31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Aliya

T he next afternoon, Aliya ducked inside the linen closet. Shadow bolted in just before she closed the door. Her first official council meeting had deteriorated to everyone screaming and shouting until she'd called a recess out of sheer frustration. She leaned against the wall with a sigh of relief, then glared at the tiny window high above. The narrow sliver of sunlight illuminated the plumes of dust dancing in the air currents she'd stirred up.

Who bothered to put a window in the linen closet? She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Stupid headache.

If only everyone would leave her alone for just a few minutes…

This first day didn't bode well for the rest of her reign.

"Did Malkov ever feel like this?"

Shadow raised an eyebrow and flicked her tail, not deigning to answer the question as she jumped onto a shelf and flopped over in the sunbeam.

Aliya frowned. Whenever he did feel this way, Malkov probably just went and killed another mage.

She'd need to find a healthier way of handling the pressure of ruling.

Maybe she could use magic to turn all the nobles into hop-toads.

"Delegate," Tsara had said, like it was the most obvious solution ever. But delegate to whom? The humans she could trust were in short supply, and though it had only been one day, the elves and dwarves were clearly ready to go home.

With all the glares and whispering behind their backs from Malkov's nobles, she couldn't blame them.

"Your Majesty?"

What now? She sighed and squeezed her eyes closed. Her headache pounded to the beat of her pulse. Go away, go away, go away!

The doorknob rattled.

She grabbed it trying to keep it from turning.

"Aliya."

Blinking, she stepped back, finally recognizing the voice.

The door opened.

"El!"

He tilted his head sideways. "What are you doing in here?" He glanced at the cat but turned his attention back to her.

"Hiding. Looking for a few minutes of quiet."

"I see." He held his arms open as the door closed behind him. "Come here."

She melted against him, burying her nose in his chest and breathing in. His scent flooded her nose, driving away some of the tension in her back and neck.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. He rested his chin against the top of her head. "I know it's stressful right now. But I promise, things will get better. We just need to take it one day, one task at a time."

"But they all want answers now. The noble families are fighting over trade routes, the merchants over taxes, the craftsmen over royal contracts. How does anyone sort this mess out without turning the entire court into frogs?"

She jumped at his laugh.

"They have help. And they take their time." Elessan stroked her hair. "Don't be afraid to set boundaries. You're the Queen—you can tell them you won't discuss the taxes until such-and-such a day, after you've had a chance to review the treasurer's books. The same goes for the contracts and trade routes."

He sighed. "Don't let them bully you, or you're setting a precedent for the rest of your reign."

She gulped and nodded. "It sounds so reasonable and obvious when you say it."

He chuckled. The vibrations in his chest brought a smile to her face.

He drew his fingers along her jaw, tipping her chin up to meet his eyes. "I have faith in you. You can do this, and I'll be right here beside you."

She snaked her arms around his neck, burying her hands in his hair. Tilting her head toward his, she closed her eyes.

Their lips met. Elessan's groan ignited a fire in Aliya's core.

He picked her up and walked her back until the stone wall pressed firmly against her shoulder blades.

Aliya wrapped her legs around his torso.

Elessan broke their kiss and worked his way down her jaw to the tender area underneath her ear.

Her breath hitched as he caught her earlobe and dragged it lightly between his teeth.

Something fell from the shelf with a crash. A fuzzy ball of black fury flew through the air and landed on Elessan's shoulder, claws extended.

"Valek!" He jumped back, dumping Shadow onto the ground with the broken clay jug that had fallen from the shelf.

Shadow glared at them in that condescending way only a cat could.

Heat flooded Aliya's face as she met the silver-eyed cat's gaze.

Elessan muttered several colorful words to himself in Elven as he rubbed his injured shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Aliya said, examining his tunic for damage. "Are you okay?"

Shadow pawed at the door.

He glared at the cat. "I'm fine. But I think your new pet doesn't like me very much."

Shadow hissed.

"Must be time to go, huh?" He turned his attention back to Aliya and winked at her. "And you've got a luncheon to get ready for in a little under half an hour."

Ugh. Aliya leaned back against the wall to catch her breath as he pulled away. The linen closet suddenly felt much colder.

But her headache was gone.

Elessan winked and, after checking the hall outside, held the door open for her.

"Come on, Your Majesty. Your subjects await."

With a sigh, Aliya pushed herself from the wall and stepped back into the real world.

"If I never sit through another meal with a bunch of squabbling nobles, it'll be too soon." Aliya paced around Malkov's study, now her private space. She brought her hand down on the writing table, making the glass paperweight in the corner jump.

Shadow startled from where she had been sleeping in the desk chair.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there," Aliya said.

The cat glared at her, circled once, and lay back down, curling its tail over its face.

Message received.

"She's Shadow, Your Majesty."

Aliya turned to her lady-in-waiting. "What?"

The young girl curtseyed, studying the floor. "The cat's name, Your Majesty. It's Shadow."

Aliya nodded, studying the shapeshifting cat. Clearly, Shadow was in no mood to talk. After all the bickering she'd had to endure today, she didn't have it in her to fight someone else, human or cat.

Aliya's eyes drifted up to the two elven skulls hanging above the door.

"Do you know why he hung those there?" she asked.

The girl shook her head. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I don't."

Aliya flopped into the settee. "Will you please send someone for Princess Tsara? They're creepy, and she'll know how to lay them to rest appropriately."

"Of course, Your Majesty." The woman bobbed another curtsey and ducked out of the room.

Aliya eyed the bookshelves, piled high with scrolls and actual leather-bound books. This room alone was going to take weeks to go through. Especially since she didn't have any idea what she was looking for.

Information to help her figure out how to run the country, for sure. Maybe Malkov squirreled away some hints on how to control the nobles. She blinked. Or information to blackmail them with.

But that was silly, of course. No one wrote that sort of information down, or it lost its value as a secret. She collapsed into the cushioned chair next to the cold hearth.

"They're the elves Malkov blamed for killing his parents."

She tilted her head and glared at the cat. "Oh, so now you're willing to talk to me?"

Quicksilver eyes stared back at her. "You're as stubborn as your mother, you know that?"

Aliya leaned forward. "Who are you?"

"The young lady already told you. I'm Shadow." The cat studiously licked a paw.

Aliya crossed her arms. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

"I'm a spy. I've been keeping an eye on Malkov for the last ten years."

Aliya stepped closer. The cat had the same silver eyes that she remembered from the night of her escape. "And you're a shapeshifter?"

The cat gave her a very Jalius-like nod. "The last several weeks have been quite harrowing for me, I'll have you know. Fortunately, the prior king never noticed the similarity between your eyes and mine."

"I've never met another like me before."

Shadow sat up and wrapped her tail around her feet. "Well, now you have."

Aliya leaned forward. "You knew my mother."

The cat sighed. "Your mother was my sister."

She narrowed her eyes. "Was?"

"She died." Shadow studied her tail. "Not long after you were born. She was good friends with Baroness Larimar, which is why you ended up in their house."

Aliya grabbed the arms of the settee as the room spun. "You're my aunt?"

Shadow blinked once.

"Why didn't you adopt me, then, instead of leaving me with some humans? You could've taught me who I am, what I can do." She swallowed past a thickened throat. "I wouldn't have felt so alone if I'd known there were others like me."

"It was your mother's desire that you go to the Baroness Larimar. I honored her request." The cat turned away and cleaned its whiskers.

Aliya blinked, tilting her head to the side. There was a tension to Shadow's words that hinted there was more to it than that. "Then why reveal yourself to me now?" Questions bubbled up her throat, threatening to overwhelm her. How many shapeshifters were there? Did she have any other family? Who was her mother? She opened her mouth but bit back the words at the flat glare the cat gave her.

Shadow jumped down and walked to one of the bookshelves. Leaping up to one of the taller levels, she pawed through a few of the scrolls and books. "I've been watching you as much as I've been watching him. Malkov was not a good person, but he did know how to keep the nobles and kingdom in check."

One of the leather books tumbled to the floor.

"I think you're the queen the realm needs, but you're young, inexperienced, and have no allies. You need someone to teach you how to keep your throne secure."

"I have the elves and the dwarves."

Shadow turned the quintessential cat-glare on her. "Uh-huh. And what happens when they return to their kingdoms and leave you alone?"

Aliya sighed. And that was the million-piece question.

Shadow jumped down and batted the fallen book toward her. "Here, start with this one. It'll give you the insight you need to deal with the trade routes inside and out of the kingdom."

"What about the other shapeshifters? Can you tell me about them? About my mother?"

The cat licked its nose and twitched her tail. "I'd think you, of all people, would have more important things to worry about at the moment." She walked to the study door and looked over her shoulder. "Oh, and if you want my help, you'll keep my existence a secret, especially from the mountain elf."

The cat stuck its paw under the door, pulled it open, and slipped out.