Page 133 of A War of Crowns

Olivia slanted a look back toward the table on the opposite side of the room, where Duchess Edith and Seraphina seemed to stillbe in quiet conference. With their backs to the dead assassin, they were paying the two of them little mind.

Which was for the best.

Should the worst have truly happened, there was a chance the queen was no longer the queen, but simply a husk. A Witchsworn—a puppet being controlled by some unseen witch.

That thought wrenched at Olivia’s heart in ways that made her nearly retch all over the corpse in front of her. It was her job to guard her friend against the unseen dangers lurking in the shadows.

And yet there she knelt, faced with the evidence that she had failed that task in the worst possible way. What if the witchblade had struck Seraphina? What if she was gone?

Lost forever to the Underworld?

It wasn’t until Duke Percy rumbled a bewildered, “How in all of Avirel did a witchblade end uphere?” that Olivia blinked her way out of her spiraling thoughts. She suddenly remembered the whole reason she had been racing to find Her Majesty in the first place, before she had even known about the assassination attempt.

From within the depths of her sleeve, Olivia withdrew the report Sal had brought what must have been but fifteen minutes ago but felt like an entire lifetime at that point. Sitting back on her heels, she passed the folded missive to Duke Percy and waited.

It took the Lord Chancellor longer than she would have liked for him to fish a pair of spectacles from his doublet’s inner pocket and finally read the harrowing news written upon the page. But once he had, once he finally understood the severity of the situation athand, the older man immediately fell into a deep and profound silence.

The sort of silence that was utterly deafening.

That silence lingered until Father Perero arrived a short time later, looking disheveled and worried in equal measure as he hurried into the room.

“Your Majesty, Your Grace.” The Shepherd greeted the queen and Duchess Edith first with a low bow before his tired eyes trailed across the room to where Olivia and Duke Percy were still crouched by the corpse. Immediately, the holy man took a step backward and asked, “What has happened?”

Rather than answer the Shepherd’s question, Duke Percy turned a hollow look toward the door and commanded the Queensguard posted just outside, “Bar the doors and let none enter. Do not enter yourselves, no matter what you may hear, until I give the order you may return. The fate of all Elmoria depends on you following my instructions exactly.”

After a moment of tense hesitation, the guards moved to comply, and the doors to the queen’s chambers slammed shut behind them.

Seraphina frowned when she looked between Father Perero, Duke Percy, and then Olivia where she still knelt beside the dead assassin. “Your Grace, what is hap—?” the queen asked.

But that question cut off mid-sentence when Duke Percy moved to stand behind Seraphina and seized her by the shoulders.

Chaos ensued.

“Percival, have you lost yourmind?” Duchess Edith demanded, her voice shrill. The elderly noblewoman jolted to her feet and shot her a look next while crying out, “Olivia, what is going on?”

Alyx hissed and wound herself up the length of Seraphina’s arm, hunting for the latest source of danger. Rogue leapt to his feet as well, clearly desperate to add his own voice to the growing noise; his deep barks were loud enough to rattle the windowpanes.

But it was Father Perero who looked the most taken aback by the sudden turn of events when he stepped forward and proclaimed, “Lord Chancellor, I demand you release the queen at once.”

Olivia answered the Shepherd on Duke Percy’s behalf with a quiet albeit firm, “No,” while she at last eased herself back to a standing position using her cane. The cane Seraphina had given her. The cane she had made special, just forher. “Father Perero, we need you to Truth-Read Her Majesty,” she explained, sneaking a glance Seraphina’s way.

“What?” came the Shepherd’s breathless reply.

The look of utter betrayal shining from within the depths of her best friend’s eyes was enough to render Olivia breathless herself.

“What is the meaning of this, Olivia?” Seraphina demanded of her directly. “Explain yourself.”

Behind the queen, Duke Percy wept openly as he tightened his grip on Seraphina’s shoulders.

Still standing amidst the chaos in the role of human shield, Duchess Edith stared at her for a moment before exclaiming, “Someonemustexplain what’s happening. Please.”

But again, it was Father Perero who raised the largest complaint when he proclaimed, “A monarch of Elmoria has not been Truth-Read since the time of King Hamon V.” Setting his jaw, the Shepherd snapped a look between her and Duke Percy when he continued on with, “Whatever madness has taken hold of you both this morning, we can try to see righted. But I will not stand for Her Majesty to be treated this way. Lord Chancellor, I will say again and only once more: Youwillrelease her. At once.”

The lump in Olivia’s throat was thick. Heavy. But she swallowed it down as best she could as she avoided looking at her best friend. She couldn’t stand to meet Seraphina’s eyes now.

The hurt written there was too much for even her to bear.

Instead, Olivia kept her gaze locked onto Father Perero when she explained, “An attempt was made on Her Majesty’s life tonight. The assassin was wielding a witchblade.” A collective gasp threatened to suck all the air from the room. “There is no way for us to know if Her Majesty’s soul has been claimed by the Lady unless you Truth-Read her.”

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