Page 76 of Death of a Mortal

I was sweating in this dress, the bodice feeling increasingly tight under the queen’s questioning.

“My father is back home, and my mother left when I was very young.” I hesitated for a moment. “I don’t know what happened to her. I never saw her again.”

“And do you have other siblings?”

“One other, ma’am. Another half sister.”

“Is shealso mortal?”

I didn’t know why the queen was so interested in my family, but the reason couldn’t be one that was good for me.

“No, ma’am, she’s half-fae with the lightning element.” I flinched inwardly, feeling a tingle travel through my scar.

The queen, on the other hand, looked sad for the briefest moment.

Then her face was unreadable once more.

When her eyes moved to my scars, she asked, “Are your scars a result of your sister’s lightning?”

With a wave of anger waking the beast in my chest, I gritted out, “Yes, ma’am.”

Then the queen looked at my chest, where I felt the fiery anger building, as if she could see it. But she made no mention of it.

“And did your father ever remarry?”

Malvina’s questions were growing increasingly specific, and I still had no idea why. And still I couldn’t catch Varyn’s eye.

“He didn’t. He fell in love again after my mother…disappeared. But they never married and she, too, left, so my dad raised all three of us.” Raised wasn’t what I would call it, but the royals didn’t need to know that.

Queen Malvina looked sad again, and I wondered if maybe she had been through something similar. Perhaps that was why she was asking so many questions.

Caedryn finally spoke. “Have you ever heard the story of when the rebels stormed Ashthorn?” His words were sharp and abrasive. It was startling, and his voice was overly harsh.

I remembered Moe and Ott telling us that bringing up the rebels was a bad idea, so I didn’t want to give away that we mortals had been discussing it.

“No, Your Majesty. I don’t think I have,” I lied, praying to the gods they couldn’t see my forehead crinkle the way Varyn always could.

Dinner arrived with impeccable timing. I hoped he would drop the subject in favor of eating. The thought of sitting through him recounting the way he’d killed the rebel leader sounded dreadful.

Servers placed our plates in front of us and lifted the cloches in unison to reveal roasted lamb, potatoes, and vegetables…on everyone’s plate except mine. Mine was empty. My stomach dropped. Why? I felt like I needed to get out as soon as humanly possible. If Varyn was confused by this, he didn’t show it.

“The rebel leader and about a hundred rebels foolishly attempted to storm this castle to kill me.” He laughed, as if the idea was preposterous. “They failed miserably, and we captured over half of the so-called army. But the best part of the story is what happened to their leader.”

My stomach had turned, feeling as if it were being squeezed. I didn’t know why he was telling this story. The queen watched her husband with rapt attention while the prince just drank his wine and stared at his untouched plate.

“Noxie, something doesn’t feel right.”

“I needed to send a message to the rest of the rebels who had scurried off back into their hiding holes. A message that would make them think better of rebelling against me and storming my castle again. So I cut the leader’s head off and put it on a spike on the city wall by the gates. The head stayed there for weeks while birds pecked out its eyes. Killing her gave me more satisfaction than likely any other death has.”

Her? The rebel leader had been a woman?

The relish in the king’s expression made me feel like I was going to be sick right here at the table.

“Naci? Talk to me. What’s going on?”

“You reminded me of her, you know, when I saw you in the hallway some weeks ago.”

I sat frozen, feeling as if Varyn’s ice had encased my whole body. Something told me this was going somewhere dark.