The Fiend Queen (44 page)

*

The next morning, Starbride was torn between waiting patiently for things to happen and pacing. Dawnmother finally told her it was time to dress, though Starbride would have been ready from dawn onward if anyone had let her. Even after she dressed, it seemed an eternity before Freddie came to fetch her with Hugo in tow.

“Miss Starbride,” Hugo choked out. “You are so beautiful.”

“And you, both of you, with your Allusian finery.” Both wore loose fitting trousers and shirts, but each had an embroidered vest that buttoned high on the neck and extended in long points past their belts. Hugo’s was a mix of light and dark reds, while Freddie’s mixed green with green. And both had red ribbons pinned above their hearts in an elaborate flower design, the Farradain answer to greenery in winter.

Dawnmother wore a dress to match Starbride’s, mainly white, the Farradain color for love and passion, but she too wore a ribbon-made flower. Like Starbride’s gown, her large skirt was held out by petticoats instead of layers of fabric. Her bodice cinched in the waist, unadorned and simple, reflecting her nature. She wore her hair in the same tidy queue as always, only it had a ribbon flower in it as well.

She draped a long white cloak over Starbride’s dress before donning one herself, and then they were off, sneaking through the palace until they could get inside the carriage her parents had secured.

Starbride tuned out her mother’s fussing voice as she watched the city roll past the window. Farradain couples were married under the eyes of Ellias and Elody, inside the chapterhouse of love and beauty, but Allusian couples were joined in nature, under an open sky—or a tent if it was raining. Starbride knew Katya was glad to adopt Allusian customs in this case. The idea that her spirits were actually the ancient rulers of Belshreth still didn’t sit well with her.

Allusian couples rode on horseback to the place they would be married, surrounded by friends and family, even whole villages. Farradain couples entered on foot with just their escorts. Starbride was glad of the carriage this time as it drove outside the walls of Marienne, close to the forest. If she’d had to walk or ride, she would have been chilled and spattered with mud.

She spied Katya’s carriage on the other side of the huge crowd that had gathered to see them wed. A hard knot formed in her, desire to see the marriage through, anxiety for it to begin, and a bundle of nerves that whispered about the possibility of tripping in front of everyone.

Her father whispered in her ear. “Your mother could barely contain herself last night. She kept saying, ‘A bride at last!’”

Starbride snuggled close. “I’m also lucky, Papa, just like you wanted me to be.”

He kissed her temple. “You make your own luck, my Star. And I have Dawnmother’s word that the princess will treat you well, or she’ll spirit you away in the night.”

Dawnmother nodded sagely, and Starbride had to laugh. The carriage stopped, and Freddie and Hugo piled out. Her father caught her before she could follow.

“One last thing.” He pulled a small box from his trouser pocket and pressed it into her hands. “Your neck looked lonely, so I thought I’d make it a companion.”

Starbride opened the box and stared at a diamond pendant in the shape of a starburst. “Thank you, Papa.” She tried to swallow her tears as he fastened it around her neck.

Her mother gave a satisfied nod before she got out of the carriage. After a wink, Dawnmother followed her. Starbride kissed her father on the cheek before she climbed out. She and Katya disembarked at the same time, and Starbride’s eyes locked on the woman she was about to marry.

Katya wore an Allusian suit: her shirt and trousers a mottle of darker blues, and her vest a shining cobalt. Embroidered silver butterflies raced across it, and she wore Starbride’s old butterfly hairpin on her vest, nesting atop a red ribbon flower. Her hair streamed loose around her shoulders, held back from her face by a silver diadem. She grinned like the summer sun, and Starbride’s knees nearly gave way.

Katya

As Starbride alit from her carriage, Katya wanted to fall to her knees and thank any spirits or even council members that might be listening. When Dawnmother took Starbride’s cloak from her shoulders, Katya sucked in a sharp breath.

She wore white, a Farradain outfit to complement Katya’s Allusian suit. The white skirt shimmered, adorned with tiny crystals, and the white silk bodice glimmered with gold embroidery. When she stepped forward, the wind fluttered some trailing fabric behind the gown, and Katya saw what it was meant to be: butterfly wings, tucked behind her, but as the wind lifted them she seemed to take flight.

Katya’s father took her arm. “Best get your feet back under you, my girl.”

She smiled at him, and the look he gave her was filled with pride. He, like Reinholt, Maia, and Brutal were dressed Farradain fashion, trousers and long coats, except for Maia who wore a petal-like turquoise gown with added room for her expanding belly. The dress was made from one of Katya’s mother’s gowns, and it made her feel as if her mother was walking on her other arm.

Reinholt took that arm instead, leaving Maia and Brutal to walk behind her as Freddie, Hugo, and Dawnmother did for Starbride, who had her parents guiding her.

They both seemed to need the support. Katya noted Starbride’s white knuckles, and spirits knew Katya needed the arms lifting her. Or did she need them to hold her back? Katya wanted nothing more than to charge forward and take Starbride in her arms.

Farradain couples were wedded by members of a love chapterhouse, and Katya rated the supreme heads, a man and woman who stood before the crowd clad in white robes. Allusian couples were married by tribal or government leaders, so Dayscout waited beside them.

He clapped in joy, and as Starbride and Katya stopped less than an arm’s length from each other, he said in a high whisper, “I love weddings!”

Katya laughed, and some of the magic around them abated, but she was happy for the reprieve. If she smiled any more, her cheeks would be sore.

All three officiators asked if they promised to love each other. The love and beauty heads asked if they would be faithful. Dayscout said loyal, and Katya liked that better. They promised before the spirits and their families and witnesses to depend on each other. The heads advised them not to keep secrets, and Starbride winked. Dayscout advised them to keep each other warm, and everyone laughed.

Starbride watched curiously as the heads bound their hands together. She’d told Katya that Allusians had no such ceremony. They only thing required at the end of their marriages was that the newly minted couple ride a horse together. The heads said over their bound hands that they were one, but that they should never forget the halves that made the whole. They cut the ribbon, leaving Katya’s and Starbride’s right hands encased in white with their fingers free.

When the other two looked at Dayscout for parting words, he just leaned in and said, “Good luck.”

As Katya looked at Starbride, she knew they’d have to add more to the ceremony to make it their own. As all three officiators pronounced them joined in marriage, they leaned forward and kissed each other deeply.

Some people in the audience gasped. Perhaps they thought a royal wedding should have more decorum. At the front of the crowd, Bastian and Vierdrin jumped and cheered. As Dawnmother led a ribbon-bedecked horse forward, Katya practically vaulted into the saddle built for two. She reached down for Starbride, who scoffed and used the stirrup to climb behind her.

Starbride sat with one knee bent so her skirt covered her legs. “When you live somewhere long enough,” she said, “you learn a few things.”

Katya laughed as she guided the horse toward the crowd. The wedding escorts mounted their horses, ready to serve as honor guard. The guests turned and waited to trail them back to the palace.

“You know what to do,” Katya said to Brutal and Freddie. She put her heels to the horse, charging into the forest. Only Brutal and Freddie stayed with them as the others called out. Starbride held tight to Katya’s back and whooped.

Just inside the tree line, while the confused crowd was still babbling, Freddie said, “Hurry on. We’ll lay a false trail.”

“Where are we going?” Starbride asked in Katya’s ear.

“One of many surprises to come.”

Katya guided the horse in a roundabout route to the cabin where she’d rendezvoused with Starbride on a night that seemed a lifetime ago, before they’d invaded the palace in a last push to unseat Roland. Starbride gasped and squealed as she grabbed Katya’s shoulders.

“I love it!”

They swung down from the horse and hurried inside. Katya’s helpers had decorated with swaths of white silk and red ribbon flowers over the windows and ceiling. The large bed Katya had required had been squeezed into one end and covered with white furs.

“Right to sleep, eh?” Starbride asked. “It has been a rough few days.”

Katya shrugged and kept her tone light. “If that’s what you want, I’m game.”

Starbride’s eyebrows rose. “Oh? Shall we test your willpower?” She reached behind her and tugged, and Katya heard the smooth sound of Starbride’s bodice-strings slipping through their eyelets. Her heart jumped.

“Shall we test yours?” Katya unbuttoned her vest slowly, loving the way Starbride’s eyes watched her fingers.

Starbride licked her lips, and Katya bit her own. “What say, we just count to three and then jump on each other?”

“One,” Katya said.

“Two.”

They leapt at the same time.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t at your wedding.”

Katya forced herself to turn to her uncle. He seemed sheepish, hardly looking at her. Funny, she’d never thought him even capable of fidgeting. When he’d been leader of the Order, he’d been powerful, someone to idolize, even worship. As the maniac who wanted to kill her, he’d been terrifying, hateful, and still powerful but driven mad by it.

She didn’t know the person who stood before her now. He was so much smaller than she remembered, but she’d been twelve when he’d
died
. Maybe she’d just grown. Reinholt said he had trouble eating. Of everyone who’d spoken to him, Reinholt seemed most at ease, maybe because he was comfortable with those who’d gone mad, having gone part that way himself.

“It’s all right, Uncle.”

He smiled and seemed much younger. Of course, that might have been his lack of a beard. Katya’s father thought too many people might recognize him with it. Even without it, he couldn’t stay in Marienne; he’d done too much. Katya was just happy the people thought of Starbride more as a savior than a killer. They were happy to let Roland stay the villain.

“I’m glad you’re happy, Little K,” he said. She almost snapped at him not to use that name. The specter of the murderous Fiend king loomed large in her head, and she didn’t know this man. Luckily, Reinholt—the person she’d actually come to see off—emerged from the palace and saved her.

“Special envoy to Allusia,” Reinholt said, rolling the words around as if tasting them. “I don’t know whether to be flattered or not.”

“Father wanted you gone before you drink every tavern in Dockland dry,” Katya said.

“I don’t know why I keep having to repeat this: it’s not my fault I’m popular.”

She snorted a laugh, and even Roland chuckled before staring into space. He did that a lot.

Reinholt patted him on the shoulder. “Ready to go, Uncle?”

“Yes, yes. I packed last night.” He trooped down the steps to where the horses waited.

“I better go look in his bags,” Reinholt whispered, “make sure they’re not full of butter or anything.”

“Are you ready to care for our batty uncle full-time? You’ll have the guards and a few servants, but it’s mostly going to be on you.”

“I can handle it, Little K. Batty uncles and unsavory Docklanders are my specialty. And now that Da’s got the Docklanders in his pocket, it’s time for a new task. Don’t worry. I can deal with the Allusians. Charming people is my talent, remember?”

She blinked at him blankly. “No.”

He nudged her. “Ass. How are you liking married life?”

“All two weeks of it? It’s absolutely perfect.”

“Where were you hiding for one of those weeks? Or do you have no idea except that it had a bed in it?”

“I’m not giving you any details.”

“You cost me a lot of money when I couldn’t find you, you know. And everyone who bet on me as well.”

“Good.”

He put on an affronted expression, but she could read the affection behind it. “I’m going to miss this place. I’m going to miss Vierdrin and Bastian.”

“You’ll come back soon and visit them. Allusia’s not far by ship.”

“And Vierdrin will be learning how to be a queen.” He kissed Katya’s temple. “Teach her all you know, yes?”

“It’s a promise. What are you going to call Roland while you’re in Allusia?”

“A distant cousin. He wants to help people. Maybe there he’ll figure out how. And maybe I’ll find an enticing Allusian to romance.”

“Or several.”

He tilted his head back and forth, mouth turned down, considering. “Anything’s possible.” He walked down the steps and mounted the horse that would take them to Lucienne-by-the-Sea and then by ship to Allusia.

When Roland and Da had parted, there had been a few tears on Roland’s part. He’d never be whole, but maybe some time in Reinholt’s company would make him into someone entirely new. Maybe then he’d be ready to visit his children again. He still didn’t seem to know what to do in their presence.

Katya watched them leave, then turned to where Freddie and Hugo waited in the doorway. This parting would hurt. “That time already?”

“We thought it better to get all the good-byes out in one day,” Freddie said.

Katya tried to smother the feeling that everyone was abandoning her. When Starbride stepped out from behind them, her heart lightened. There was no trouble that Starbride’s presence couldn’t make better.

“I don’t want you to go,” Starbride said. “You’re breaking up our gang.”

Freddie snorted. “Some gang.”

“Toughest there is,” Katya said.