Page 25 of Queen Takes Knights
“Were you with Mom in London?”
“I was.”
She didn’t offer any other information, but looked at me steadily. Open to my questions—but also reserved. She didn’t know me, either. Or maybe that reservation was built from generations of holding these secrets close. “No offense, but I don’t remember you.”
“The geas upon your mother affected me indirectly, because I know all the secrets of the Aima court. Selena was able to discuss general things with me, to a point, but not your ascension or the legacy, at least directly. We had an agreement that I would be allowed to sit down with you and begin your transition after you turned eighteen. Unfortunately, she was killed, and you disappeared before I could make contact.”
“Have you had any contact with the other conciliari?” Alrik asked.
She shook her head. “Once Selena left the court, all contact was broken. I maintained the estate and legacy finances for her, but I never communicated Shara’s birth or disappearance, for that matter.”
“That seems… odd.” I sensed suspicion and distrust in Alrik’s bond. It made me feel better to know I wasn’t the only one sitting here with doubts about this woman’s loyalty. “A new Isador queen was born, completely out of a nest with no protection whatsoever, and you never contacted anyone, even a Triune consiliarius, to ask for assistance or forbearance for Selena’s heir?”
Ms. Talbott stared down at her hands, tightly clenched in her lap. “I tried. On your sweet life, Shara, I tried, but I didn’t even know of your existence until you were almost a year old. She refused to allow one peep of your existence to spread. She refused to send you to another queen’s nest. She refused to send for any assistance of any kind. I thought perhaps that after your father died that she would return to the fold, and take you to safety, but if anything, she became more erratic and paranoid.”
“She said they would want me dead,” I said softly, watching her reaction.
Ms. Talbott raised her head, her eyes hard. “They may try, but they’ll find this consiliarius very difficult to work around.”
Daire let out a huff. “We’re her Blood. Her safety is our concern.”
“Your physical strength and proximity are indeed her best defense. But there are ways I can protect that wouldn’t occur to a Blood. Money can open—or close—many doors that your impressive muscles won’t budge. Don’t you think they tried to find Selena even though she left the London nest? Many wanted her dead because she betrayed her house and court. They couldn’t understand why she’d turn her back on such power and prestige, so they distrusted her motivations. I created such a complex tangle of shell cooperations and false identities that even Ceresa’s consiliarius couldn’t find us in over thirty years.”
I’d had no idea. All those years, I’d never known this woman existed, yet she’d been working to keep Mom, and me, ultimately, hidden from some very powerful people. I still didn’t know if I could trust—
A resonate ting sounded in my head, as if someone had tapped a crystal that hummed and vibrated. It sounded pure and vibrant. A message from the goddess? Some element of my power? I wasn’t sure, but I knew what it meant. Gina Talbott was worth my trust.
“Where do we start?” I asked.
Her shoulders relaxed slightly, the only outward sign of her relief, but inside, she was nearly sobbing with relief. I could sense it.
“The legacy. You must make formal claim.”
She leaned forward and pulled the cloth away from the object we’d brought from her car. A wooden box sat on the coffee table with a single symbol carved on each side, dark and rich with age. I wouldn’t have recognized it before, only that it was Egyptian, but after tasting the goddess’s blood, I knew that symbol as the tyet, knot of Isis. Inlaid in the top was a mosaic pattern of Isis, easily recognizable with her disk and horned crown, the same as in my vision. One of her arms pointed up, with a golden bowl in her hand. The box had no visible padlock or edges. It didn’t look like it opened at all.
“No one can open this box but a direct descendant of Isis. Only house Isador remains after thousands of years, and only you remain of house Isador. There are stories of sister-queens fighting to the death for the chance to open the box.” She smiled faintly. “Though I don’t know that such tales are true, or if they were spread by the other houses jealous of Isis’s legacy.”
“What is the legacy? I guess I thought it was just an inheritance, whatever money you’ve managed for Mom.”
“It is, but it’s so much more too. Some of it you may never understand, let alone use, but it’s your birthright. Know that many have died trying to possess Isis’s legacy, and there will be people who will try to use you, in order to wield the legacy for themselves.”
“In other words, trust no one.” Alrik’s said in an iron voice.
“But us, of course,” Daire added.
Ms. Talbott looked steadily at me. “And me.”
“The four musketeers.” Letting a grin spread, I nodded, acknowledging each of them. “You said more Blood will come. How am I to know which ones to trust?”
“Blood will come to your call, yes.” Alrik tightened his arm around my shoulders and I felt a heaviness in his bond. Hesitation, though honest. “But not all Blood…”
He blew out a sigh and looked at Daire for help.
“Not all Blood are as perfect as us?”
Ms. Talbott choked back a laugh. “Well, I’m sure you’re perfectly delightful Blood in every way, but I think what he’s trying to say is that not all Blood will come because they love you. Or because they honestly want to protect you. Some will come for power. Others will come because their current queen ordered them to.”
My eyes widened. “Wait, what? Like spies? For other queens?”
