Page 62 of The Shadowed Oracle (The Bonded Worlds #1)

Four seats were neighboring the massive stone throne at the center, all of them full. Sitting in an intimidating row were three men, all very youthful in appearance, and one woman, older but no less vibrant. Below them were more masked servants splayed about, zigzagging up the staircase.

And in the middle of it all, sat Enitha, usurper Queen of the Isles, Magus conqueror, and subject of the newly crowned High King of Ealis.

She wore a white flounced gown that extended well past the floor, trickling like flowing water down the high seat she sat atop. Her neck was completely wrapped in sapphires and silver, and she wore one large, blindingly bright diamond ring on her pinky.

She wasn’t the hardened dictator Ingrid had pictured.

Nor was she an embittered woman with fire and malice in her eyes.

She was plain, unremarkable, and incredibly young.

Ingrid had read many accounts of Viator aging in various ways—some frozen in their early twenties for hundreds of years, while others aging more like humans until they reached a healthy and radiant forty-five.

But Enitha, she appeared to be no older than eighteen: too-smooth complexion, lustrous golden hair, and long lashes fanning over intense lime green eyes.

“My treasured guests,” she said. “You couldn’t have arrived at a more opportune time.” With a dramatic flourish, she lolled her arm to her right and rested it on the shoulder of the male sitting next to her.

The handsome friend of hers returned the gesture, interlocking his hands with hers. “Indeed,” he said loudly, orating for the crowd. “Come closer, friends, closer!”

The male’s smile revealed bone-white teeth and full cheeks.

His hair and beard were both well-tended and thick, and he was of considerable height, ethereally handsome in a crown and velvet robe.

Callinora had been right. The resemblance her husband Arryn had to Dean was uncanny.

But that’s where the precision of her intel stopped.

Sitting there like that, all doe-faced and jolly, he looked anything but hexed, or poisoned, or under any kind of a spell.

Callinora’s captured husband looked very much in love.

Deathly silent, Ingrid stopped at the bottom of the staircase, waiting for the royal pair to give their next command.

“Perfect.” Arryn clapped his hands together. “That’s better. Beautiful faces such as yours are always welcome here.”

“I do say, they are a lively bunch,” Enitha turned to Gerhardt, who’d taken his place just behind the queen’s throne, hovering over her. “You didn’t tell me they were so delectable, Gerhardt.”

The lord of treasury bowed, a self-satisfied look on his face. “I thought it would be best to surprise you, your Royal Highness.”

“Oh yes! A surprise. I do love those.” She looked to Arryn as if expecting him to pull out a pen and pad to write the declaration down for later.

“But let’s not get off-track,” Enitha continued. “Today is about much more than pretty things and pleasant secrets. Today is about celebration. It’s about… appreciation! And to do that properly, we must have some memento.” Enitha’s eyes darted demandingly back to Gerhardt.

He froze in place at the suddenness of it. “Oh, yes. Of course,” he stammered. “Come now. The Queen will see you and your wares. Only your finest!” He smiled so wide it seemed to pain him.

Dean was the first to respond. He bent to one knee and unlocked the crate full of jewels. “We have rarities from all over. Please, take your pick.”

The queen lifted herself in her seat a moment, getting a short glance at the gleaming gems, then again prodded at Lord Gerhardt with an unspoken demand.

“Bring them closer,” Gerhardt said shortly.

“Please. Don’t be shy.” He kept his eyes on his queen all the time he spoke, as if waiting for another signal to stop.

“The Queen mustn’t rush her decision. As she said, today is about celebration!

A day that will be written about ten times over in the history books!

Sung about in the songs!” He lifted his hands, raising his voice.

“It shall go down as the happiest of moments in our long and storied court! Surely a pivotal and precious day! A most grand and… and quintessential affair! A momentous and no doubt unforgettable?—”

“Eh-hem.”

The queen’s indiscreet interruption seemed to physically knock all pretension from Gerhardt’s mouth. “With haste, my lovely new friends! Our beloved King Arryn is in need of his wedding gift!”

Raucous applause sounded off from the crowd. Congratulations and whistling wishes for the future swarmed the air like flies.

Loud as it was, Ingrid was glad of the noise, not entirely able to silence the sound of her shock.

King . King Arryn. Whether it was legally recognized or not, they’d married.

On the very day Ingrid and her team had arrived to take him back to his wife, Arryn had become King Regent of a rival kingdom.

Queen Enitha raised up the hand of Arryn, the now former Prince of Maradenn, and said, “Together in this world. And the last.”