Page 86 of Queen Takes Triune
I’d been so afraid to meet the famous queen of Rome. Not just because of her immense power and formidable reputation, but because of her age and position in the Triune court. Older than I could imagine, more experienced in the world and life in general, she made me feel like a stupid, gauche teenager with knobby knees and a bad complexion. She’d been alive longer than I could even comprehend. How did one prepare for a mental war, when the years of my life were the size of a gnat compared to hers?
Yet one of the most powerful queens in the world had just had a minor temper tantrum and thrown an important legal document.
Into a fucking koi pond.
Gina stared at her, too, a stunned look on her face. “I have copies—”
Marne slammed her hand down on the table, rattling the cutlery. “But of course you do.”
Bewildered, I looked from her to Gina. “Who else signed it?”
A harsh sound escaped Marne’s mouth, drawing my attention back to her. “You don’t even know. That’s rich. Your own consiliarius has lied to you from the beginning.”
Gina whirled to me, her eyes round with horror. “Never. I didn’t know, Shara. I still don’t know. It was done by your mother and given to me to hold, but I never knew who signed it. Only that it would be needed when you were summoned to court. I swear it on your blood that you gave me—I have no idea who else was involved.”
A strange sound buzzed in my ears. Almost like a high-pitched drone or hum.:Do you hear that?:
:Hear what?:Rik asked.
The sound grew louder. Shriller. It was so fucking annoying that I wanted to clamp my hands over my ears.
But if Marne was doing it… I didn’t want her to know it bothered me.
I tightened my jaws, determined not to ask her what that horrid sound was.
“No matter.” Marne picked up her napkin and snapped it sharply before smoothing it out in her lap. “I’ve already taken steps to neutralize her position. Though I must admit, Shara, that your dearly departed mother certainly played the game well. She almost had me.”
That fucking sound. My ears ached with the incessant hum. I squeezed my hands together in my lap, digging my nails into my skin just enough to cause a little pain without drawing blood. That might be considered a weapon here.
“Let’s get down to business, shall we?”
I blinked rapidly, forcing my eyes to focus on Marne rather than look around for that fucking noise.
Here it comes.This is her final move. This is where I either win the game or lose it all.
“I’ve been told that you love your Blood. If you want to keep them alive…” She smiled as her cat came back to rub against her, purring loudly. “Then you’ll accept one of my Blood into yours. Or I’ll kill them all and leave you no other choice than to accept a Blood of my choosing.”
26
Rik
No. Fucking. Way.
I tightened my grip on Shara’s shoulders as if I could physically hold her back from making such a terrible decision.
:Is it so terrible?:Daire asked.:If we all walk away… Politically, it’s the smart thing to do.:
I knew he spoke sense.
But I still didn’t fucking like it.
This was the kind of decision a Triune-level queen had to make. She would have to take Blood from other queens to form alliances, often with queens she didn’t even like, in order to protect us all. A sibling like Mayte was well and good for a minor queen, but a Triune queen would have hundreds of Maytes at her beck and call.
And she still wouldn’t have enough power to keep Marne Ceresa from devouring her house.
It was a simple numbers game. Marne had been alive for hundreds of years and had used those years wisely to make her power base as intimidating as possible. Shara had made some great connections, but she hadn’t had a lifetime to gain the same allies.
She’d had months. Literally.
