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Chapter sixty-eight

A strid accompanied the Royal Legion to Clorea’s capital, Serpents’ Dawn. The plush carriage she occupied was much larger than the one that brought her to Ledivion, but her company hadn’t changed.

Dimitri sat beside her, watching the shops and buildings surrounding the palace parade past the window. Her people stared uneasily. Sorin had divided the kingdom, surrendering half of their lands to Ledivion. She wondered if word had reached them, and whether they knew of her cousin’s demise.

They rode through the palace gates and followed the curved road to the entry. Dimitri exited first and spread his wings. “If any of you raise your weapons at my wife, I will personally deliver your husk to Vinceret.”

Sterling’s voice joined him. “Stand down.”

Astrid exited the coach, surveying the guards lining the palace. She smiled as she took Dimitri’s hand. “Don’t kill all our soldiers.”

He inclined his head, and his crown of daggers gleamed against the shadows.

Astrid climbed the steps. She was returning to Serpents’ Dawn not as a rescued princess but as a ruling queen.

Viktor had woven beautiful sheets of silk for her and dyed them the deepest blood red.

Astrid had Dimitri’s shadows painted onto the ends of the skirt panels.

Her pauldron featured elegant plum blossom branches with rubies fitted as the pedals.

They glittered in the sunlight as she stepped off the coach.

It wasn’t the dress that captured the guards’ attention. They stared at the diamond and ruby diadem resting atop her head and the daggered blades mimicking horns.

Astrid took Dimitri’s hand and glanced at her friend. “Sterling, would you please bring my ornaments?”

He nodded and Astrid headed into the palace.

The light clinks of metal sounded behind her, followed by a barrage of armored steps and breathless gasps.

Astrid glanced over her shoulder to find Sterling with a length of chain slung over his shoulder.

Four empty birdcages, sized for canaries, hung from the chain draped over his chest and legs.

Her remaining cousins’ heads would fill the other cages, just as Sorin’s and the others’ occupied the four strung across Sterling’s back.

Astrid made her way to the War Room. The guards who’d once barred her entry shrank at her approach. Dimitri’s shadowed magic swept over them as he ordered, “Open the doors.”

They pushed the doors open before Astrid reached the doorway and fled their posts.

Warrick’s eyes widened as they entered the room and he turned to River. “You said you killed the Death Spirit.”

Her cousins scattered like insects. Dimitri’s shadows engulfed them, and their screams followed.

Astrid leaned into her king and brushed her lips over the hollow of his throat. “Remember, I want to keep them.”

The remaining nobles huddled in the far corner. They jumped as Sterling arranged the birdcages on the table dominating the room.

Astrid stepped over River’s writhing body and spread her hands over the table’s face. The Serpents’ Crown lay in the center of the map depicting her kingdom.

An angry red scrawl divided her birthright, marking the half surrendered to Ledivion.

Weak plays for power made by weaker males.

Astrid removed her jeweled diadem and placed it at the center of the Ledivite-owned lands. She lifted the Serpents’ Crown, holding it before her. It was heavier than she expected. The gilded snakes held a quartz crystal between their fangs as their eyes glinted.

Fate had led her here and she would steer Clorea onto the path the Three-Faced Mother set before her.

The circlet slid over her dark hair and rested against her ornate combs. She finally wore the Serpents’ Crown as she was always meant to.

Astrid turned in a smooth motion. “I’ve missed my loving family.” She bent and pressed her hand over River’s forehead, stitching his soul to the skull she would keep.

“The family who took my strategies and conveniently forgot my name when they returned victorious,” she said binding Warrick next. “My cousins who betrayed me at every turn. Who whored my kingdom out to rule half of it as dogs.”

Astrid bound the last of them and returned for their delicate wire cages. “You will live as long as I reign, bearing witness to my throne.”

She opened the hinge and turned to the cowering council members.

“For you, I will offer a choice: Serve me or join them as witness.”