Page 37 of Queen Takes King
“They’re out there.” Rik settled me back against him. “You know that better thananyone.”
Yeah. I did. Though I’d hoped that with Greyson dead, maybe they’d leave me alone. I hadn’t felt anything out in the night—but we hadn’t been anywhere, and I’d been a little too busy the last few nights to worry about any monsters roaming aroundoutside.
I sat up enough to grab the ancient book that had been part of the legacy off the coffee table and then leaned back against him. Stroking my fingers over the leather, I imagined all the Isador queens before me. Who created it? How far back did it go? Would I be able to read it? Should I write in it… and what would Isay?
Maybe I’d be the last Isador queen. No one else would ever readit.
“Do you need anything else, my queen?” Xin asked, startlingme.
I’d actually forgotten he was standing there. Looking at me. Waiting for me toseehim. On the surface, he was only being courteous to his queen and checking in to see what I wanted him to do next. When I reached deeper, though, and listened harder to his bond, he wanted so much more. My promise that I’d take him to bed too had stirred a different kind of hunger in him. He wanted closeness. Connection. And most of all,touch.
So many people never bothered to even look and see him. Let alone touchhim.
“Yes,” I said simply and drew my feet up. “You can come sit with us, if youlike.”
In the end, I had my feet on his lap and my head back against Rik’s chest, using him like a body pillow so I could prop myself up enough to read. Xin cradled my feet in his hands like I’d given him a priceless artifact tohold.
I opened the book and my heart thudded painfully in my chest.Esetta Isadorscrawled across the page, with a note. Tome.
To my daughter I will neverknow,
This book is for you. Your ancestors have recorded everything we know you will need for thousands ofyears.
It all culminates inyou.
You are our mostbeloved.
Our greatesthope.
Ourweapon.
Long live the queen ofIsador.
My hand trembled as I turned the page. Our most beloved. And she’d known she would never see me. That she’d be gone. Never raise me.Why?
Across the next two pages was a genealogy listing with every queen all the way back to Isis Herself. There weren’t as many as you’d expect after thousands of years. Mostly because of the dates written beside each name. Dates that made my eyes bug out of myhead.
The first queen of Isis, Baast, had lived for nearly two thousand years. She would have seen the rise and fall of the Egyptian kingdoms, Rome, and the birth ofJesus.
No queen after her lived so long. One poor woman, Isabella Isador, was only listed for twentyyears.
Beside each woman’s name, the father of her daughter was listed. I didn’t recognize any of them, and though I eagerly traced down to the bottom right of the page, where Esetta and Selena Isador werelisted…
No father was listed. His name wasblank.
But I was definitely marked as descended from Esetta. Alan Dalton’s name was listed by Selena, but they had nochildren.
The next few pages recorded the history of this translation. My mother documented each scroll, parchment, and personal journal that she’d transcribed into this single book. The last note said, “Every original source is locked in the Talbott safe if you need them for anyreason.”
I couldn’t imagine holding a several-thousand-years-old parchment in my hand that had been written by my great-somethinggrandmother.
I flipped through a few pages, but they were mostly sketches of the cannisters I’d seen in the legacy and other ancient Egyptian symbols. All of which were important, I’m sure, but I wanted to see what my mother might have contributed herself. I flipped forward to the very last page that wasn’tblank.
So it ends. And begins with you. Start your own book now, daughter, and write ourfuture.
Goose bumps prickled on my arms and I shivered. Daire suddenly appeared with a blanket. “I always knew you’d be the kind of reader who’d skip to the lastchapter.”
I held the book up so he could tuck the blanket up beneath my arms. “I always read the spoilers first. What time isit?”
