Page 20 of A Crown of Tears and Treason (The Curse of Silver Secrets and Cruel Shadows #1)

Chapter

Twenty

EVIE

“ W ho is here?” I ran around my new bedroom, hair a mess of a bird’s nest, eyes still clumpy from sleep, and no clothing I could easily slip on.

“The etiquette instructor, Your Grace,” Goose said hurriedly, face still red. It had been the same shade since he’d walked into the room to announce our unexpected visitor. He’d actually squealed when I’d jumped up from the bed in nothing but a sheer nightdress. I tossed and turned all night in Phoenix Peak’s humidity, haunted by dreams of Zandyr, I needed light fabrics.

“This instructor’s a day early .” I riffled through pretty, complicated dresses.

Goose might have been more nervous than me. He set down the basin on the table in front of the window with jittery hands, water splashing onto the floor. “Forgive me–”

“Goose, we’re all human. Mistakes happen.” I splashed my face with water, sobering up from the last heated dream. This time, strong hands had reached out for me, tangling in my hair. “I’ll be down in five minutes.”

“Of course, Your Grace,” Goose said primly, but I heard him mutter, “She won’t like that,” as he ran down the stairs.

Great. I’d probably get some pursed-lipped instructor who’d look at me like some dirt on a boot as I stumbled my way through pretentious dances.

I tightened my hair into a bun that looked like an angry beehive, and barreled through the doors leading to the drawing parlor only to find myself face to face with an entire row of people.

Blood Brotherhood members, all of them, judging from the white uniforms and the gold trims. Six of them carried intricately carved boxes that looked like they’d seen more centuries than I could count.

At the start of the line, a small fairy of a woman smiled at me like she meant it.

“Your Grace, it is my honor to finally meet you. My name is Leesa Pagemont–” she said and my eyes widened. Was she giving me her real name? “–of the esteemed Pagemont family. I am humbled to be your future lady-in-waiting and your instructor until the wedding.”

She was the instructor? This ray of sunshine? I was expecting a tight bun, a stern look, and a ruler, and I got smiles instead?

And that blasted kneeling. Everyone around me fell to the floor, boxes precariously balanced in their hands. Leesa kneeled the lowest, her tight curls bouncing as she went down.

“Please don’t,” I said before I could stop myself. With Kaya not visiting me in almost a week, Adara very much not being into small talk, and Goose tripping over his words of gratitude whenever I lent him a book, I just wanted a normal conversation, without looking at the nape of someone’s neck first. Whatever discussions happened whenever I was around Zandyr didn’t count; my heart was always beating too fast to think rationally.

Leesa frowned, standing up. “Your Grace, you’ll be our queen. You will protect all of us, with your life if you have to. This is the least we can do.”

I licked the inside of my cheek. “A leader doesn’t expect anything in return for their sacrifices. But they will still sacrifice, because that’s what true rulers do.”

“Well said.” Leesa smiled. “This is also a Blood Brotherhood tradition passed down since our Clan’s inception. I will guide you through our customs, if you’ll let me. But you have to remember–this is Blood Brotherhood. We have different ways.”

That was more difficult to argue against. “And I want to learn all of them.”

Leesa waved a graceful hand at the pile of Blood Brotherhood gifts. “The kneeling and the presents are not tokens of affection or respect, not really. They’re ways to ease our guilt that you will have to carry the burdens we won’t and most can’t. We’ll curse your name if you do it wrong, and congratulate ourselves that you’re on our throne if you do it right. They’re an offering, nothing more. We did it with the old gods when we thought they blessed us, then tore down their statues when the weather changed.”

Leesa looked cute and innocent, but a cunning brain hid behind those big, bright eyes and dulcet voice. “You’re not a normal instructor, are you?”

She gave a modest tilt of her head. “I was trained in the Fair Isles.”

Ah. That explained a lot. Located right in the middle of the Marea Luminara, the Fair Isles had refused to take a side in any Clan war. One of the library books detailed their vast ports, where fine jewels and exquisite spices exchanged ships daily. If Malhaven had a center for pomp, circumstance, and all things that glittered, it was the Fair Isles.

“ This is exactly what I need,” I said. “To understand why things work the way they do.”

I had a feeling I was going to like Leesa.

“I am glad to hear that. Let’s start, shall we?” Leesa snapped her fingers.

The row of people split into a perfect semi-circle.

Then the trouble began.

Five hours of etiquette later, I’d learned too much about the history of the bone china we had to use for our wedding to signify a good, solid foundation. I also found out the Blood Brotherhood royal family tree was a mess.

“Why would someone name their twin sons Jest and Jeer?” I asked.

“Blood Brotherhood members have an average of seven first names, and the royal family can sometimes go up to twenty-three, most of them secret, so they tend to get a bit creative. The Rohen dynasty is considered somewhat tame at only eleven for each member. As a…precaution,” Leesa said sheepishly.

I raised my brows. “Against Protectorate spells?”

“And anyone else who could use our full names. Some think only one first name heard by the wrong person can get them in trouble.”

An interesting way of weeding the most superstitious of them. Perhaps that’s why Zandyr hadn’t hesitated in giving me his name. Just one, though the most important of them.

I shook my head, delirious from so much information trying to cram itself into my brain. Leesa was a sergeant disguised as a doll.

She clasped her hands gingerly in front of her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Goose gulp in the corner. He hadn’t moved an inch, eyes following Leesa and trying to be coy about it.

“Now, let’s go through the first part of the ceremony again,” she said. “Walk me through each step.”

The wedding had very specific stages, plus a special drum rhythm I needed to walk in tune with. The tempo was supposed to signify the bride and groom’s heartbeats and was traditionally heard throughout all of the Capital, so that each and every Blood Brotherhood member could feel the pulse. I doubted any drummer would be able to keep up with my own galloping heart on that day. Maybe they could bring an out-of-tune flute for Zandyr’s. I still wasn’t sure he had a heart, and it surely wouldn’t sprint as I walked up to him.

“Before or after I get fake-kidnapped?” I asked.

“It’s not a kidnapping.” Leesa shook her head, curls bobbing.

“It’s not not a kidnapping.”

A few days before the ceremony, the bride had to get fake-kidnapped by her own family–impossible for me, so Goose, Adara, Kaya, and Leesa would probably step in–to give her time to reconsider the match, far away from her betrothed. At the same time, the groom had to also be taken away from the Capital, in order to find the bride and fight his way back to her.

It signified the couple’s desire to be with each other and face the world to be together.

My parents had stolen me away–without giving me a choice–and Zandyr had fought his way to me, back at my first wedding. Ironic or tragic, I couldn’t tell.

“After. We got that one covered.” Leesa gave me an encouraging smile.

“After I’m in my full bride garb, I will walk up to our sacred temple–” Their sacred temple. I wasn’t Blood Brotherhood yet. “–to the beat of the drums. At the bottom of the stairs, there will be a large golden cauldron I will need to place my letter in.”

“You and the prince really need to get started on those letters,” she said as politely as she could while scolding us for breaking the rules.

Zandyr hadn’t told me we needed to write love letters and exchange them in sealed envelopes. We had to keep them on ourselves at all hours of the day and underneath our pillows at night, and burn them unopened on the day of the wedding. The longer the fire burned, the longer our alleged love would last. We had to fight the urge to open them until they turned to ash. A symbol of the trust we placed in each other’s feelings.

“Right, those.” I licked my teeth. That tradition sounded weirdly romantic. My heart gave a bitter echo. I’d be walking down the aisle toward a man who didn’t want to marry me for the right reasons. Again.

Perhaps my parents had been right. Clan marriages were only a political grey zone where love had no hope of sprouting.

“When I get to the royal altar,” I went on, to keep the lonely thoughts at bay. “Zandyr will place the crown on my head.”

Leesa nodded. “Without touching you.”

Yes, gods forbid my future husband touched a hair on my head before we were officially married. “Without touching–hold on, how big is this crown?”

Grandpa Constantine’s crown had been forged in the depths of Ember Vale, the iron liquefied from the very cannon that had fired the last fiery sphere in the war against the Northern Clans. The Protectorate had won more than the war that day. The crown had been massive and now rested in his mausoleum. As it should. The weight of it would have crushed a lesser leader; Silas already had the bent neck of someone who cared more for words on pages than actions.

The king, queen, and advisors also had mighty headdresses, ornate and glistening.

“It depends on which one you choose.” Leesa snapped her fingers for the third time, and the last two boxes opened.

The first three had contained items required for the ceremony.

The golden twine Zandyr and I would wrap around our wrists as the priests hummed our blessings.

The golden chalice into which we’d mix our blood together.

The dagger we’d use to cut our palms. Its hilt was also made out of glass, but no blood swirled inside it. Though Leesa had gleefully told me my blood would fill it at the wedding. Lovely and not at all frightening.

The last two boxes contained two crowns, both resting on red velvet cushions.

I approached the first one, mesmerized. The headpiece was unlike anything I’d ever seen. It had a strong base, with swirls of platinum twisting against each other. It ended in seven perfect spires, a black jewel perched on each of their sharp tips, as if they took great joy in defying gravity. The sides had countless pearls beaded into it, overflowing in two long strands that would cascade around my face.

The perfect blend of soft and hard.

“Amazing.” I raised my hand to touch it, then froze. I knew better than to let shiny things mesmerize me. I forced my gaze toward the second box and instantly deflated. “Is that one for emergencies?”

The second crown was…Well, I didn’t like it. Its metal looked too much like bleeding copper unable to decide if it wanted to be gold or red, as if flames had licked its sides in some great inferno. It was short and stubby and just…no.

Leesa must’ve noticed my crestfallen face, because she quickly added. “I thought you might like the first one better, but I want these lessons to be as comprehensive as possible. I wanted you to choose.”

I laughed, relieved. That copper menace of a crown was not coming anywhere near my head; its jagged base looked like it would pierce my scalp.

But the pearl one was gorgeous. It would hug my plumping cheeks very nicely. I could almost feel the weight of it on my head, pressing and demanding. “Yes, you’re very thorough.”

Leesa’s shoulders shimmied with pride. In the corner, Goose gulped again. “I can also tell you the small one’s a relic from back when the royal family could take more than one spouse. With marriage alliances formed left and right, our kings and queens wanted some semblance of a choice. The pearl crown was for the favorite. The others got the metal one.”

My brows furrowed. “How much of a relic? Is there a second mother-in-law I haven’t met?”

“No, no.” Leesa’s eyes widened with unease. “The royal family stopped doing that more than a century ago. They decided it was best after queen Elira’s four husbands blasted the palace to pieces arguing over who she loved more. Then king Draven–”

“Elira’s great-grandson,” I said with a smile.

“Very good.” Leesa beamed. “King Draven’s six wives poisoned him, then themselves. The Clan gave up on the tradition after that.”

I huffed a laugh. Zandyr could’ve mentioned these relatives when he’d claimed none of his ancestors had endangered the Capital.

“Besides, even if the royal family still followed the rule,” Leesa went on, voice quieting to a whisper. “King Eldryan would have never taken another wife. He didn’t go to war for Zavoya for nothing.”

My eyebrows rose. There was no mention of this in any of the library books I had been able to read. Even the tome Kaya had gifted me glossed over the truth, referencing a Clan dispute and unrest after the marriage. “He went to war for her?”

Like father, like son, apparently.

“Yes, it was a ghastly thing. He had an arranged marriage with a princess from a Northern Clan. The wedding ceremony had been planned, the princess’ family had all come down to the Capital. Then Eldryan announced he was marrying his advisors’ daughter and nobody else. The Capital streets hadn’t been filled with so much blood since the Scarlet Bane wiped out half our population. Buildings and temples were set on fire. The Citadel was named Phoenix Peak after, after we managed to rebuild it. Barely. It was awful.”

My mind jolted back to when Zandyr had talked about true mates.

So absorbed in your mate that nobody and nothing else matters , his rich voice whispered in my ear.

Eldryan had risked countless lives for his love for Zavoya. No wonder Zandyr didn’t seem too fond of the idea–or his parents.

Indignation burned at me.

“Why did Zavoya and Eldryan ever agree to a marriage alliance for their own son if his father risked the Clan to break his?” I said in a hiss.

At least my parents had the excuse of marrying for love, like all of grandpa Constantine’s sons. But after what had happened between Clara’s parents–and worse, Dax and Dara’s mother and father–he’d been more open to the idea of arranged marriages for his grandbabies.

“The decisions of the king and queen aren’t ours to decipher,” Leesa said primly. But then her eyes shifted and her head lowered toward me. “But some say it was to protect our prince.”

“Why?” I asked. When Leesa hesitated, I took a chance and leaned closer to her. “In the interest of complete thoroughness, of course.”

She opened and closed her rosy lips a few times, before she went on, “The Northern Clans wanted revenge. Zavoya and Eldryan were already married and had their powers, they were untouchable. But the prince was a vulnerable child. He became a target. Assassination attempts, kidnappings. An alliance with the Protectorate, who’d defeated the Northern Clans once and could do it again, offered him more protection. That contract meant two Clans had an interest in keeping him alive.”

I stared at Leesa. “You’re telling me my own grandfather might have protected Zandyr?”

“That I cannot say. Only Constantine, Zavoya, and Eldryan know for sure.” Leesa took an obvious step back. We were done sharing secrets.

It suddenly made sense.

Why Zandyr wanted to marry me despite not liking me.

Why he’d risk upsetting the Serpents to uphold the contract.

Why he didn’t talk too kindly about his parents.

Both of our parents had made mistakes, but in completely different ways. Perhaps they had all told themselves it was the only way to protect us.

“That’s why he came for me,” I whispered.

“And why he’s taken extra precautions to protect all Blood Brotherhood civilians along our borders and not make his parents’ mistakes,” Leesa went on. “The caravans are still coming and there’s so much to do. But Goose promised me we’ll go down to the docks and help tomorrow.”

Leesa sent such a dazzling smile Goose’s way, I was afraid he might pass out from the way the blood rushed into his cheeks. I’d have to ask him about that later. Nobody got so smitten with just one look and a few smiles.

“Caravans?” I asked.

“Yes, for the evacuees. The prince ordered all the border towns and villages to be evacuated until tensions with the Serpent Clan end. You know, in case of an attack. A lot of people need help right now.”

I pushed down my anger at Zandyr for keeping so many secrets. We’d both upset the Serpent Clan. This was my burden to bear as well.

He was doing the same thing my parents had. Shielding me from reality.

But this time I could do something about it.

“So you’re going down to help tomorrow, huh, Goose?” I asked.

All the color Leesa had brought into his cheeks vanished as Goose blanched. Ah, so he’d been instructed not to tell me. He gave a jittery nod.

“Wonderful,” I said, a plan already forming.

It was time I tested my limits once more.