion

A faint smile flickers across her face. “Of course you’re right. I apologize. I didn’t mean to complain when I’ve had so much handed to me by virtue of my birth.”

“Both boons and responsibilities. The latter can be heavy to carry. We all have our own burdens to shoulder if we strive to serve well—and I know you mean to.”

“Yes.” The word comes out of her like a sigh. “I hope Provinca Yessaine can recognize that too. And if we can prepare these trials in time, I can prove to all my people that I deserve the trust I’m asking them to put in me.”

“It isn’t only birth regardless, you know,” I remark. “It’s experience and training. You’ve seen the inner workings of a kingdom as no one except your siblings has. You understand what it takes to rule. I can’t say even I would feel prepared to take on a role that immense.”

A teasing lilt returns to her voice. “Not even the great General Stavros? I don’t imagine you’d do a terrible job as monarch.”

I glance away, taking in the landscape and the buildings of the city we’re approaching for the fleeting moment before they blur in front of me. “I wasn’t hale enough to continue as a general. King is another order altogether. I failed to protect the king I’d sworn to defend from the worst threats he faced. I’ll be happy if I can simply ensure that you’re restored to the throne.”

Petra lapses into a momentary silence. She glances at me sideways, her expression gone solemn. “You didn’t fail my father, Stavros. Surely you don’t think that.”

I lift my shoulders in a slight shrug, tamping down the swell of guilt inside me. “I did everything I could to save him, but it wasn’t enough.”

“Because he didn’t let you. He pushed you away. If there were any failures in that equation, he failed you. Even this conversation proves why he should have trusted your judgment more.” She shakes her head. “I think you see perfectly well in the ways that matter most. I appreciate your guidance, even if I don’t follow every caution.”

I don’t know if I can fully agree with her, but the words spoken in her steady voice take the sharpest edge off my regrets.

We veer onto the lane that leads to the sprawling estate just beyond the city walls, where Provinca Yessaine enforces her authority over Aberni province.

I’m reasonably sure of the provinca’s loyalty because I collaborated with her local military efforts more than once, whenever they needed to push back incursions from the Darium empire across the Seafell Channel. Our association also means I know about the hidden back entrance in the estate wall where her family accepts visitors they don’t want to draw attention to.

After a short trot longer, we turn off the road, give the main entrance a wide berth, and circle around the back. When we’ve drawn close to the section of mortared stone I was aiming for, I motion for the rest of our company to stand their ground, dismount, and walk the last several paces on foot.

I press my hand to the keystone and then rap out a pattern only a few recent generals will have been given. I suspect Provinca Yessaine will be able to guess which one is calling on her.

Luck willing, she’s heard enough about the Order of the Wild to realize that I’m fighting for our country as always, not against it as Lothar would claim.

I have no way of telling exactly how much time passes while we wait. The city bells ring in the late afternoon hour. Finally, footsteps crunch through the brush on the other side of the wall, where the estate’s hunting woods lie.

Several sets of footsteps. If the provinca intends to meet us herself, she hasn’t come alone.

Then again, I wouldn’t have expected her to.

There’s nothing wrong with my ears. I listen closely and then raise my hand toward my companions, splaying my fingers twice to indicate that we should expect ten figures in this confrontation.

Just as I’m lowering my arm, the hidden doorway grates open.

Provinca Yessaine peers out at me, her face framed by the raised swords of the guards standing half a step ahead of her on either side. She folds her arms over her lean chest and raises a thin eyebrow at me without a word.

I dip my head to her respectfully and catch a familiar face behind her that I hadn’t expected to see here. It appears the provinca has called her daughter back from the royal college.

Further evidence that she’s unsettled by the current state of affairs in Silana.

“Provinca Yessaine,” I say in acknowledgment. “And Romild—it’s good to see you’re well.”

My former student fixes me with a stare as steely as her mother’s. Does she still resent that I chose Ivy as my supposed assistant rather than opening the position more widely? I know she coveted that spot—and made no secret of it with the woman I love.

I would hope we can put any sour feelings from before behind us. But there is a reason Ivy didn’t join us on this particular expedition, just in case.

Romild nudges her mother with a brief murmur, and the provinca’s gaze slides past me to the riders in the shade of the trees. Her normal unflappable expression twitches.

Romild must have pointed out the face she can recognize from their time as classmates.

Provinca Yessaine drops into a deeper bow than mine. “Your Highness. I didn’t realize—if I’d known?—”

Petra offers a small smile. “It’s perfectly all right.”

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