Page 13 of To Save a Kingdom

Elessan leaned closer to Tsara and whispered in Elven, “Not helpful.”

Tsara blinked at him with too-innocent eyes as she ran her fingers down Elessan’s arm in a familiar caress. “What? I’m trying to be considerate.”

A burning sensation exploded through Aliya’s stomach at the possessiveness of the gesture. Now she definitely wanted to strangle the elven female, regardless of the consequences.

Aliya clenched her jaw until she was certain she’d crack a molar at any moment. Ripping her gaze from Tsara’s hand on Elessan’s bicep, Aliya turned her attention back to her nobles.

She had no right to Elessan, it wasn’t like they were married. He and Tsara had been friends growing up; they’d known each other for a few centuries. The couple of months since she’d met him paled in comparison. Besides, nothing could happen between her and Elessan, no matter how much she wanted it. He belonged with his people, and the humans would never accept an elf marrying into the human throne.

Aliya blinked, her vision clearing. Lords Alinac and Castedrass were pale under the weight of her stare. “That’s enough for today,” she squeezed the words past parched vocal cords. “Dismissed.”

The door to her office opened and shut as Aliya stared out the window across the grounds. This was a disaster. All the sleep she’d lost, the prepping she and Elessan had done for the meeting, all to be thrown out the door because Zadé had to ambush her in front of the entire council with some nonsense about a labor camp.

Her hold on power was tenuous. The last thing she needed was her supposed allies undermining her authority by pointing out to her advisors that there were secrets in her kingdom she wasn’t privy to.

Aliya brushed a stray strand of hair off her forehead in frustration. For all the tactical genius that inhabited Zadé’s mind, one would think the general would be smart enough to know when to keep her mouth shut.

“Princess?” Zadé’s voice had an uncharacteristic tremor of uncertainty to it.

Elessan spun on his heel, the sound of the leather sole scraping over the stone sent an unpleasant shiver up Aliya’s spine. He was just as furious as she was. Good. Maybe she could delegate Zadé’s dressing-down to him.

“What were you thinking, ambushing her like that?” The rage in his tone only exacerbated the harsh edge to his Elven accent that made something deep in her gut unfurl in a coil of heat.

Zadé’s eyes widened, her head jerking back. “Whaddya mean?”

There was a pause as Elessan shifted his position. Aliya almost pitied Zadé being the focus of his stare. An angry Elessan was scary. But his protectiveness was sweet, even if he did let Tsara touch him like they were more than friends.

Aliya closed her eyes and massaged her temples. Today, the ache wasn’t centered behind her eyes. Instead, it felt like someone had taken a guard helmet that was too small, shoved it over her head, and was slowly ratcheting it tighter until her skull cracked and pulverized her brain.

If that happened, at least it wouldn’t be her mess to clean up.

“How was I supposed ta know Princess didn’t know ‘bout the labor camp?”

Aliya turned to face Zadé as the other woman gestured toward her.

Once she confirmed she had Aliya’s attention, Zadé continued, “She’s lived here all her life. Why wouldn’t she?”

Aliya swallowed. Her sheltered upbringing hadn’t seemed like a serious liability before. It was something that, in his own twisted way, her father had done to try to protect her. To protect himself. And it wasn’t a problem, unless one pointed out to the entire council that their queen was ignorant of something so vital as the handling of elven prisoners of war. Now that the nobles were aware, they had to be wondering what else she didn’t know. And how they could use her shortcomings to their advantage.

“You have singlehandedly undermined her authority more than every human in that room, combined!” Elessan’s voice rose in pitch with each word.

Zadé flinched, her skin going pale.

Aliya’s brows furrowed when the other woman didn’t come back with a retort. Zadé always had some snappy comeback.

The silence stretched.

Aliya ran her fingers over her head, pulling the few strands of hair that dared come loose from the ornate updo her lady-in-waiting had insisted would go perfectly with the complicated gown. She used the opportunity to apply pressure on her scalp, hoping to assuage the crushing sensation in her skull, but to no avail.

Elessan pulled his focus away from Zadé. Crouching until his face was eye level with Aliya’s, he asked, “Are you okay?”

She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. If she kept furrowing her brow like this, she’d end up with wrinkles before she reached twenty. “I’m fine. It’s just a headache.”

A muscle feathered in his jaw.

Turning away from the weight of his regard, she turned to Zadé. “What’s done is done.” She moved away from the window to a settee by the cold fireplace and sat, staring into the flames. “Tell me what I need to know.”

Zadé cleared her throat. “Th’ labor camp’s only a two days’ ride.” She glanced at Elessan. “We could leave now, empty it, an’ be back a’fore the end o’ the week.” Her eyes flicked to Aliya. “Th’ council wouldn’t miss yeh.”