Era of Wrath (Chrim Chronicles #2)

CHAPTER NINE

Loreen

     The Moreau Island looked somber, a dark beach as grey as the sky and dozens of the same plain blue tents. The roving wind blew a beautiful tune as I walked across the arched wooden bridge with a handful of armed men escorting me. A movement underneath the water's surface caught my eye and when I looked down from the bridge I saw an alligator swimming about, at least four feet in length. The branches of the trees bent to the north as they were hauled along by the hooting wind. The guards showed me the way across the courtyard of the castle, plain gravel with wooden benches at the sides, and we reached a flight of stone steps leading to an arched wooden door.

Our footsteps clanked through the hallways. The ceilings reached high and had many chandeliers dangling, along with curling lines in the stone. While the guards led me along I wondered about the Queen I was about to meet. Even though I knew nothing about her, I'd already painted her picture in my head. I imagined a slender woman in her early thirties, maybe mid-twenties, with golden hair wearing a flowing green dress. The door creaked open. The armed men stepped in front of me, blocking my view, and announced my arrival. Then, they finally stepped aside and I could finally see the Queen, and compare her to the image in my head.

Oh, how wrong that picture was.

On a tall throne made of gold and padded with red velvet sat a little girl with soft round cheeks and big, watchful brown eyes. Her reddish brown hair was braided around her head, and on top lay a golden crown embedded with more rubies. Draped over her shoulders and over her green dress was a black cape stitched with silver thread and absolute precision. It was a cute girl in appearance, delightful to look at, but the way she had her chin lowered and watched me approach with a deep frown was not cute. Queen Neviana reminded me of a toxic snake quietly stalking her prey. On the table beneath her, stretching straight down with its end pointed towards me, sat her council consisting of six; among them Eileen Dovraven on her immediate right. Eileen didn't look the way I remembered her, where she used to be all elegance and orderly now her hair stood messy, her face looked pale and dull, and her eyes stood drowsy. I stood still at the end of the table and made a small bow towards the little Queen.

Neviana raised her chin and observed me from head to toe. "Sit."

"Thank you." I shoved the chair on the table and found myself sitting across from her. "Queen Neviana, it's an honor to meet you."

"Is it, Loreen?" Neviana took a deep breath through her nose, looking like I was exhausting her. "Is it really an honor? Or are you just saying that because you're no longer welcome at the place where your true honor lies?" This made me swallow, which Neviana noticed and my fear made her smile. "Loreen, I'm aware of the history of my bloodline. I know very well that no witch on Earth is genuinely honored to meet a member of the exiled Moreau family." For a moment she stared at me in silence with a frown, making me feel like she was dismembering my soul. "We are those black sheep where none of the white sheep talk about until the wolves hit them and then they suddenly need a place to hide. Hiding, that is what you are here for, is it not?"

I nodded. "Lily Porth told me..."

"I don't care what Lily Porth told you." Neviana locked eyes with Eileen. "And I don't care that Eileen has vowed for you." She turned back at me and threw me a brief smile. "I don't trust you Loreen, and that's a good thing because what kind of ruler would I be if I just blindly trusted every witch wandering through my doors?"

I smiled and gave her a nod. "Not a very good one."

"Indeed."

"So..." I raised my hands and eyebrows. "Tell me, Queen, how can I earn your trust?"