Miri grabbed the dagger she had hidden at her waist, wrenching her arms free from the last of her bonds with a tearing of flesh to slam the hilt to metal before the guards had a chance to stop her.
The clash was quick and loud and seemed to end all other noises from reaching Miri’s ears. Horror flooded her, worse than drowning in a frozen sea. The locket their mother had forced upon her had not been a token at all or a reminder of Miri’s vow. It had been evidence against the queen’s betrayer.
Miri stared down at the broken pieces, her torn wrist dripping blood where she’d destroyed the only thing she held dear, all that was left of her mother.
Among the bits of busted metal, anyone could see the blood, aged from its time inside. Miri remembered now that she’d not seen her mother remove it from her neck. It had been given to her by Henry when he’d found out and he’d come to warn them.
All she could think of was the fear that had crossed her sister’s features at the sight of it. It was fear that said she knew where the locket had been and how it had been taken from her mother’s neck. It was fear that said Lettie was guilty of more than falling for sweet words and empty promises.
“Lettie.” Miri’s word was only a breath, the tone one of mourning and of a final, unchangeable regret.
Her mother’s words rang in her ears. You will come back, Myrina of Stormskeep. You will earn your name. I command your vow that you will end the traitor for good. Only a true Lion will hold the throne.
The Lion Queen had known all along. And Henry, when they’d found him in the cells, had known too. Show her you’ve the heart of a Lion. Myrina had never suspected or considered such a thing of her sister at all, even when it was clear she’d been misled by Nicholas. Lettie had given them what they could never obtain on their own, even if she didn’t realize the weapon it would become. The doors to the throne room burst open, and the king shouted an order at his men, but Miri could only hear the rising of her blood. Lettie had betrayed them. The heir apparent had killed the queen.
Miri’s fingers curled into a fist, but the king’s game had run its course. Their time was up. Myrina would watch Cass and the queensguard be killed. Lettie’s eyes strayed to Prince Augustus, her face pale as realization dawned. He was the prince she’d given the locket to and who had tricked her into falling for their ploy. Miri could nearly read the revelations that flitted over her sister’s face. How many must have been sacrificed to perform such magic, to cause a death that would twist the fate of so many. Lettie hadn’t just killed the queen. She’d killed thousands.
Miri’s heart pounded, but her chest had eased in the strange drowning sensation from the presence of sorcerers. She was aware of the fighting behind her, the flare of heat and magic and the clash of swords. The sorcerers were not dead, yet their effect on her seemed to be broken. She stared down at the locket, a token she had carried with her everywhere. Every time a sorcerer’s presence had frozen her, she’d been carrying it. And how much worse it had been when she’d been soaked in her mother’s blood. It had been the blood in the locket all along. Miri was free of their hold.
Her gaze shot back to Lettie, but her sister’s realizations had shifted into a familiar rage. Her eyes swam over Nicholas and the chaos of the room before they stopped on Miri.
Miri was still on her knees at the hands of the kingsmen, but her answer was steady. “He doesn’t have the power, Lettie. He never has.” Her tone rang with the promise You are a Lion.
Lettie’s jaw went tight, and her hand moved swiftly to the dagger at the prince’s side. She shoved it into Nicholas’s neck, straight and fast and deep. Then she ripped it free at an angle, the king’s blood spraying over the throne. Miri shouted, trying to jerk free from her captors, but her warning came too late. Lettie turned into the prince’s arms, his blade spearing through her gut as her mouth opened in a gasp.
The betrayal in Lettie’s eyes was the worst, not because she had trusted the bastard king and his wicked son but because Miri had seen the look before from their mother. The Lion Queen had died knowing she’d been betrayed by her own daughter. As Lettie’s expression melted into pain, Miri forgave whatever rage that might have followed. The prince dropped her body to the floor as queensguard rushed the dais. They took down the prince but were too late to save Lettie. Her blood spilled over the steps of the throne, pooling before Miri and the locket.
Lettie’s beautiful face had gone slack, and as the last bit of breath left her sister’s body, Miri felt the jolt of ages-old magic rush into her.
The hum of it rose inside her, biting within her veins. She threw her head back in a scream, and the room fell still as if it were the roar of a lion. Magic cracked through the air, a singing pulse that snapped taut against the bonds of the sorcerers. “Stop!” she commanded. “Kneel.”
Miri could not see the men behind her, but she more than understood. She was no true queen yet, but inside her rested the power of the queen’s blood. Her sister had been young and foolish and had released the tethers that bound the magic through her. Her mother’s had been stolen, used against her by men who wished her ill.
Miri was untainted by betrayal or fear. She was done with being trapped, bound before a stolen throne. Her next command was a whisper, and it echoed through the room. “Kill the kingsmen.”
Sorcerer’s fire tore through the throne room, searing death to each of the king’s armed men. Swords clattered to the floor, and the room was scented with bitter smoke and ash. Her queensguard stared for only a moment before they moved again and had surrounded Miri and untied her bonds. She watched in silence as Terric approached the throne and his booted foot rose to shove the body of Nicholas to the floor.
Terric’s eyes met hers, showing a promise fulfilled. Then he knelt slowly before Lettie with a reverence due a queen.
“Burn her,” Miri said. “Take her ashes to the courtyard.” For our mother.
Hands came to Miri’s arms and helped her gently to her feet. It was over. She’d made it, surrounded by queensguard in her home at Stormskeep. Still, her mouth tasted bitter with smoke and blood.
Epilogue
Shadow Queen
Miri stood near a window, high in the keep, staring out at the kingdom of Stormskeep below. Weeks had passed, and with them had come the first cool days that marked the end of the season and Lettie’s name day. On the wall beside her rested a newly hung map carved with the rivers and forests of the seven kingdoms, once again whole. The soldiers of the queensguard, Cass and Terric with them, had been gone for weeks as they removed the last kings from their stolen thrones. Miri had not needed the kings’ justice dealt at her own hand. Her vow to her mother had been fulfilled. The betrayal had not come from the kings at all. It had been her sister. And Lettie was gone. She had been misled by a handsome face and promises that played to her darkest fears, and she had paid for it with her life.
Miri spun the gold band on her finger, its weight somehow heavier than the crown. Henry sat on a cushioned bench in the room behind her, deftly managing matters of state. He would be named regent once he was returned to health for the nearly two years until Miri’s name day, the start of her twentieth year. He still seemed so frail but only compared to her memories. Henry had weathered the time locked away well enough. He was strong, and his mind was still sharp. His heart was ever true, faithful to his duty to the realm.