Page 52 of Queen Takes Checkmate
The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t immediately place it.
“Byrnes is Marne Ceresa’s American consiliarius,” Gina added.
Oh shit. I didn’t know which was worse. A consiliarius contaminated by Ra, or one who’d worked for the Triune queen.
Kevin grimaced too. “Yeah, I get that a lot. People are terrified of her, and rightly so. But she runs her massive house like a finely oiled machine, with the help of people like Granddad, of course. I’m grateful he allowed me to work by his side.”
“For how long?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Pretty much my whole life. My earliest memories of Granddad were sitting beside him while he worked on the books. He taught me as much as he could, given that I wasn’t sworn to House Ceresa.”
“Why didn’t you stay on as his replacement?”
Kevin laughed, shaking his head. “Replacement? Surely you’re joking. Granddad won’t be retiring anytime soon, and the queen made it clear that she had no intentions of hiring me on. She already has seven consiliari and has no need for a snot-nosed smart-aleck.” He smiled. “Her words, not mine.”
I laughed softly. “If you managed to irritate her, then I think you and I will get along famously.”
“How much involvement were you allowed with the Skye legacy, though?” Gina asked. “I did see your name on many reports, but it wasn’t clear to me how deep your knowledge went. Madeline may not have even allowed you to gain enough experience to make this a worthwhile endeavor.”
His hands smoothed over his pants, flicking away an invisible piece of lint. “Well, to be honest… I’m a tad bit nosy. There’s not much I don’t know about the Skye legacy itself and I have an eidetic memory. When Madeline realized how much I already knew, she pretty much gave up and allowed me to take on more responsibility.”
I took a deep breath and met Gina’s gaze. The real question wasn’t his ability or his knowledge of Skye matters, but whether he’d end up being eyes and ears for Marne Ceresa inside my own court. But I liked him. I liked his intelligence and his personality, at least so far. He wasn’t contaminated by Ra, at least not the same way that Madeline had been. And we needed help. We needed to get through the Skye legacy as quickly as possible so I could head home.
:What do you think?:I asked Carys.:Will he betray me?:
She snorted and shook her head.:Not that I can see. He’s on the level of Winston as far as probabilities of doing a great job and being dedicated to you. Though that doesn’t mean he won’t still be eyes and ears for Marne Ceresa too.:
I focused on Gina’s bond.:Let’s give him a try, but slowly. Don’t give him any Isador details if you can help it.:
Aloud, I asked, “Would you be willing to assist Gina on a trial basis for a few days? Then if things go well, I’ll add you to my team as second consiliarius.”
He inclined his head. “It would be an honor, Your Majesty.” Then he leaped up to his feet and whooped so loudly that Daire twitched against me, and Rik’s fingers tightened on my shoulder. “Woo-hoo!”
Seeing our reaction, he laughed sheepishly, his cheeks turning beet red. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just exciting. Granddad would be so proud of me that I’m making my own way and working into my own house. If it works out of course, Your Majesty. Regardless, I’m honored to assist you in any way that I can.”
Gina lifted her large satchel onto the table in front of her. “Well, then, now that that’s settled, let’s go over the Isador sibling contract, shall we?”
Inwardly, I groaned. Daire took my cup and poured me more coffee. I was going to need it.
19
Shara
We worked well into the wee hours of the morning, pausing only to eat sumptuous meals brought in by my team.
Gina had already drawn up a basic sibling contract based on the considerations we’d used with Zaniyah, though none of these siblings had their own nests, let alone heirs, to worry about. Kevin’s eyes had just about bugged out of his head when he first saw my version that paid everyone double Skye’s former contracts as well as allowing them to keep their own inheritances from their birth houses. Evidently, that was a rare allowance, which seemed ridiculous to me.
Why would I take away their birthrights, when I was already using them to solidify my power base? I said as much to him, and he shook his head. “It’s the price weaker queens pay for protection. They need you more than you need them.”
“I’m not in the mafia business. Nobody pays Isador for protection.”
His eyes twinkled at my comparison. “Granddad would age a century if Marne Ceresa asked him to put such an allowance in her contracts. I feel that I should warn you, if Gina hasn’t already. Once word gets out to other houses about Isador’s favorable sibling arrangements, you’ll be flooded with sibling requests. Most of the smaller houses never had enough of a legacy to tempt a house of Isador’s stature, so they’ll leap at the chance to align with you.”
“That’s not why I’m doing it, but I suppose that’s a positive side effect.”
He grimaced, shaking his head. “Not if the Triune objects to House Isador gaining too much strength too quickly. The houses are already balanced precariously, with a handful of large houses holding the power, and medium to smaller houses stacked underneath. These houses were never a concern to someone like Marne Ceresa. But even small pebbles stacked together can eventually topple a larger boulder if the balance shifts.”
I smiled, but evidently it wasn’t a nice smile by the way his eyes widened. “I’ll deal with the Triune another day. I know how I want things done, and I refuse to strip birthrights from anyone who swears to Isador.”
