The Reluctant Queen (The Queens of Renthia #2)(102)

Erian had a sudden idea. "Can you talk to her? Tell her why she shouldn't do it?" Surely Mama would listen to the guardswoman. They were friends.

"Yeah!" Llor chimed in. "Get her to change her mind back! She'd listen to you!"

"You know that no matter what she decides and what she does, your mother loves you very much," Captain Alet said. "You are her sun and her moon."

"Erian's not a moon," Llor objected.

"Yeah, well, you're not the sun either."

"Am too."

She was not going to argue homonyms with him. She turned back to Captain Alet. "How can we convince her not to be an heir? I don't want her to die!"

"I don't want her to either. I'll talk to her," Captain Alet promised. "But your mother is stubborn. She knows her own mind. If I can't convince her . . . You shouldn't be on your own in the palace. It's not safe. Your mother should have found someone to watch you."

"Mama thinks we are being watched," Erian said. "She thinks we've been staying in our chambers, safe and sound. She thinks we have people watching us all the time." She shot a look at Llor. "Told you you're going to get us in trouble."

"Not if she doesn't tell," Llor insisted. "You won't tell, Captain Alet, will you?"

Captain Alet sighed heavily. "No. But you need someone to look after you. Maybe we can find you a governess."



       
         
       
        

"No governess!" Llor shouted, sputtering out crumbs.

"I'm too old for a governess," Erian said.

"A guard then? I could have one assigned specifically to you," Captain Alet said.

They'd had guards in the beginning-Champion Ven had assigned them and Mama had approved them-but those guards hadn't come back after the spirits attacked, and Mama had been too preoccupied to notice. Erian thought maybe they were dead. A lot of people had died. "Can you be our guard?"

Llor hopped up and down in his seat. "Yes! Please, please, please! And the wolf too! He can have my dinners. And you can have my desserts. Half my desserts."

But Captain Alet was shaking her head. "I have responsibilities." She seemed to sag a little, as if she was even more tired than Mama, which didn't seem possible-Captain Alet wasn't supposed to ever be tired. She was the strongest person that Erian had ever met. "But I will see about finding a proper-"

"No!" Llor wailed.

"We'll be fine," Erian said. "I know someone who will watch us, if we write and ask."

Llor cut off his wail. "Who?"

But Erian didn't answer. Instead, she said, "I'll take care of it. You don't need to tell Mama anything about us. But will you please talk to her? Convince her not to be heir?"

Captain Alet nodded. "I'll try."

Erian bit into her pastry and thought about the letter she needed to write to Father.



Sword ready, Ven watched as Naelin directed a half-dozen tree spirits as if she were an orchestra conductor and they were her instruments. She'd kicked out the gardeners and taken over one of the palace flower gardens. Three spirits were weaving vines of roses up the palace wall. Another was forcing bushes to grow into shapes: dancers, bears, birds. Two more were devoted to cultivating a new herb garden, because Naelin insisted gardens should be practical as well as ornamental. She was humming to herself, though Ven didn't think she even knew she was. She was intent on her work.

He could watch her all day.

She gestured with one arm, and a spirit swooped up to wrap a vine around a window. Roses burst into bloom, framing the window in huge red blossoms. He watched her as she laughed at a butterfly that was startled when a bud opened beneath it. Her laugh was as warm and rich as hot chocolate. He wondered if anyone had ever told her how amazing she was, and if she'd believed it when they'd said it.

Still, as captivated as he was by her, he was trained enough to notice the sound of soft footsteps behind him. The churned dirt muffled the man's slippers, but Ven heard them, as well as the whoosh of his clothes as he moved. So yes, he knew the man was there. He just didn't care. Naelin was much more interesting to look at. 

"You're supposed to be guarding her," the man-Healer Hamon-said. "I could have stabbed you by now, if I wanted to. Severed your spinal column here, and here." Ven felt Hamon's finger brush his back mid-spine and at his neck.

Spinning fast, Ven shot his foot out and swept Hamon's feet out from under him. He crashed down into the soft earth of a flowerbed. Before he could even draw a full breath, Ven was kneeling on his chest.