Page 55 of The Throne's Undoing

Graeson shrugged, even though he knew Terin was right.

If the queen wasn't already storming through the halls in a mad fury, she would be soon enough. Even the sea separating Pontia from the rest of Vaneria couldn't keep the whispers from reaching the kingdom. Gossip always found its way over.

As Graeson and Terin left the stables, they watched a boy who must have been no more than sixteen take a hesitant steptoward Nyrri. The boy lifted his chin as he held his hands steady at his sides. But while his posture was sturdy, a hint of fear coated his deep brown eyes.

"Bengi," Medenia called with an amused smile.

The boy hesitantly turned toward the princess. Trepidation sparkled in his eyes as if he feared giving his back to the creature would only increase his chances of being eaten whole. "Yes, Your Highness?"

"No need to take Nyrri into the stables. The queen will want to see her first."

"Oh," Bengi mumbled, blinking. He cleared his throat and bowed again, his brown hair falling in front of his face and hiding the flush quickly spreading across his warm, brown cheeks. "Of course, Your Highness."

Medenia ruffled Bengi's hair. "Where's Ophelia?"

"She was out hunting, but word has already been sent about your return."

Medenia frowned but quickly wiped it away before squeezing his shoulder and nodding to the guards. "Let us see the queen."

As the group walked away from the stables, Graeson heard Bengi mutter under his breath, "Bless the goddess and the stars."

Beside Graeson, Ellie chuckled and leaned toward him. "I thought Bengi was going to shit his trousers there for a second," she whispered.

"Brave of him to step forward," Graeson said.

Ellie shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure he only offered because Medenia was there. He's had a little crush on her since he could barely walk."

"Truly? Doesn't he know she is with Ophelia?" Terin said, leaning forward slightly.

Ellie chuckled. "Of course. He's Ophelia's little brother, after all."

At the base of the steps, a line of Tetrian warriors stood with their sheathed swords mere inches from their fingertips. All eyes were on Nyrri as the small group approached.

In the middle of the line of warriors and a few steps up, Queen Cetia stood with her chin tipped up. She balanced her hands on a crystal sphere sitting atop a wooden cane. Her long nails, dipped in black, clicked against the orb.

With two guards flanking her, the queen stepped down, and her sage-green dress whipped in the billowing wind.

"I hear that you have not only brought one dangerous creature into my queendom, but two," she drawled. "Rumors scurried through my streets the moment you stepped foot on Tetrian land about a foreign beast and a captured bride. The warriors seem to fear the beast, but I have heard other rumblings that make me question who we truly should fear here."

Graeson, unable to stop himself, said with an even but firm tone, "Kalisandre is not a danger to anyone, Your Majesty."

They hadn't come all this way and sacrificed so many lives for the queen to turn them away now because of some supposed threat.

The queen raised a brow. "You claim she is not a danger, yet you knew exactly who I was referring to," Cetia smirked. "I could have been referring to you."

"But you weren't," Graeson retorted. As the corner of his vision reddened, the anger rising within him, he exhaled, long and heavy.

"Peculiar, though, is it not?" Cetia asked, tilting her head. Although Graeson knew the blind queen could not see him, her gaze bore into him, as if she could perceive more than even he could.

The question and the queen's tone only increased Graeson's anger. However, before he could say anything more, Ellie stepped forward.

"Your Majesty," Ellie said, curtsying low with respect. "The princess is unconscious and has been so for most of our journey. Whether or not she is a threat yet is to be determined. Either way, we request a healer for both the princess and prince."

"Is the prince harmed?" Cetia asked, forehead creased in concern.

Terin cleared his throat. "No, Your Majesty, I am well."

Cetia tapped her staff against the ground. "Do not lie. I can hear the exhaustion dripping from your tongue."

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