Page 244 of A Queen's Game
In the distance, bells started tolling.
“He’s alive! Tilan’s alive!” she screamed again, hoping her voice carried over the commotion of the crowd.
Pelok gawked at her as the crowd swallowed him whole.
Chapter Ninety-Six
Valeriya
As a mother, Valeriya never thought she would part with her son. Mycaub was curious, showing intelligence at such a young age, but like his father, he was quiet. Shy. Valeriya thought she would have time to help him overcome his reserved nature, to one day be the King that Wyltam never was, but those plans had changed.
One last day with Mycaub wasn’t enough. Valeriya had read him his favorite books and played his favorite games, yet he knew something was wrong. Mycaub was too smart for his own good. Part of her wished he hadn’t noticed, that he could be a child for one last day, for the next time she’d see him, he could be halfway to adulthood.
The goodbye to her son was a wound to her chest. Sobbing silently into Mycaub’s hair, her sweet son had turned his head to Valeriya, saying, “Mama doesn’t cry.” His words had been her undoing. Similar words she had always told him, her sweet boy.
Valeriya now waited on the bottom floor of the Royal’s Wing for Wyltam to escort her to Katya beneath the palace. They were to leave that evening, heading east to Enomenos. Her future awaited her, one where she and Kat could be the couple they always wished to be. That was if Wyltam ever arrived.
The mixed cities of Enomenos both thrilled Valeriya and brought on nerves. Her mind imagined them being something like Reyila, yet without a monarch. How did such a system work? A thought came suddenly to her—pondering such ideas would be a possibility, for she was no longer a queen. She and Kat could stroll city streets, walking hand in hand without a care in the world, besides looking out for danger. Still, her heart swelled. Though hurt by her separation from her son, she would have the opportunity to live the life she always wanted—with Katya.
Wyltam burst into the Royal’s Wing, Valeriya noting for the first time that no guards waited beyond its doors. Worry lined his face, the emotion disturbing from such a reserved male. “What is it?” she asked, fear twisting her stomach.
“The Chorys Dasians broke into the palace with the help of Gyrsh,” Wyltam said, gesturing for her to follow. “They tried to abduct Elyse and flee.”
They were here. She could stop their plans.
“Katya and Wynn apprehended Gyrsh—well, I should say Elyse did.” He shook his head, taking off down the hall. Valeriya tried to keep in step with him.
“And not Azarys and Sylas?”
“Gone by the time we made it back to Elyse’s suite.”
Then likely off the palace grounds already. A missed opportunity. She could have redeemed herself. She could have…. Valeriya steadied her thoughts with a breath. Even if she found Azarys and Sylas, the odds of apprehending them would have been low. After all, Sylas was Queen Agnyssa’s Mage Master.
Wyltam scrubbed his face, worry and exhaustion ebbing from his features. The sight unnerved her. She had known Wyltam for seven years and never had she seen as much of an expression. He was hiding something. “What’s wrong?”
“A riot. Keyain went against my orders and is blocking the Temple of Therypon.” Wyltam threw open the doors to the garden, heading for its paths with Valeriya following in his steps.
Her heart stilled. A riot in the streets as well as a break into the palace? Were they enacting the plan? No, if they were, then she would see Chorys Dasian soldiers rushing the grounds. “I take it that’s where the guards are. Foolish to leave none behind. Whose order was that?”
“Keyain’s,” Wyltam ground out. “He deployed every able-bodied soldier into the city to find her. Marietta’s friends at the temple got her there safely and tried to claim immunity for her, but Dyieter called a meeting.” Wyltam kept his strides long as he rushed through the garden, his words coming fast. “The Ministers decided in a vote of eight to two to try her for treason.”
“Two? I’m guessing Keyain voted against it, but who else?”
“Minister Adryan.”
She bit back her surprise at both Wyltam’s willingness to share the information and to hear that Minister Adryan intervened. As the Minister of Commerce, he had little reason to gain Keyain’s favor. A pang of regret shot through her, knowing she would miss the thrill of politics once she was in Enomenos. “Of course, as I’m about to leave Satiros, you decide to speak so freely,” she said, bristling.
Wyltam stopped abruptly, turning to her. “My biggest regret is not confronting you about your sister from the beginning. If I could do it over, I would change that detail, and then maybe we’d be in a better place now.”
She searched his face for the mocking tone he usually used with her, not finding it.
“I will hold that regret until the end of my days because we could’ve been great rulers if we were on a united front.” Wyltam looked at anything but Valeriya as he spoke. “An apology willnever sum up the weight of guilt that I feel, but I hope you find peace with the women you actually love.”
Actually love.
Did he know from the beginning that her heart was held by a female? If he knew Master Arkym, the mage who trained Valeriya and Katya, then perhaps he was aware when he asked for her hand. That would explain his actions while trying to conceive. Time and time again Wyltam had tried to stop, to say an heir was unnecessary. She took that as he didn’t plan to keep her as Queen, never considering that he wanted to save her from that pain.
“I don’t blame you,” she said, stepping into his line of sight. “For Mycaub. It was… uncomfortable, to say the least, but never once did I blame you.” Her chest lightened with the confession. Those were the two darkest years, trying and failing for a child, having to return to his bed after each bleeding came. “Mycaub was my light through it all.” Her voice cracked with emotion, thinking of her son. “Keep him safe.”
