Page 84 of Dueling the Suitors

Astoria nodded shakily and hugged Skylar tight before turning to face the crowd. Her experience with a crowd of admirers was nothing to compare to this. These people hated her, thanks to a false accusation. It was time to be brave.

She stepped forward and raised a hand. The crowd fell silent gradually, but the scowls and sneers on their faces remained.

Astoria took a deep breath and flicked her wrist to amplify her voice. “Beloved people of Draken,” she began, her voice surprisingly clear and unshaken. “I have come here to confront you all about the accusations thrown against me, that I poisoned my husband, the Emperor. It’s false and baseless. I wish I could tell you who started this, but there are only assumptions as to who. The culprit seeks to undermine the stability and the unity of our empire.”

“How do we know you are not lying to us?” a man called out to her, accusation dripping from his voice.

“I can make him—”

“Rowan, no.” Astoria held out an arm to stop Rowan. “Violence is not the solution here,” she told him gently before turning back to the crowd, catching the eyes of the man.

“You don’t.” Murmurs rose, and she gestured for silence again. “I know what motivates you to believe I’m poisoning my husband. I indeed hated him at first, for tricking me and taking me away from my family. In my kingdom and all the unconquered ones, Cyrus is known as a power-hungry, bloodthirsty monster, ruthless, and an angel of destruction. That’s what I believed too, until I got to know him and the true story behind his invasions. I was blind, but now I see, and I won’t let anyone raise an accusation against him in front of me ever again.

“Right now, my husband is fighting for his life. It started as merely a fever; now it has worsened. The royal physician is clueless, and the medicine isn’t helping…” Her voice broke, but she cleared her throat and pressed on. “At this point, anyone would be suspicious if the Emperor is being poisoned. And in a palace full of people who love and respect him, I have been the only one who detested him, but no longer. I assure you, I am as committed to his recovery as you are. I am on his side. If—if Cyrus is indeed being poisoned…” She sniffed and lifted her chin. “I will find that person. I will hunt down the culprit who wants to murder my husband and frame me,evenif I have to tear the world apart to do it.”

No one spoke a word. There was no murmur this time, not even a whisper. The whole square had fallen into pin-drop silence.

Astoria had no more words, too. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t. Her throat closed up. She turned to Rowan. “Let’s go.”

Rowan nodded and led her down from the podium. Astoria shifted Skylar in her arms and kept her gaze down, fighting back her tears as she followed Rowan to the carriage.

“Your Majesty!” a woman called out from the crowd.

Astoria looked up, but she was already being hurried into the carriage by her guards and Rowan.

“Your Majesty, if I may! Your Imperial Majesty!”

“Let her through.” Astoria nodded to her guard.

“Then everyone would want the same,” Rowan groaned. “Astoria, your safety is more important than interacting with your people at the moment.”

Astoria opened her mouth to protest but closed it as the same voice called out again. “Please, I wish to speak with Her Majesty! It is urgent!”

“Let her through!” Astoria called out to the guards.

A lady in her forties, with brown skin and curly black hair that was tied with a head wrap, stumbled from the line of the guards. She fell into a curtsy. “Your Majesty, if you allow me, I have herbs that can reveal poison—no matter the kind or strength. I can help you tell if His Imperial Majesty is indeed being poisoned.”

Astoria’s eyes widened at the information, but before she could respond, Rowan stepped in front of her protectively and narrowed his eyes at the woman. “And how can we know what you are saying is true?”

“You can ask my customers.” The woman gestured to the crowd. “I’m a Mage healer. Though I don’t have enough powers to heal magically like my great ancestor, I do have his herb garden. Half of the herbs are from Windlewade that he brought with him before the portal was closed. My family has been protecting and growing it for generations. Poison-teller is the most powerful of them all.”

“You are coming with us to the palace. Now,” Astoria declared before Rowan had the chance to question her again.

“Astoria!” Rowan turned to her, his eyes wide. “We can’t just bringanyoneinto the palace, especially not to Cyrus.”

“No, but I am the Empress, and I say we do.” She turned back to the older woman. “Do you have the herbs with you?”

“No, Your Majesty. But my workshop is just around the corner. I can grab it and come with you.”

Astoria nodded to a guard. “Please escort the lady to her shop and back. We need to hurry.”

They hurried away, and the crowd parted for them, realizing the urgency.

“You know, you are becoming a little bossy.”

Astoria turned to Rowan and saw him looking at her with a twitch on his lips. She returned it, feeling slightly light-hearted with hope, and bumped her shoulder against his. “Get used to it.”

“Cyrus would be proud of you, giving orders, protecting him; that speech and all.”

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