“All hail the queen,” Brander announced, his voice echoing around the entire room.
As they shouted it, people began entering the chamber, bowing with worried eyes. Those who’d whispered behind their hands met my gaze, then lowered it in shame. A cruel smile spread over my lips. I wouldn’t be cruel to his people, but I wouldn’t trust the fuckers farther than I could see any of them.
“All hail the mate of Knox Karnavious, rightful Queen of the Nine Realms, crowned Queen of Dragons, and Queen of the Phoenixes. Long may she reign!” Killian shouted, his eyes beaming with pride. One by one, the brothers lowered, bending their knee as they recognized me as their rightful queen. I’d hold off on celebrating until Knox was beside me, supporting my place on the throne, with him as my king. “And lord have mercy on anyone who disrespects her, for her mate will not.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Aria
The map of the citadel was spread out over the table inside the library. Brander hadn’t explained why Knox chose this room, other than it was his favorite place inside the entire palace. There wasn’t a way to spy on those within the library, without it detecting them. Therefore, no one could ever discover their strategies, secrets, or the plans they made within it. I hadn’t even considered that it was a living, breathing sentinel for him.
Knox had loved it, which was why I’d slept in his bed without him. It hadn’t been easy to leave his side, even for the night. Unfortunately, they were right. If I wanted to be well enough to take care of him, then I also had to take care of myself first. If I wasn’t healthy, then I couldn’t defend him while he was weak.
I’d heard the men speaking when they’d thought I’d fallen asleep last night. The queen’s job was to protect her king. It wasn’t merely to lead them into battle. It was because they knew I’d protect him with my last breath. And I would, I’d sooner die than allow anything to happen to Knox.
He’d endured a lifetime of pain, and been endlessly tortured, and still, he fought against it for those who hadn’t felt the blade of loss. He’d stood in the darkness without anyone ever knowing he held the monsters at bay. Knox was raised like a sentry of hope in the darkness he’d survived, wearing it like a cloak around his shoulders.
The other kingdoms merely existed, enduring under oppression. They’d chosen to bow before the self-proclaimed queen, who had returned their loyalty with endless death and destruction. Yet Knox, even as a prince, had taken a stand against Hecate’s demands, and proclamations. But it came with a price, one he’d paid ten times over in his own sweat, tears and blood.
“You have the table, My Queen,” Killian said firmly.
Blinking slowly, I chewed on my lip, uncomfortable with the title. “Hecate is weak, but she’s trying to appear strong.”
“What makes you think that?” he asked.
“It’s what I would do if it were me. Appear strong when you are weak, and weak when you are strong. Sun Tzu, The Art of War. ‘In order to keep the appearance, one must use deception to prevent an enemy from knowing when one is wounded, or when one is at the precipice of great power’. Hecate called many dark witches to her. Why would a goddess need them if she wasn’t weak?”
“You’re right, she’s just like him, brother. His mate even quotes from the same book he does.” Basilius smiled as Brander, Mateo, and Lore all made a sound of agreement. “Where am I and the other dragons supposed to be?”
Reaching for the wooden dragons on the board, I put his beside my queen piece and then the others around the citadel, out of sight.
“Am I not needed in dragon form? Or do you wish her to kill me?” he countered.
“When we first met, I thought you were Knox. You could be his twin, Basilius. She doesn’t know what happened to him, or that’s what I’m hoping. If we can make her think she saw him, then she won’t seek to figure out where he is.”
“Do you not think she’s the reason he isn’t waking?” Acheron asked, his turbulent, blue eyes studying my face.
“There hasn’t been anyone who has returned to themselves once the darkness has been forced out of them.” Exhaling the pain that saying it out loud caused, I continued in a confident tone. “Knox will be the first, if he comes through it. Unfortunately, there’s no way to know if there will be damage, or such until he wakes up.”
“If he wakes up?” Ronin asked, which caused nausea to churn in my stomach.
“Exactly, but right now, we should focus on the battle strategy. If I could figure out how to bring him out of whatever state he is, I’d have done it already. For now, we focus on taking Hecate down, which will buy us time to find a way to save him. If she’s the reason he isn’t coming out? Then putting her to ground will lessen the hold she has on him right now.”
“Okay,” Ronin agreed, his head tipping when I waited for him to acknowledge if I’d answered his question.
“He’ll be happy of your return, gentlemen,” I offered before looking at the faces around the table. “I’m worried about him too, but worrying doesn’t help us win. I’m going in there, and when I leave, it will be with both her crown and her head. Hecate has to be shown that if she comes for us, we’ll come back twice as hard. I promised her that I’d run to ground until she felt like a rat, burrowing in the gutter. When I made a threat, it wasn’t idle chit-chat anymore.”
“How do you plan to get everything into place without her knowing we’re there?” Esme asked, her eyes on Basilius. His were locked on her, naked heat simmering in their oceanic depths, so much like Knox’s.
“Using the water element, I’ll create a dense fog to provide cover. The citadel sits at the junction of several rivers flowing throughout the realms. Hecate used the rivers as a conduit, forcing each river to flow and carry the realm’s magic right to the major grid hidden beneath the ground within the courtyard of the citadel. Fog is a common occurrence there, according to Zyion. As well as Soraya and others who’ve frequented it before. It shouldn’t raise suspicions.”
“Can you make it thick enough to hide dragons?” Acheron asked, his brow forcing into a worried crease. “You’d have to be pretty damn powerful to make it thick enough for cover.”
“That’s not something we worry about with Aria, Acheron. Think of a delicate-looking flower, but one that holds enough power to take down an entire kingdom,” Brander muttered, which had the others laughing.
“I heard she’s quite the sight when she’s using magic. But I had to get her out of a situation because they took her down and nullified her magic.” Basilius had a point, but I would be employing a shield to protect us.