Marietta felt hollow, unable to bring herself to lie. “Keyain never stopped loving me. Even after I left him.”
The Queen pulled back. “Even after you left him…” she repeated, her eyes darting with thought. “That explains why he never married Elyse. Betrothed to the girl for five years, but the wedding never occurred. Keyain’s union to you remained unknown until you showed up, drugged into unconsciousness a few months ago.” The Queen paused before adding, “Bruisescovered your body, and you had a gash across your side. Who gave you those injuries?”
Marietta brought a hand to her abdomen, feeling for a nonexistent scar. The moment of Tilan’s death flashed—someone had grabbed her by the hair. “Keyain’s soldiers. The team sent to get me.”
Queen Valeriya tapped her fingers on her chin as she said, “It’s funny. Keyain was adamant that your human husband was hurting you, citing that’s why he needed to extract you as soon as possible.”
“No. Tilan would never have harmed me.” She took a shattering breath and whispered, “it was Keyain’s soldiers that slit his neck.”
Heavy tears fell as the memory played over and over in her mind. Tilan was dead, and she was having tea with the Queen of Satiros. Her stomach churned and bile climbed her throat.
The Queen pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Marietta, the two sitting in silence. Consumed by her thoughts, Queen Valeriya stared out into the garden.
Marietta might regret her honesty, but she had the information, the sources—she already knew her answer. Was Keyain aware of how informed Queen Valeriya was? And what does her having that information mean? She took a deep breath, attempting to push her emotions down.
“Marietta, you don’t want to be here,” the Queen whispered.
The response held at the end of her tongue; she had already said too much.
“Did anyone tell you Keyain and King Wyltam are close friends?”
Marietta looked at Queen Valeriya. “I learned they were childhood friends, not that they’re still friends. Keyain left that out,” she replied. Specifically, when he blamed King Wyltam for the attack on Olkia.
“Not surprised. It seems we both have found ourselves in marriages to males we can’t trust.” She looked over at Marietta with a sad smile. “And like you, I wish I wasn’t here. I wish they hadn’t ordered their attack on Olkia.”
No words came to Marietta, her brows knitting together in confusion. The Queen’s face seemed to age with the heaviness of her thoughts. They were similar, trapped in Satiros, playing this game to stay alive.
The door busted open, a piercing scream breaking the silence. “Mama, mama!” a dark-haired child cried, a servant following him. Marietta jerked her head towards the child, not realizing that the Queen was a mother, the child the prince.
“Oh, Mycaub. What’s wrong, my dear?” Queen Valeriya stood and walked to the child, hushing him in a tender tone. The Prince quieted as the Queen rocked him, his screaming reduced to sniffles. “Princes don’t cry, my love,” she murmured to the child.
Marietta held back her shock. Queen Valeriya, the fiery queen with a sharp wit, folded into a doting mother. She reminded her of her friend Tristina calming her two sons in Olkia.
“I hate to cut our time short, but my son needs me. I look forward to picking up our conversation another day,” the Queen said, quickly exiting the balcony and leaving Marietta alone.
Marietta stood there, unsure what to do after their tea time abruptly ended. The Queen had given her heavy information. Tilan was a part of a resistance group? No, he was a leader. It couldn’t be true, but she had someone she would ask.
“Marietta, are you alright?” Amryth quietly said as the other servants came in to clear their tea.
She dabbed under her eyes again, replying, “I’m fine. The Queen was asking about my past. It wasn’t easy to talk about.”
“Well, you nearly cried off all your makeup. Let’s get you back to your suite,” Amryth said, her face worried.
Amryth led her from the room, Marietta’s mind sifting through what she had just learned.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Marietta
Confusion and disbelief continued to fill Marietta’s mind as they returned to the suite. Silence stretched between her and Amryth, whose eyebrows knitted with concern. As the door closed, she asked, “Do you want to talk about what happened?”
The question surprised Marietta, not expecting a handmaid to ask about her time with the Queen. With a shake of her head, she walked into the living room and sat in front of the window. Silently, she stared at the rain falling on the Central Garden. At some point, Amryth brought over a blanket and draped it on her lap. Marietta gave her a pitiful smile at the kind gesture.
“I’m going to give you some time alone,” Amryth said, breaking the silence. “If you need anything, have the guards send for me.” With a gentle squeeze on Marietta’s shoulder, she left the suite without another word.
The sky grew dark, Marietta not bothering to light the suite. Queen Valeriya’s information was hard to accept. Tilan was no ordinary blacksmith—he had the creative ingenious to be an inventor as well. Organizations of any kind held little of his interest, let alone secret ones.
Of all their years as a couple, he never struck Marietta as a liar. Sure, Tilan was a private person and as independent as Marietta, but that was part of how their marriage worked. Separate lives during the day, but each evening they spent together. There was ample opportunity to lie, yet Marietta knew Tilan. Would he have kept that big of a secret from her?
