The Mirror King (Orphan Queen) (31 page)

THE THRONE ROOM
was utterly silent as others recognized the new arrivals.

Four more people squeezed forward, eyes wide as they stared at the throne room, the inhabitants, and me.

Ospreys: Connor, Theresa, Carl, and Kevin.

They were alive.

As I leaned forward to stand, the attendants hurried to clip my cape into place. The heavy gown dragged at me, but I took to my feet and kept my neck stiff so the crown didn’t slip as I descended the dais steps, almost dreamlike.

Everyone was watching, but there was only one pair of eyes that drew me in. Dark. Mysterious. Familiar. He was dirty, and exhaustion marked his face with lines around his mouth and hollows under his eyes. He was
alive
. He’d never been so beautiful.

“Tobiah Pierce.” His name felt warm and sharp and hopeful. I stopped myself before repeating it, just to feel its shape
again, but everything inside me felt like lightning. He was here. He was real. “I’d heard you were dead.” Only years of practice kept emotion from cracking my voice now.

“I certainly hope I’m not.” He was moving forward, too, striding toward me with the strangest half smile and heat in his eyes. The intensity, the honesty, was almost too much. It made the moments longer, like every step we took toward each other would be forever etched into my memory.

Others followed behind him. Some were quietly greeting friends, while others looked around with suspicion written on their faces. The Ospreys had already sneaked through the crowd and were hugging the Gray brothers, Paige, and Melanie.

Tobiah stopped just before me, tall, slender, and proud. When he reached from under his cloak to straighten my crown, I held so, so still. His fingers breezed through a strand of my hair; the near touch was electric. “You’ll get used to wearing this,” he whispered.

The crown. Yes. It was hard to think about the crown when he was here. He was alive. All the Skyvale Ospreys were, too. All the grief I’d trapped inside until I had a spare second to examine it and feel it—it surged through me now, transforming into relief.

I blinked away the tears blurring my vision. “You stopped writing. That was inconsiderate.”

“Terribly rude, I know. But I brought you a gift. Maybe you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me.” He stepped aside and swept out one arm, cloak fluttering. A line of men pushing canvas-covered carts came through the door.

Five carts. Ten. A dozen.

Everyone in the throne room stared silently as the men ripped away the canvas to reveal hundreds of thousands of palm-sized mirrored scales.

The Indigo Kingdom barrier.

Whispers cascaded through the room as people realized what Tobiah had brought, and what it could mean for Aecor. A cheer erupted, clapping and weeping and thankful prayers to the saints.

“Queen Wilhelmina Korte.” Tobiah dipped his eyes, a quick warning before he took my hand and lifted it to his chest.

Mine felt ready to explode, but I breathed through the sweeping elation of his life, our nearness, and the sound of his voice saying my name. I would be regal. I would be a queen.

“Wilhelmina,” he said again, and brought my hand to his lips. He kissed my knuckles, his eyes closed and his fingers tightening around mine. It lasted a heartbeat too long for politeness, and not nearly long enough for my heart. His jaw tightened when he released my hand. “I’d like to congratulate you on your ascension to the vermilion throne, and formally request refuge in the kingdom of Aecor—both for myself, and for my people. The Indigo Kingdom is lost. You are our only hope.”

It was a terrible, heavy burden.

Still, it was a burden I’d sworn to carry, so I pressed my hand to my heart and lifted my voice to be heard over the din. “King Tobiah Pierce, you and yours are welcome in Aecor for as long as you’d like. My home is your home.”

The coronation ceremony ended there.

Tobiah and James embraced. James’s mother found him and
kissed his forehead again and again, while his expression shifted from glad to embarrassed. Though I took a few minutes to greet the Ospreys and Indigo nobility, there wasn’t time to enjoy this gift of their lives.

Paige hurried up to me, panic in her eyes. “Where will we
put
them? All the best rooms are already taken.”

I resisted the urge to groan. “See if anyone is willing to cede their rooms to those with higher rank. Others will have to double up or go to inns, with apologies, but there’s no other way.”

She nodded and scanned the newcomers, already sorting them in her mind. “The rooms you had as a child haven’t been taken. Would it cause offense if I offered them to the queen mother?”

“Probably, but they
are
rooms reserved for royalty. It may be helpful to remind her of that.”

“I will. And shall I remove Prince Colin from his room for King Tobiah? I
know
that will cause problems, but Prince Colin may tolerate it for his nephew.”

Problems indeed. I scanned for Prince Colin in the chaos. He was standing with his arms crossed and glaring around the throne room. Our eyes met, maybe for only a second, but it was more than enough time to communicate deep, boiling rage.

I turned back to Paige. “Put Tobiah in the king’s chambers.”

“Very good.” She hurried off to set the room assignments in motion, and I moved to call a council meeting in one hour.

Quickly, my crown was taken back to its vault, not to be seen until the next event worthy of its attendance, and Melanie and Theresa joined me in the queen’s chambers. I sent Theresa to the washroom to clean up; it’d be faster than waiting for her
own rooms to become available.

Thumps and voices in the adjoining room indicated maids’ presence—cleaning and dusting and preparing for King Tobiah’s arrival.

“Tell me about Danie,” I said.

Melanie stilled. “Danie and a handful of other castle staff are missing. A valet and two other maids. They’ve fled. Patrick is still where we left him, at least.”

That was a relief.

“Whatever their plans are,” she said, beginning to unclip the cape from the rest of my gown, “they don’t want to interfere with your coronation.”

“Patrick wouldn’t.”

A deep voice came from the next room, as familiar as the sound of my own breath. He thanked the maids and the door shut. Then, Tobiah and James began a low conversation, the captain no doubt apprising his king of everything that had happened.

Melanie drew my gaze from the doors between the king’s and queen’s chambers, both locked for propriety’s sake. “That night at Snowhaven Bridge, James wasn’t joking when he said you liked Tobiah.” She gave me a long, appraising look.

“Was it obvious?”

She smirked and swept the cape away in a ripple of velvet and silk. “You two nearly started a fire in there. I thought the whole castle would combust when he took your hand.”

“Scandalous lies.”

“You put on that uniform every week and prowl the city like a vigilante queen. You said you
missed
that menace, and you
had this look I’ve never seen on you before. And then when King Tobiah came in this afternoon . . .”

“Well, aren’t you the head of secret intelligence?” I closed my eyes and exhaled, long and slow.

“Saints,” she whispered. “I never imagined those two might be the same. Tobiah was Black Knife all along?”

“Until I took over.” Cool air slithered against my skin as we began unbuttoning the heavy gown. “I never imagined either, though. I’d barely wondered who he was. Part of me didn’t want to know.”

“And now he’s living in the next room.” Melanie loosened the corset. “What are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing. Chrysalis killed Meredith. At the wedding. Just as the ceremony was almost finished. When he turned to me and said Tobiah was mine now, I knew he never would be.”

He never had been mine.

“That’s—” Melanie shook her head. “Awful. But now it makes sense. The rumors about what Chrysalis said. The way you choked on Tobiah’s name, though I could tell you loved Black Knife.”

“I didn’t know how to talk about it. Or if I should. It would have meant admitting so many uncomfortable things about my time in Skyvale.”

“You can tell me anything. Even if it’s that two of the people we used to hate the most are actually the same person and you’re in love with him.” She tilted her head. “Or just one of them.”

“It doesn’t matter, thanks to the aforementioned murder.” I stepped out of the gown, only a petticoat covering my skin.
“And right now we have more important issues to discuss. The council meeting begins soon.”

The council chamber was full.

From my father’s seat, I twisted to face Tobiah while he told everyone about the events in Skyvale.

“Once West Pass Watch fell, we realized the barrier wouldn’t work—not for the whole kingdom. So we packed the pieces into crates and shipped them east.”

“You shipped me east, too.” Francesca feigned annoyance. “Many of the ladies and I went to Hawes at the same time, the barrier among our belongings. Tobiah was concerned that if people realized what was being transported, the pieces would be taken and improperly assembled. Wasted before we knew whether they worked.”

“You guarded them well, Mother.” He took her hand and smiled. “I tried to make those four”—he gestured at the Skyvale Ospreys—“leave for Hawes, too, but they insisted they could be useful. And they were. They were instrumental in getting people to evacuation routes, killing wraith beasts, and finding supplies for the journey. Without the Ospreys, we’d have lost thousands more.”

The praise made Connor blush, while Carl and Kevin sat up a little taller. Theresa just stared at the table, her jaw clenched tight.

Later, I’d hug them and scold them for not writing to let me know they were alive, but for now I said, “I’m so proud of you. If I had medals to pin on you, I would.”

“After we set up the barrier,” said Carl. “I’m sure you’ll
find something by then— Ow!” He glared at Connor. “If you’re going to kick me, don’t aim for the bruises.”

“Let’s talk about your award ceremonies another time.” I turned back to Tobiah. “Please, tell us what happened when the wraith arrived.”

He kept his posture solid and stiff, but I could see the urge to wilt at the reminder. “At first, it was as though the wraith splashed up against the eastern mountains and stayed contained in the valley. Many evacuees went straight east along the old rail lines, aimed here, but I went south to Two Rivers City, stopping in the towns and villages in between to make sure people were ready to leave.”

“Were they?” Paige asked.

“Some.” Tobiah’s gaze strayed toward the window. “Others had never left their villages, and had no plans to leave now.”

“Even if it meant—” Paige pressed her hands over her mouth. “Really?”

He nodded. “I spent a lot of time trying to persuade them before I realized they were more afraid of leaving than they were of the wraith.”

How could someone be afraid to leave if it meant they’d live? But maybe there was no way I could understand.

Tobiah turned back to the council. “Most of Lakeside had already evacuated to Two Rivers City, so they were aware of the situation. Still, everyone thought they had several more months, maybe years. After all our projections and careful tracking, no one expected this.”

All around the table, people lowered their eyes.

“From there,” said the queen mother, “he came to Hawes,
where we continued preparing the kingdom for evacuation.”

“Our riders never heard from you,” I said to Tobiah. “After your communications ended, we sent people to search for you.”

“I was forced to disguise my identity much of the time. Traveling as the king meant I was in constant danger from people who believed I could single-handedly stop the wraith.” He turned his palms upward, as though wishing for that ability. “When the wraith began crossing the piedmont, I realized Hawes wouldn’t be safe much longer, so we headed for Snowhaven Bridge—which was collapsed partway across, unfortunately.”

“Then it was whole,” said someone from the back of the room. “We all saw it from the throne room.”

“Indeed.” Tobiah gazed around the table until he met my eyes. “We took advantage of that and rode across as quickly as possible. Then we came here to find out I’d died and you’d become Queen of Aecor.”

“I’ve never been gladder for false information.” My knee touched his and I held there so he’d know . . . what? That I still loved him? Meredith was still between us, her death not that long ago—because of me.

“Me too.” Tobiah pressed back, making my breath hitch. “We brought as many supplies as we could, including food, livestock, and building materials.”

“Thank you. We can go over the specifics tomorrow, when you’re recovered from your journey.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Perhaps we should hold off on tonight’s ball so our guests can rest.” We didn’t really need a ball to celebrate my coronation.
If some believed building a barrier against the wraith was a waste of resources, surely a ball was completely useless.

“I think the ball should go as planned,” Prince Colin said. “The preparations are already made. It would be awful to waste the food and hard work people have already put into it.”

The food could be given to people in the city, but the hard work was already done.

“I think you should have it,” murmured Tobiah. “We can rest tomorrow.”

When I glanced around the table, the Ospreys all looked hopeful—for most, this would be their first ball, and Paige had put so much work into it—and even some of the Indigo Kingdom people appeared interested.

“All right.”

“That said”—Prince Colin leaned forward—“we should consider what His Majesty’s arrival means for Wilhelmina’s queenship. As I recall, the Wraith Alliance granted Wilhelmina her queenship only because the sovereign of the Indigo Kingdom was dead. Much to my delight, my nephew is alive.”

Silence fell around the table.

“Again, by some miracle.” Prince Colin never looked away from Tobiah. “When Patrick Lien shot you, you recovered so quickly, just like your cousin.”

Connor slouched into his chair, and James’s jaw tightened.