Page 22 of The War Queen's Daughter

What my mother has done, what I’ve done, I’ve always seen as protecting my people, providing for them in an Overkingdom that’s given us no choice. It’s hard to hear her words, despite my resistance to her attitude, because her truth is valid. Mother might not want to admit it, but Heald’s wars have stirred anger toward us, anxiety.

But we are not just feared, are we? We arehated.

The battles I’ve fought take new meaning now. And perhaps I could argue the case, the truth I know of our reasons for our conflicts, but the pale light of dawn in a hall filled with the enemy is not the right time or place.

“A reckoning against Heald is coming,” she says as she hesitates, retreating before she goes on, barely visible now through the crack in her door. “This marriage alliance, whoever takes the Overqueen’s throne, will not save you. It will only hasten your defeat. Go home, Remalla. Go home and wait for the end of Heald.”

She shuts her door at last, leaving me utterly alone in the silent, perfumed corridor. The others listened in, I have no doubt about that, and now I know Mother has sent me, not on a fool's errand, but into a pit of vipers set on our destruction.

Amber has to know the truth. Or does she? She can’t be so foolish as to be blind to the animosity against us here. Then again, my mother’s envoy has been here in the Citadel for longer than I’ve been alive. Has she failed to uncover the tide turning against my homeland?

One thing is certain. If any of these princesses do wed the Overprince, Heald’s days are numbered. While we are mighty, I have no doubt if the whole of the kingdoms turn against us, we will fall eventually.

Which means my plan to encourage the Overprince’s choice of another must fall to the wayside. This has all been a personal frustration, an irritating inconvenience.

Until now.

Now, it is a deadly battle I never knew was in the works.

They will regret showing their hand to me. Because with a clear objective in mind, the choice made for me, for Heald, I will not fail.

Chapter 13

How to seduce an Overprince? I go in search of Amber, my mother’s representative, after a brief change of clothing and a bout of pacing that solidifies my resolve. The weight of Vae’s threat and the other princess’s grim warning settles on me, but it’s armor I can bear. I will learn to breathe in this perfumed air. I will bend and shape the bars in this gilded cage.

I need to act. I need to do something to protect Heald. This is why Mother sent me. And I will ensure that I do not fail.

Amber isn’t alone when I find her office, guided by the servant whose startled guidance on my demand leads me to a different part of the Citadel. This ridiculous dress I’ve donned will be my new armor, but there will be modifications made, and I need Amber’s help to make them.

Chancellor Hallick seems surprised to see me, though he covers it as he bows his head to Amber as I enter without knocking.

“Highness,” he says to me in that oily voice. “You look lovely this morning.”

“Chancellor.” I barely acknowledge him, staring Amber down. If she’s uncomfortable with my attitude, she doesn’t show it and instead circles her large, wooden desk to squeeze his hand as he excuses himself, exiting in a waft of sickly sweetness.

Amber tsks at me when the door closes behind him. “You make enemies of allies we need in this court,” she says, anger showing as she looks me up and down. “At least you’velearned to dress yourself appropriately. What were you thinking, trusting Vae of Sarn of all people?”

“You know what they have planned for Heald,” I snarl at her as she scowls deeper. She’s my mother’s age but softer, too long in this place. Still, there’s steel in her that I missed the day before, and she shows it as she leans toward me, gaze flat.

“Why do you think you’re here, Remalla?” She turns her back on me, striding to the window to stare out into the morning gray, clouds settled low over the Citadel, and drizzle on the windows matching my mood. I watch the mist crawl across her garden outside as she speaks again. “This isn’t a game.”

“It is not,” I say. “But perhaps one of you could have warned me what was at stake instead of dropping me in this mess without any kind of plan.”

She shakes her head, her long braid swinging free down her back. She’s dressed similarly to me, but she’s taken on the traditional hairstyle of Heald today. Perhaps a reminder of who she really is? But for me, or for her?

“You were meant to be ignorant,” she says with blunt abruptness. “Your mother kept you clear of all of this for a reason, one only she knows, but I understand her reticence considering the way Heald has been pushed down. What would you have done, Remalla, had you known that the very safety of our homeland stood on the sharp edge of this sword?” She spins and faces me again, grim, angry.

“Treated it like a war,” I say, just as blunt.

“Exactly,” she says. “Instead, you arrived innocent of the details and have uncovered and exposed, in less than a day, the truth for yourself. A far more important reveal than riding in her hot and ready for a fight.”

“You didn’t trust me,” I say. “Mother didn’t.”

“We trust no one,” Amber says, approaching me again. She takes my hands this time, as she had the Chancellor’s, squeezingwith a grip that’s as calloused as mine. So she hasn’t abandoned her blade work practice. My estimation rises, and I finally give her the credit that perhaps she’s earned. “You know better than that, daughter of Jhanette. And it’s because she’s guarded you well that you will win in the end. I’m sure of it.”

I nod. “I must marry the Overprince,” I say. “I accept that.” Why does it still rankle? I must abandon all resistance in favor of this fight. “Tell me what you want me to do.”

She exhales and shrugs. “Be yourself.” That makes me laugh, sharp and surprised, and she joins in before squeezing my fingers again, then lets me go. “He’s already had his interest piqued,” she tells me, gesturing for me to sit with her. I do, forcing myself to settle, to listen. “Rumor among my contacts has it he’ll summon you sometime today to speak privately. I’ll encourage that myself in a chance meeting I’ve planned when he takes his afternoon tea with his father, if he waits too long.”

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