Flowers. The room was filled with them. Big ones and little ones, colorful ones and heritage ones. They were all beautiful.
“And they’re all giving me a headache.”
The complaint came from Verstand as she wrangled the taller flowers. “Why will these things not keep up?”
I strolled up to her side and grasped the tall stems. My faint green light emanated from my hands. “They say they want a large vase.”
Verstand glared at them. “There are none left. They are all being used on the even larger flowers.”
I leaned them up against their brethren and patted them on their heads. “Stay there and behave.” The flowers twitched their petals a little.
“Plants should be outside. . .” Verstand mumbled before her eyes flickered over me. “How are you feeling?”
“A little tired.”
Both eyebrows shot up. “Only a little?”
“Well, a lot, but at least I’m all healed.” I stretched my arms out on either side of me and examined myself. “And surprisingly fast. How’s Angela?”
“Eager to go home, but she won’t be leaving for at least a month while that wing heals.”
My heart fell. “I don’t think I could ever thank her.”
Verstand chuckled. “Give her a hare every other day and she’ll do it for you again.” She moved over to the small table where lay a platter filled with a breakfast feast on the fine silver. “Now you should stop fidgeting with them and come over to eat your food because it gets cold. All the cooks poured their anima into making these little cakes as airy as possible.”
“At this rate, I won’t long fit into any of my clothes,” I joked as I took a seat.
“Then we’ll have some more nice ones made for you,” Verstand suggested as she poured out some tea. “The seamstress will know your general measurements by then, anyway.”
I paused mid-fork and blinked at her. “Why will she have my measurements? I still have plenty of clothes in my trunk.”
“She’ll be coming today for the fitting.”
My mind filled with confusion. “What fitting?”
“For the dress for your coronation. Didn’t I tell you?”
I blinked at her. “Tell me what?”
She put her hands on her hips and frowned. “Did none of the other queens tell you about anything useful?”
I shrugged. “They told me about the lake?”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course they would.” She threw up her hands and shook her head. “At least the ceremony takes place at the lake.”
“But what ceremony?” I persisted as I skewered an innocent sausage. “Wasn’t I coronated when I signed the contract?”
“That is the private binding. The public must see you, and so you’ll be shown to the whole city in a few days. Everyone will be there to take a look at you.”
Numae preserve me. My fork clattered onto my plate, and my mouth fell open.
Verstand did a double-take at me, and her eyebrows crashed down. “What’s that look for? Haven’t you been in front of a whole bunch of people before?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “H-how many people live in the capital?”
“Twenty-five thousand people, but of course, there will be others coming from all over the kingdom to see you.” My heart sank into my stomach, leaving me no room for the food. I pushed my plate away. Verstand’s frowning eyes flickered between the platter and me. “There’s nothing to worry about. You won’t even need to say anything more than a few lines of gratitude to the people, and then you’ll be crowned. The goldsmith will be here tomorrow for that fitting.”
A crown. A gown. A coronation.
Verstand’s heavy hand on my shoulder shook me from my shock. I looked up to find her smiling down at me. “You’ll be fine, and I dare say you’ll be the second prettiest queen he’s ever had.”
A snort escaped me. “Behind Bojana?”
She puffed out her chest a little and lifted her chin. “No, me.”
My jaw hit the floor. I looked over the older woman who stood before me. There was a sharp look in her eyes, but I had trouble imagining her adorned in queenly attire.
Some of the steam escaped from her chest. “Why such a look?”
“I just, well, when did you marry him?”
“I’ll have you know I was the first to marry him shortly after he built the palace.”
A realization slowly dawned on me. “Then you. . .you’re the oldest queen? The one who didn’t have to sign the contract?”
She folded her arms over her chest and grinned. “Quite correct.” She eyed me with a curious look. “Did you think Marcus would entrust the choosing of his queens to just anyone?”
I shrugged. “I knew he must have trusted you a lot, but to send a queen to fetch a queen? Where’s your room?”
“Well, truth be told, I’m a little retired from those duties, and I live on the second floor of the east wing away from the squabbling.” She pushed my plate closer to me. “You should eat while you listen.”
“But why did you retire? How old are you? Why did you marry him? Do you-” The last question had been blurted out in the long line of inquiries.
Her eyes twinkled at me. “Do I love him?”
I sank into my seat. “I. . .I just wanted to know about you.”
She dropped into the seat opposite me and sighed. “I suppose you would be curious about the first queen, wouldn’t you? And why he didn’t stop at me?”
I squirmed in my chair. “If. . .if that isn’t a painful memory.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Painful? Quite the contrary. You see, I didn’t love him, so I encouraged him to search out other brides.”
I blinked at her. “Then you. . .you’re the one who had him start collecting us?”
Verstand set her clasped hands on the table and sighed. “For good and ill, yes. Bojana was the first, and was fortunately not my fault. She truly was a matter of convenience over substance.”
“Why did you stop being a queen?”
She gestured down at herself. “Would I look proper beside that handsome young dragon king?”
I shrugged. “You look great.”
“For my age, you mean.” A heavy sigh escaped her. “The trouble with me is that I’m human, and even his gift won’t allow me to live forever.”
“Gift?”
“The gift of the contract. It grants long life to those races who aren’t long-lived.” She leaned forward, and a smile played across her lips. “You do recall when he married Bojana, don’t you?”
My mind scoured my memories. “A. . .a century ago?”
She nodded. “Most humans scarcely live longer than seventy, and here I am at more than twice that age.”
“What does the contract do for those like me who are long-lived?”
“Absolutely nothing.” She laughed at my drooping face. “It’s to even things out among the beauties.”
“I see. . .” I murmured as I picked up my fork. I didn’t eat the sausage, but rather slid it across the plate.
She leaned closer to me. “You have something on your mind. Out with it.”
I took a deep breath and let it out. “Was Darius in love with you? Is that why he married you?”
She fell back against her seat and furrowed her brow. “Now that’s a question I can’t answer because I don’t know. I know he liked me as a friend, and my family was rather wealthy, so I helped fill his Vault with some very precious items.”
“Vault?”
She rolled her eyes. “You have been told absolutely nothing, haven’t you? I’ll have to scold those friends of yours for showing you everything and telling you nothing.” It was at that moment a knock came from the door. Bessy jumped to her feet. “That should be the seamstress. Now we’ll get you looking like a real queen.”
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