Estrella
Queen Raven raises a slow hand to cover her face. King Kieran's sharp mouth turns down slightly at the corners. My pulse beats a warning in my ears. I trust Anwen. I want to trust Anwen. The stories he tells make far more sense with the woman who found me at the top of the dungeon stairs. But with horror, disappointment, painted so starkly on their faces, I cannot think of anything but the stories Nessa told. Queen Raven as a bully, King Kieran as a heartless monster. They look like those people to me now.
Anwen squeezes my hand. I can feel his pulse against the inside of my wrist-steady, sure. He's not scared.
I take a deep breath.
Mother steps around us, in front of me. I can no longer see King Kieran and Queen Raven.
"Does this"-she looks at our joined hands-"mean what I believe it means?"
For the first time in my life, I cannot read her face. That chills me to the core. When I told her the lie-half-lie-about Anwen believing King Kieran had been framed, she gave me almost the same look. A careful, calculated blankness. Like she no longer trusts me with her expressions. Does she think believing Anwen, listening to him at all, is a betrayal of Father's memory? Does she think I'm abandoning everything we stand for?
My mark pulses painfully. I know I'm not betraying Father. I know what he wanted for me, for Sundrop, and this is the best way I can come up with to achieve it. I am no longer just my mother's daughter. I am also her queen, and I am choosing my mate.
"Yes," I say as proudly as I can muster.
Anwen squeezes my hand again.
Mother takes a step closer. "And does this make you happy?"
Still nothing on her face. But this question, at least, is simple to answer.
"Goddess, yes," I say. "Or at the very least, it gives me a path toward happiness, something I didn't see for myself before."
A heartbeat passes. Then, Mother enfolds me in her arms, a warm, soft embrace of acceptance.
I nearly crumple. But she is far from the fiercest dragon to face in this room. I stand strong.
"When I first woke up next to my Isai," she says, loud enough for the whole room to hear, "I was certain it was a mistake. I did wake up first, of course." She smiles. "King Isai would sleep the day away, if I let him. And I remember sitting on the grass next to the then-prince, just picturing his scowl when he saw me. I was some lesser noble from a distant pack. Surely, he'd want nothing to do with me." She laughs, but I hear a tinge of sadness. "Clearly, I did not yet know Isai. When he awoke, he smiled up at me like I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen and told me he already knew he loved me."
I glance at Anwen out of the corner of my eye. Nothing could be less like our first morning together.
Mother releases me. "I didn't believe him for months. Sometimes, love is slow-coming, even when it's in front of you."
I smile at her. That, I understand.
"Be happy." She looks at both of us. "However long it takes."
"Thank you, Moth-"
"What?" Castor demands.
I twist to look at him. Fury blazes in his eyes, but he is only looking at Anwen.
"You lied," he says disbelievingly. "You said this was about your brother, some half-baked story about a frame job.... Estrella, tell me you are not this foolish."
All the warmth of Mother's hug fades away as I face my brother. I knew he didn't agree, when that first breakfast ended, but I believed he was willing to see this out. To trust Anwen enough to explore the possibility. There is nothing of that in his face now.
"Please." His voice breaks as he looks between Anwen and me.
"Castor-"
Anwen squeezes my hand, then releases it to put himself between my brother and me. "In honor of your father's memory, I will not strike you down for talking about my mate that way."
"Your-" Castor's face starts to go purple. "That is my sister! I am trying to save her from being pulled in by your lies, from putting our whole people on the line for her heart!"
"No, you're not," Anwen says calmly.
Calmly! That may be more surprising than anything else that has happened in this throne room so far.
Castor sputters, unable to catch enough words to construct a sentence.
"If you wanted to protect her, you wouldn't have called her stupid." Anwen crosses his arms. "You want to protect your pride, which doesn't have anything to do with us."
"Our father-"
"Is dead," Anwen says coldly. "A devastating loss, and one I intend to revenge as much as I can. What does that have to do with our relationship?"
"You were involved!" Castor bellows, his hand going to his sword.
Anwen tenses. My heart leaps into my throat. They are going to fight, and I'm going to lose one or both of them.
"If you still think that, then you really do think Estrella's stupid, and I'll have to fight you," Anwen says. "Though I'll take the compliment."
Something in Castor deflates. "What?"
"Your sister's a genius for this whole leadership situation already." A soft smile curves his lips. "I haven't gotten a lie past her yet, and the one time I hid the truth, she was half-asleep and damn near caught me anyway. So thanks for believing I could pull it off, but the truth is, I don't stand a snowball's chance in hell against her. I'm lucky she'll let me stand next to her instead of against her because I was losing."
My breath catches. I put a hand on his arm, and Anwen turns to me with a wink. For a moment, I think that means he's lying, saying whatever he has to so Castor will relax. But his face is alive with warmth, with... love? He believes every word.
"We want to do this the right way," he tells Castor while still looking at me. "We want to tell you and get your approval. But I don't see your lack of approval stopping us any time soon."
After weeks of loneliness, of second-guessing, of pain, his words are like a magic spell. A balm to an ache I didn't even know I was carrying. We want to do this right, to use it to find the real murderer, but we also want to be wed.
How incredible to think that and believe it.
"Apologies," King Kieran says.
I whirl around to the foreign king and queen I nearly forgot about. They haven't moved from their thrones, and Queen Raven's hand still covers her mouth.
"But I must ask," he continues. "Does this mean you believe, or are willing to believe, that I did not hire that rogue to murder King Isai?"
Anwen opens his mouth, but I cut him off.
"Yes." My voice rings through the throne room, echoes off the walls. I hold myself with perfect posture, not a hint of hesitation. They are facing the queen of Sundrop Gem, and they should know it. "Anwen says the note was a forgery, and if that is true, any other evidence is circumstantial at best. I believe my mate."
Castor makes a soft, punched-out sound. I screw up every ounce of bravery, of confidence, of belief I have.
"The Goddess brough us together for a reason," I say. "And I believe there was more to that than merely the way we could make each other happy. My mate alone-Anwen alone-could convince me there was some other explanation for the events I've experienced in this castle, as if the Goddess knew I would need such a thing. So, I believe, and I will not rest until Dowager Suniva, Prince Castor, and all of Sundrop Gem believe as I do."
King Kieran exhales and seems to melt out of the foreign dignitary I've seen all along. For the first time, he looks like a man, like someone who will soon be my brother-in-law. "Thank the Goddess."
Queen Raven nudges him then stands. "I think what my husband meant to say is that we are honored by your belief and will do everything we can to prove you're right to give it to us." She smiles softly and holds her arms slightly out, as if offering a hug. "And welcome to the family. Believe it or not, you're arriving at one of its better times."
A wave of relief powers my steps and sends me into the queen's polite embrace. It's very strange, to be hugging like this in a throne room. Her formal clothes crumple under my arms, though I remember the dress she wore to the dungeons did not.
But this also seems right. This is a political maneuver, the first step in a quest for revenge, and the birth of a new family. It's a new future for both our kingdoms.
She releases me, and I step back. Castor is still glaring bloody murder, but he has released his sword. Perhaps that's all I can ask for at this time.
"Well, good," Anwen says. "I guess now's a good time to mention we need to schedule a wedding in the next month."
"And invite everyone." I grin hungrily.