Page 37 of Queen Takes Triune
I frowned, letting the details bounce around in my mind. Something was bothering me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. “Rosalind and Keisha. Did they care for each other? Like me and Mayte?”
“They were lovers, but I don’t know how much they truly loved each other,” Rik said. “I always had the impression that it was more convenience than any emotional attachment.”
“So they were just allies,” I said slowly. “Didn’t you once say that they argued over which one was stronger?”
“Most queens keep the sibling contracts confidential, but it’s clear to the outside Aima courts which queen is subordinate. It was never clear in the case of their houses which served the other.”
I turned to Guillaume, waiting a moment as he stepped closer from his guarding position near the door. “When we talked about the Triune the other night, you made it sound like the call would come whether I wanted it or not.”
He nodded solemnly. “The call will come. I’m sure of it, my queen.”
“Then why was Keisha trying so hard to get on the Triune, if in the end, she wouldn’t have had any say in the matter?”
He shrugged. “I don’t believe she would have ever received a Triune call, no matter how many allies she had. But some queens believe if they grow their power base and prove themselves worthy, that the goddesses will call them to the Triune.”
“God helps those who help themselves,” Rik added. “Or in this case, goddesses.”
“I don’t know that’s necessarily true,” Gina replied slowly. “Name one Triune queen whoearnedher way to the table by making allies.”
“Exactly,” Guillaume said. “That’s why I don’t believe Keisha would have ever been Triune. I have to believe that the goddesses would never have wanted such a queen to sit at their table and make decisions for our courts, no matter how strong she made herself. You can’t kill and torture your way to the Triune.”
“Marne Ceresa is Triune. So was Desideria, and she certainly tortured you.”
He nodded. “She did. She also exterminated countless queens’ nests when they failed to ally with her. But that wasaftershe was Triune.”
I blew out a sigh. My stomach was a roiling pit of acid just talking about the Triune and the possibility that I would be called. Especially if all that power was what had made Desideria into the kind of queen who’d kill hundreds of people and torture her own Blood.
Guillaume went down on one knee before me and took my hand in his. “I don’t care how much power you gain. You are not the kind of queen who’ll ever be content slaughtering people for your own amusement.”
I swallowed hard, searching his eyes. “But I have killed many people already, or they’re dead because of me. Keisha. Her Blood. Ra. Madeline. That saleslady in Kansas City. How many more will I add to my list? Especially if Marne tries to hurt any of you in order to get to me. I’ll fucking kill her, G. Just thinking about it makes me so angry…”
Fire licked at my veins, making the fine hairs on my nape quiver. My power rose, eager to be used. Ready to defend my Blood and nest, even if that meant death. I could almost feel Smoak hovering over my back again, screeching in glee as I bathed the world in flames.
“Good,” Guillaume growled, squeezing my fingers hard enough that I blinked away the fire threatening to blast through me and focused on him. “Blast those fuckers who stand in the way of what your goddess set you to do. Anyone who threatens you should die. Anyone who thinks to sway your hand by using one of us against you should die. We need a queen who’s ready and willing to kill to defend her court.”
“Use us,” Mehen added, his words more of a hiss as Leviathan perked up inside him. If there was going to be killing, the dragon was more than ready to feast.
“Isis gave you monsters for a reason,” Llewellyn reminded me. His eyes were bright and eager, the gryphon ready to tear my enemies to shreds. “And remember why…” He paused, his shoulders tight. The cords in his throat standing out in stark relief. “She…” He shook and swallowed hard, trying to break the geas that kept him from uttering my mother’s name. “She hid you for a reason. She sacrificed her life for a reason. So you could grow up free of the normal court in the shadow of Triune rule.”
“As strong as you are…” Guillaume nodded slowly. “They wouldn’t have allowed you to live without swearing to one of them. That’s exactly why Desideria used me to exterminate nests. If a queen was strong enough, she joined Desideria or died. There was no in between. Marne seems to be cut from the very same cloth. I don’t know enough about the Dauphine, but I would hazard a guess that she’d do the same.”
“I was used to kill the young before they could mature.” Xin spoke softly, but even Guillaume twitched, his right hand automatically sliding toward his hip where he must have a weapon stashed. “Even Wu Tien child queens were eliminated if they were considered a threat and weren’t tightly bound to the ruling queen of the clan. They would have killed you in the cradle, my queen.”
Chilled, I rubbed my arms briskly, trying to dispel the sense of foreboding. Rik wrapped his arms around me, sheltering me deeper in his embrace. Chin on my shoulder, he held every inch of me against the solid protection of his body.
“You know…” Gina stared off into space. Deep in thought, she tapped her nails on the arm of the chair. “Why didn’t Keisha Skye ever go after Leonie? Or did she, and it was kept a secret? But why?” She focused on me, and I could almost see the wheels turning in her head. “Isn’t that strange? The most powerful queen in America, at that time, at least, was content to allow a stray queen to rule her court without interference. When she laid a geas on Zaniyah’s blood circle forty years ago and waited like a giant spider to take Mayte into her house.”
“We weren’t high enough in House Skye to know much.” Daire shifted closer to me and draped one arm over my knees. “But I never heard of any talks or treaties with House Delafosse. We knew Leonie existed, but Keisha never said a word about her.”
Rik’s chest rumbled against the back of my head. “Meanwhile, Keisha was sending out small teams like us, hoping to snag a young queen to her house.”
“Exactly.” Gina snagged a laptop out of her bag and opened it on her lap. “Let me check the postings and see if anything was ever made formal.”
I combed my fingers through Daire’s hair, and he nuzzled my hip, pressing more of his body against me. “Postings?”
“Anytime the Triune wants to make an announcement, the message is posted so that all Aima can read it. Any sibling agreement is announced through formal Triune channels, or it’s not considered a legally binding agreement. There could still be a private blood agreement between the queens, but if there was a dispute, they couldn’t come to the Triune for assistance if it wasn’t announced. Back in the old days, the announcement would have been posted at the crossroads or taverns, with a sort of magical flare that would draw attention to it.”
“Did you post the formal announcements when I claimed Zaniyah?”
