Welcome, she bade them to say. Welcome home.
Maia rose and turned to the Earl of Caspur. She did not know where his loyalties truly lay. He had been part of her father’s Privy Council. He owed his wealth and station to her father’s whims. Yet when last they had met, she had seen something in his eyes.
She put her hand on his shoulder. “They are hungry,” she said, gesturing back to the crowd that had assembled behind her. “Open the larders and start feeding them.”
He looked at her in confusion. “All of them? There are too many.”
“As many as you can,” Maia said, patting his shoulder.
It was the strangest experience of her life. Maia had often walked the halls of Pent Tower during festivities, but in those days, she had been a shadow, a pariah, earning looks of sympathy and sadness. This day could not be more different. The castle was buzzing like a hive of bees as her servants strove to fulfill her first order—to feed those who were gathered outside. Bread was baking in the many ovens. Casks of wine and cider were being carried from the cellars. The butchers were hard at work, and everyone was occupied in a task.
In the midst of all this activity, Maia gathered in the throne room with all her supporters. She wanted to be seen, wanted to do things out in the open. The doors of the castle were being kept open, against the advice of the mayor, to allow the people to come and go freely.
“What happened to you?” Maia asked Suzenne, gripping her hands and pulling her down onto a bench situated near the dais and throne. Dodd hovered nearby. “When the kishion pulled me into the fog, Trefew used you to protect himself. I was so worried!”
“You were worried?” Suzenne said in wonder. “Maia, you were taken away by force and vanished in that stinging smoke! You were the one we feared for! Trefew let me go as soon as the kishion fled. He was only concerned for his own skin.”
“I was safe,” she answered, keeping her explanation simple for the moment. “Now tell me what happened here.”
Dodd interrupted. “Let me tell it,” he said, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “There was a little war between Chancellor Crabwell, Forshee, and Caspur. Forshee hoped to fulfill the chancellor’s orders to execute you, knowing they would all lose power if you rose. Caspur did not support either of them, but without enough men to openly defy them, he felt he could not act. As soon as Forshee witnessed your abduction, he fled the city by boat, and Caspur’s men joined forces with Captain Carew to defeat the chancellor’s personal guards, led by that villain Trefew. We tried to arrest Crabwell, but he went into hiding. The search goes on to find him. Caspur made sure Suzenne was safe and then came to the dungeons to free me and your other supporters.”
“Where did you go?” Suzenne asked.
Maia shook her head, refusing to disclose that information publicly. “I went to an inn for safety,” she said. “The mayor met me there and helped rally the people. Who is on our side?”
“It does not matter right now,” Dodd said, beaming. “When word spreads of this, supporters will come flocking to you. I would count on Norris-York. But watch out for the south. Kranmir escaped, and is no doubt bound for Augustin to cause trouble.”
Maia frowned.
Suzenne nodded. “He was one of the first to flee. I am sure he intends to wait out the storm at his abbey. You hold the capital city, Maia, but how you fare with the rest of the kingdom depends on how many earls support you and will fight for you.”
The mayor waved his hand. He pitched his voice lower so that the bystanders would not overhear. The commotion in the throne room would have made it difficult anyway. “Forshee will try and rally the people in his Hundred, but they will not fight for him when Dodd Price is standing near you.” He grinned mischievously. “He will be an outcast in his own lands, but then he was always an insufferable braggart and a cockroach. You will enjoy squishing him. Caspur is gambling on your weakness right now. You need allies, and he needs patrimony. He will watch the winds, though. You must be careful of him.”
“I am not my father, Justin,” Maia told the mayor. “I will rule by law and reward those who are obedient. I believe in forgiveness, and will give all of them a chance to prove their loyalty.”
The mayor’s eyebrows twitched. “Even Forshee?” he asked.
“Even him,” Maia replied. “You see, they were only doing as they had been rewarded for doing. My father did not value the truth, so he attracted liars. I am different, but I am also just.”
The mayor looked her in the eye. “Your father put me in my current position,” he reminded her.
She reached out and took his arm. “I have not forgotten that you served him. Nor will I forget the service you did me today.”