“Your advice, Lizaar?” Lannahi insisted, finally sure that the cook was acting on his own and not at the request of her predecessor. “Or your decision, Eshshar? If neither of you gives me an answer, I’ll choose myself. But you won’t like what I decide as it will result in you being restrained and the soup forced down your gullet by any means possible.”
An icy silence followed. Lannahi saw Lizaar’s eyes flame, a sight she recognized now as the one preceding an outburst. However, when the woman took a step toward her, Ashared grabbed her wrist.
“I’ll do it,” Eshshar grumbled. He approached the table, picked up the bowl, and emptied its contents in a few gulps. When he finished, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Satisfied?”
Lannahi said dispassionately, “When you recover, you may return to work as a helper, but if you don’t show a willingness to cooperate, you will be removed from the palace entirely. Blann will take over your role as chef. Before you get another inappropriate idea, know that Lizaar will replace her in food testing. You may leave now.”
Not waiting for anyone’s reaction, she turned to the others, “Souhi, Blann, check if there is something edible in the kitchen. If there isn’t enough for everyone, prepare it just for me.”
Souhi muttered an enchantment to move her chair away from the table. Confident that she would do the same for Blann, Lannahi shifted her gaze to the landshapers.
“You may sit down,” she told Lizaar and Ashared, then focused her attention on Varrdan. “You were speaking about the process of goldcopper mining. Please continue.”
The woman needed a moment to collect her thoughts. “Yes…”
Lannahi pretended to ignore everyone except the chancellor, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ashared release Lizaar’s wrist and place his hand on her back. After a moment, Eshshar turned and headed for the exit, and the two sat down at the table.
Although the conversation touched on the sensitive topics of the mine and shapeshifters, the rest of the meeting passed peacefully. No one tried to argue with her, and no one protested when Souhi levitated in a large tureen of stew.
Lannahi won this round, but she didn’t feel triumphant.
She felt lonely.
Chapter 12
By using Lizaar as a target for any ill-conceived attacks, Lannahi gained the advantage over the landshapers residing in the palace, but though they unwittingly handed her a method she could use to establish order, it didn’t solve her main problem—the possibility of the city being abandoned.
The news that the new queen was ready to avenge any insult had already spread, but Lannahi doubted it impressed anyone. Vindictiveness was not unusual. It was its absence that was an anomaly amongst the fae and aroused contempt. By showing decision and readiness to be cruel, Lannahi simply proved that she met the minimum requirements expected of her and that she deserved respect. But respect was not enough to rule the kingdom. She had to convince the fae that obedience benefited them as well. The threat of harming Lizaar was enough for those who served in the palace but judging by the remote faces of the representatives of the rest of Goldfrost citizens, Lannahi suspected that the former queen’s life might be of secondary importance to them.
After Vardann introduced representatives from across Goldfrost and none of them inclined their head lower than the polite nod required, Lannahi began, “Let me start with what I said yesterday after the coronation. The welfare of Goldfrost is now my priority, and I wish for you all to help me continue with the city’s development and prosperity. I understand that the current situation came as a surprise and has disrupted your plans, but I believe we can come to an agreement. If you share your concerns with me now, I will try to find a solution that suits us all.”
Bairadd, a man with a lush brown beard who represented the miners, smiled at what she said, but in his eyes, amusement mixed with derision. “I’m a simple man and can’t use words as skillfully as you, Lannahi, but I’ll speak first. Myconcernis that a golden witch has appeared in the area. If you know of a manner that will convince her to leave these lands, I’d love to hear what you have to say.”
“I do,” Lannahi said calmly. “The witch will leave the city if its citizens do.”
That open admission wiped the smile off the miner’s face but also aroused general suspicion.
“Is that why you are here?” asked Kaigarr, a fair-haired representative of artisans with horns like crescent moons. “To force us from Goldfrost so that your father can annex the land and profit from the mines?”
Hearing the defiant note in the woman’s voice, Lannahi wanted to laugh. It would be a great irony if it turned out that all it took to keep the landshapers in the city was to tell them to leave.
“I’m here because I won this city in the Royal Duel. I did it for myself, not for my father. I am speaking today because I intend to remain in Goldfrost and continue to develop the city for the benefit of us all.” Lannahi looked into the eyes of each of the four people sitting across the table. No one accused her of lying, but they all carefully avoided looking at Lizaar, who was sitting beside her. “Do my words dispel your doubts?”
“To some extent,” Bairadd said, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “Though they make me wonder what you were thinking when you assumed that the landshapers would accept on a throne a little girl whose feet can’t even touch the floor.”
Lannahi pushed aside her embarrassment and smiled charmingly. “I hoped that the landshapers valued something more than just size.”
The man’s jaw twitched as if he refrained from smiling at the last moment, but there was a cool glint in his eyes. “Were you hoping we’d be beguiled by sweet words and a shapely body?”
Lannahi glanced at Lizaar who sat with her chin raised proudly in the same cocoon of silence with which she’d surrounded herself since yesterday. Lannahi didn’t look at her to check her reaction but for the landshapers sitting across the table not to miss the meaning of her next words. “Are you suggesting, Bairadd, that all that the citizens of Goldfrost need are a queen’s sweet words and her shapely body?”
The miner took the hint and clenched his jaw, defeated, but the fact that he didn’t want to offend the former monarch spoke of his loyalty, so Lannahi lowered her shield a bit. “I hoped to leave most of the city’s affairs in Lizaar’s capable hands.”
The tension eased slightly.
“So, you only care about the title?” Samaar, the architect, asked, regarding her with keen eyes.
Lannahi gave her a faint smile. “I didn’t say that.”
