Page 229 of A Queen's Game
Tears blurred her vision as she sucked in a shaky breath. A knock rapped on the door at that second. Keyain sighed and walked into the other room to answer it.
“What?” he yelled. His heavy footfalls grew louder as he walked back towards Marietta in the living room. “Were you with Queen Valeriya?” His voice was stern, eyes wide.
Valeriya had given herself up so Marietta could escape. She said nothing, her gaze fixed on Keyain.
He took a few steps toward her. “Mar,” he warned. “They just captured her and found this on the scene.” The nymph dagger sat in his palm.
The tears came faster, obscuring Keyain’s form. They would kill Valeriya.
“Marietta.” He approached, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Say that Valeriya coerced you to help her; say she forced you to steal from me so I can save you and the baby.” His hand reached out for her own.
It would doom Valeriya, but if they captured her, she was likely already going to be sentenced to death for treason. Marietta closed her eyes, her breath shattering as she nodded her head.
Keyain ran to the doorway. “Marietta knows about the Queen. Send a message to Wyltam. I’ll join them soon.” The door slammed.
The message would seal her fate; Valeriya would not come out of this alive.
Keyain looked at her, his shoulders slacked. “I don’t know what I’ll do with you, Marietta. When this blows over, I doubt I can trust you to be alone, ever.”
She said nothing, her face wet with tears. There was no intention to stay—she needed to flee, to find a way to the temple. If they couldn’t protect her from the crown, she would run. Marietta would escape to Enomenos.
Keyain went and fussed in the bedroom before stepping back into the living room. “I stationed the guards outside your room and in the hidden passage.” His voice dropped so only she could hear it. “Don’t do anything,” he said. “This is my last chance to save you.” Keyain walked to her slowly, planting a kiss on her head before leaving out the front door.
Marietta looked at the papers again with shaking hands. Tilan was alive, but he was a monster. Her head grew dizzy. The room spun.
He was alive but a monster.
Chapter Eighty-Nine
Valeriya
Katya. Her name was a blessing, her presence a curse. Valeriya walked to her damnation following the female she loved—that she adored. How could Kat have betrayed her? She haunted Valeriya’s field of vision as they wove through the underground passages into an unrecognizable section. Never had she ventured so far.
Wyltam had sent the male she battled with to get medical help. At her back was the last mage, a tall male the size of Keyain but moved with feline quiet and grace. Though she knew he remained behind her, nothing alerted Valeriya that she had someone following her.
How had Wyltam gathered such mages? Better yet, how had he learned to be a mage in the first place? It wasn’t as if he had a sibling to protect—not like Valeriya. His fate was always to become the King of Satiros, so why did he learn magic?
She watched her husband continue forward towards a perpendicular path. Instead of turning, he continued straight into the wall. Valeriya blinked, realizing the stone was illusioned. She was more blind than she ever imagined; Wyltam was well-equipped.
The path curved away from the palace-proper. If Valeriya had to guess, they were underneath the city by then. They continued downward, and then she saw it. The tunnel ended with a vast, cavernous room, light globes flickering on at their arrival. To one side, pads lined the floor. A sparring circle, she noted, like she and Katya used to train back in Reyila. Racks of knives and daggers of every size sat near the ring. Across the way was a shooting range. Bows, crossbows, and other devices she didn’t recognize rested in another rack. At the far end of the room, targets stood, marred from practice.
Though they were deep underground, the air remained drier than she expected. None of the musk or dust of being subterranean permeated the space. Magic changed the atmosphere.
So, this was how Wyltam kept it secret. Below the city-state, he and his mages would train, no one above the wiser.
Wyltam led the group down one of three hallways, stopping before a door. He motioned for Valeriya to follow Katya into the room and turned to the unfamiliar male. “Send a message when you find her,” he said, his deep voice echoing. “And protect her, Wynn. Tensions are already high.” The male offered a curt nod before taking off down the hall.
Though underground, the room was comfortable. To one side was a small kitchen area and a table. Katya led her to the other side, to a plush sitting area. Valeriya sunk into the couch. Katya sat at the other end, determined not to look at Valeriya. Her heart ached. Wyltam took the seat across from her, his arm resting on its edge as he propped his head. She didn’t bother to hold back her sneer. Of course, he was unable to sit like a king as he sent her to her death.
Sighing, Wyltam shook his head. “You’ve made a mess of things.” He crossed one leg over the other, further degrading his posture. “Stealing money from the crown to help our peopleis one thing, but sending sensitive information to the Exisotis, your sister, and the Chorys Dasians is something else.”
Valeriya sat with her back bone-straight and lifted her chin to look down at her husband. Katya had told him everything then. The crushing pain of her betrayal choked Valeriya’s breath. She swallowed hard, managing to say, “Go on with it, then. Send me to my pyre.”
Katya’s head whipped to him, eyes wide. “Wyltam, you promised you wouldn’t.”
“I’m not,” he said with another sigh. “Valeriya, you’ve been playing your own game from the beginning. I’m aware that before our wedding, you arrived in Satiros two weeks before your public arrival date. I’m also aware of your magical capabilities. Master Arkym of Reyila spoke highly of you. When you took a special interest in The Weeds, I recognized you would be of help to me, to Satiros; yet, you have been, and continue to be, loyal to Reyila.”
Wyltam knew the mage who trained her and Katya? Had known that she knew magic and she snuck into the city? She stilled her expression, her heart racing in her chest. “I’d rather be loyal to a city-state that views pilinos as equals than to a king who works with leisurely care. How many books have you read while your citizens starved?”
