Shalador’s Lady (The Black Jewels #8)(23)
Author: Anne Bishop

“We aren’t friends.”

Kermilla blinked and looked taken aback.

“Lady Cassidy, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” Jhorma said.

“Since you were never pleased to see me, a lie dipped in honey is still a lie,” Cassidy snapped.

Hell’s fire. Who was this bitch who had taken control of her tongue?

*Cassie? Cassie! Gray wants to know why we don’t like this Queen.* Vae paused. *Ranon wants to know too.*

“Oh,” Kermilla cooed. “Is that a Sceltie? Oh, Iso envy you having one of the kindred.”

Vae snarled, and the Craft-enhanced sound rumbled through the room.

The men tensed. Kermilla’s smile wobbled.

The thought of locking Kermilla in a room with Vae for a few hours provided just enough humor to smooth out a few of the rough edges of Cassidy’s temper. But not enough of those edges for her to hold on to civility.

“Come with me, Kermilla. I’ll grant you a few minutes of my time, and you can say what you came to say.Privately. ” Cassidy turned and looked at Ranon to make sure he got the message.

He didn’t like it.Hated her being in a room alone with a stranger who might be an enemy. But he gave her a curt nod to indicate he would stand aside. Then he focused on the four men who had come with Kermilla, and Cassidy understood the danger. Ifanything went wrong, those four men were forfeit. The Warlord Princes in Dena Nehele had survived the twisted Queens who had ruled here, and they had survived two years of war against the landens. They wouldn’t hesitate to tear her former court apart.

They might attack anyway if they realized those menwere from her former court. Warlord Princes were possessive and territorial, and no one had been prepared for this visit.

“Kermilla, with me,” Cassidy snapped as she turned and walked to the door.

“May I remind you that I outrank you?” Kermilla snapped back.

“May I remindyou that you don’t addressour Queen in that tone of voice if you want to keep your tongue?” Ranon snarled. “And if rank is the pissing contest you want to have, then you may outrank her butI outrankyou. ”

*Ranon,*Cassidy said, putting as much steel in her voice as she could.

Those dark eyes blazed with fury. He wasn’t backing down.

*I don’t like her, so please let me hear her out and be done with this,* she told him.

*You don’t need to waste another minute on her.*

He’ll kill her,Cassidy thought, shocked by the truth. It was one thing tothink about standing aside and letting him rip into these people; it was quite another to let him do it for no better reason than feeling bitchy and upset.

*No,* Cassidy said. *Prince Ranon, I’m asking you to step back from the killing edge. Let me deal with this, Queen to Queen.*

He struggled to pull back, struggled to obey. Finally, *Your will is my life.*

Words of surrender, of service.

Having gotten that much of a concession from him, she knew he would hold the other men back. But she didn’t dare look at Gray because what she was picking up from his psychic scent wasn’t good. She could only hope that he wouldn’t do anything imprudent in the few minutes she needed to deal with Kermilla.

As she walked out of the room, she brushed past Theran, who looked pale and dazed. Until she dealt with whatever trouble Kermilla had brought to Dena Nehele, she didn’t have the energy to wonder how much Theran had heard, or if it was her temper or Ranon’s that had shocked him. Either way, he said nothing; just watched as she led Kermilla to the smaller parlor that had become the “Ladies’ Room.”

Theran stared at the beautiful young woman struggling to maintain her dignity as she followed Cassidy into the Ladies’ Room. Dark curls framed a triangular face with dainty features and expressive blue eyes.

He felt a burn in his gut and a pull on his heart, and felt the breathless certainty that he had found the Queen he was meant to serve. Now he understood why Archerr, Shaddo, and some of the other Warlord Princes were so enamored with Cassidy. They’d been desperate to serve a Queen,any Queen, and had deluded themselves into believing they felt that burn for Cassidy because they’d had no opportunity to choose between her and another. But now he’d seen the Queen who should have come back with him, who could truly claim the loyalty of the men who formed the First Circle.She was the one he had hoped to find when he went to Kaeleer to beg Daemon Sadi for help.She was the Queen who should be ruling Dena Nehele.

She was the answer to his hopes and dreams.

A friend of Cassidy’s come for a visit? A long visit, he hoped. A lifetime visit, if he could convince the Lady to stay.

“What are you doing here, Kermilla?” Cassidy demanded as soon as the other Queen shut the parlor door.

“I came to see you,” Kermilla replied, her eyes wide and innocent—and on the verge of being filled with an expression of wounded dignity that was as false as everything else about the woman.

Cassidy wondered if Jhorma had figured out by now that there wasn’t much substance once you got past the things that were directly related to Kermilla’s pleasure and personal gratification.

Maybe that wasn’t fair. After all, a flighty young Queen could mature into a solid ruler. But Cassidy wasn’t much interested in being fair anymore where Kermilla was concerned.

“Why?” Cassidy asked.

Kermilla did her sexy pout, but the usual “aren’t I being naughty?” twinkle wasn’t in her blue eyes. “You didn’t answer my letters, so what choice did I have but to interrupt my own duties and come here?”

“I didn’t answer because I have nothing to say to you.”

Kermilla stamped her foot. “Queen’s gift, Cassidy. I need the money you owe me for taking over the court.”

She hadn’t known she could be this furious, hadn’t known this much anger lived inside her. “I owe you nothing.”

“You do! Queen’s gift—”

“Is agift, not an obligation. And you didn’t take over a court from a retiring Queen, Kermilla. Youtook my court. There’s a vast difference, and if you can’t see that I suggest you have someone explain it to you.” Someone with big, hard boots that could leave an impression where it might do the girl the most good. “The village treasury has the same amount of marks as when I came to Bhak. A little more, in fact.”

“But that’s thevillage treasury. Every copper spent from there has to be reported to the Province Queen. Those marks aren’t Queen’s income. I have expenses, Cassidy.”