Page 44 of What Fury Brings (Wrath and Fury #1)

Olerra’s presence was required at a meeting the next day.

She’d had exactly one fitful hour of sleep before Vorika woke her, and she’d spent the rest of the night preparing the city for the approaching army.

Olerra could do no more than wash the sweat from her body with a rag in the water basin.

She put a serum below her eyes to try to remove some of the hollowness.

Then she dressed and headed for the meeting room.

All the women looked up at her approach.

She was the last to arrive, it seemed. Already, the queen rested at the head of the table.

Glenaerys was on her immediate left with her mother, Shaelwyn, on her other side.

Next to her was Enadra, the former general.

On the opposite side of the table sat Cyssia and Usstra.

Olerra went to take her usual seat on the queen’s right, but she was halted. “You will sit at the end of the table today,” Shaelwyn declared. “We have to determine if you’re even worthy to be sitting with us. So you will sit where we can pass judgment most easily.”

Olerra turned to her aunt, since Shaelwyn could not make such a demand on her own. When the queen nodded, Olerra knew that a majority vote had already been taken on this matter.

Olerra was losing.

She sat opposite the queen, at least two chairs between her and everyone else at the table. This was apparently to be a trial of sorts.

Enadra spoke first. “Princess Olerra, some nasty allegations have been hurtled your way. We need to hear your side of things.”

“Of course, General.”

Enadra may no longer hold the position, but the honorific remained.

Glen started to open her mouth, and Olerra refused to be questioned by her cousin, so she spoke first.

“It is true that I don’t possess the Goddess’s Gift.

It is true that I tried to hide that fact because I worried what everyone would think of me.

It is also true that I earned my place as general by being the best of the best of the queen’s soldiers.

I have won battles and killed many Brutes.

I may not have the gift of strength over men, but I have Goddess Amarra’s favor all the same. ”

Olerra hoped if she said those words enough, she’d start to believe them. She had earned her place as general, but it was hard to believe that she had the goddess’s favor. Did the goddess even know who she was if she hadn’t seen fit to bless her with her Gift?

But now was not the time to show uncertainty. Olerra needed to be strong in front of the women who would decide her future.

Enadra smiled at the response. “I agree wholeheartedly. I have trained Olerra myself, and no one has fought harder for the safety and peace of Amarran citizens. She is a good general and will bring us much success in the years to come.”

“Except,” Shaelwyn cut in, “that she’s brought war to our city. King Atalius will be here in two days’ time. What does the princess have to say to that?”

“If you wish to know something, Aunt, then you will address the question to me ,” Olerra responded.

Shaelwyn met her eyes. “You carelessly took Atalius’s heir, and now he’s bringing us war. What do you intend to do about it?”

Olerra allowed a smile she didn’t feel grace her lips.

“I did nothing carelessly. I took Atalius’s heir to teach him a lesson after needlessly fighting us for Shamire again.

I kept the prince’s identity a secret for his own safety.

Now that someone has so kindly informed the king about my activities”—Olerra barely refrained from looking at Glenaerys—“I will, of course, trade him for the spare when Atalius arrives. It’s already been arranged.

There will be no war. There will be no fighting.

There will only be an exchange of princes. ”

“Are you accusing someone of something?” Glenaerys asked.

“Of course not, cousin.” Olerra had no proof. Raising claims would only look like Olerra was the kind of woman to point fingers instead of accept responsibility for her actions.

And she had messed up. She took the wrong man, and now had to lie about it.

Cyssia said, “You claim that you took the heir on purpose to teach Atalius a lesson?”

“That’s right,” Olerra said at the same time Glenaerys scoffed.

“That’s beautiful,” Cyssia said. “You really are a delight, Olerra. It’s a shame that you haven’t any power. I would have liked to see you rule as queen.”

“A lack of power does not necessarily make her unfit for the throne,” the queen said.

“Nor does it endorse her,” Usstra said, speaking for the first time.

“There must be some punishment for lying to everyone,” Shaelwyn said. “I demand she be removed from all consideration for the succession.”

“I did not lie,” Olerra said. “No one asked. You all assumed. I was never untruthful. And I’ve clearly done a fine job without it, as I’ve pointed out. Glenaerys is no fighter. Period. She only strikes when her opponents have their hands tied. Yet everyone thinks her fit to be queen.”

The tension in the room grew. Olerra could feel it. Her cousin’s outrage. Shaelwyn’s eagerness to see Olerra stricken from the line of succession. The queen’s fear.

Usstra spoke again. “I move that the voting will continue as planned on the anniversary of the Goddess’s Gift. We should see how Olerra handles the upcoming ordeal with the king before we make any hasty decisions. This is history we’re talking about.”

“All those in favor?” the queen asked.

Everyone raised their hands except Shaelwyn.

“Then we will continue as planned.”

“She didn’t take the heir on purpose!” Glenaerys finally spat out. “I have witnesses who will attest to what happened when the truth came out.”

The queen turned to her other niece. “And I have witnesses who will say otherwise, Glen. Are you really calling me a liar?”

Glen looked at the table. Shaelwyn stiffened at her side.

Sanos wanted to hit something.

Yes, he’d kept a secret, but so had Olerra! Yet he was the one sent away, locked up in Ydra’s home yet again.

If he could just see Olerra, he was prepared to take the high road. He’d tell her that he understood why she’d kept her secret from him, but if he’d known, he could have helped. He would have helped her hide everything from her nasty cousin.

And then she could forgive him for not telling her who he really was. They would fix this.

But what if she didn’t forgive him?

Then he’d make her see reason! She’d stolen him; he was under no obligation to disclose his identity. She never asked who he was.

Oh, yes. Arguing with her will definitely bring her over to your side.

Gods, if he could just talk to her!

“This time,” Ydra said, “you really can’t. She’s trying to sort out the giant mess her cousin made. She’s busy.”

It was kind of her to say that Glenaerys was responsible for the mess, as though he hadn’t done anything to add to it.

Sanos felt useless. Restless. Beyond agitated.

“Has she decided what to do with me?” he dared to ask.

“She’s trading you for your brother, the real Andrastus.”

He felt his stomach sink. He’d hoped that had been an empty threat. Something she’d said in the heat of the moment.

“I don’t want to go,” he admitted.

“Liars get what’s coming to them,” she said unhelpfully.

“She doesn’t want Andrastus,” Sanos said.

“Jealousy doesn’t look good on you.”

“I’m serious! Andrastus would be boring for someone like her. She needs someone who will put up a fight. Dare to tell her when she’s wrong. She needs me.”

“Get over yourself.”

Sanos just barely stopped himself from punching the nearest wall. “Don’t you pretend like you don’t like me. Like you don’t want to see her with me.”

Ydra set down her quill. “What I want is to see her happy. What I want is to see her on the throne of Amarra. What I want is to not be stuck with you in my home any longer!”

He deserved that. All of it. Ydra had every right to be upset.

“You will do as you’re told for once,” Ydra said. “When your father arrives, you will be the only useful thing left to Olerra: a bargaining chip. Is that understood?”

He didn’t have a retort. He was overwhelmed by how much he wanted to set things right. To help. But the last thing he wanted was to be returned to his father. To go back to being nothing but the king’s pawn.

A messenger knocked on the open door to Ydra’s study. The newcomer strode up to Ydra and handed her a note.

Ydra read it quickly before widening her eyes. She turned to Sanos. “Stay here. Don’t get up to any trouble.”

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing that requires your temper.”

When Vorika delivered the news that part of the king’s approaching army had branched off from the rest, Olerra had sent for Ydra immediately.

She ordered that the scout be brought before her because she wanted to hear everything firsthand.

Within a couple of hours, the woman stood before them in Olerra’s office off the training yard.

Olerra and Ydra leaned against her desk while Vorika stood beside the wall with her arms crossed. The scout sat in the proffered chair.

“It’s a small force,” the scout, Iseri, said. “Only fifty. They’ve gone around the city and wait to the south.”

Olerra turned to Ydra. “Fifty is not enough to breach the gate.”

“And Atalius would know that,” Ydra agreed.

Vorika added, “Some of my women have gone missing, and I don’t think the Brutes would have bothered to hide their bodies if they were behind it.”

“Who else would be involved?” Ydra asked. “Atalius is at war with the Ephennans. Kalundir profits greatly from the trade agreements we’ve set them at Shamire. Dyphankar, then?”

The lack of sleep was making her slow, but Olerra promised herself a full night’s rest tonight.

“No,” Olerra said as realization finally set in. “Atalius isn’t splitting because he expects reinforcements. Someone has promised to let the small band of Brutes into the city.”

Ydra’s blond braid slid off her shoulder from the sharp movement of her head. “A traitor?”