limited?”
“I set certain rules. You may not bring outside magic here. She is welcome in my walls, but as a seal bearer and queen only.” He nodded, as if repeating a rehearsed speech. “She must check her father’s power at the door. Not that she has any need of it. I would wager her the match in magic of any queen, living or dead.”
“So all I have to do is get her to come here, and she’s cut down to size.” My muscles tensed, as that old familiar determination set in.
The doorman shook his head. “She will never enter, nor does she need to. She has you.”
Liam spoke before I could. “Tell her about the handmaiden rules.”
If Liam had asked the doorman to explain basic addition, the doorman would not have looked more bored. “A queen chooses her handmaiden. A princess’s mother chooses the princess’s handmaidens.” He looked to my hand, where I wore the Black Queen’s signet ring. “Normally.”
Liam cut in, his patience wearing thinner than the socks I threw out of his drawer when he first moved in. “Ari’s mother kicked her out of Kingdom. The High Queen, with the support of all the others, can banish any other queen. Strip her of her rights. Can’t change her nature, but we think it would break the handmaiden’s bond. Right?” He glanced to the doorman.
“I have never seen it done. The other queens would turn on her in an instant.” The doorman’s frown threatened to pull his mouth off.
“But it’s possible?” Liam’s tone made it clear, as statement more than a question.
“I suppose—” The doorman cocked his head to one side, then his eyes lit up, and he smiled. “Sir, please step aside.”
Liam did, and the recliner, TV, everything but the mug of beer disappeared.
“Handmaiden, sir, please show proper respect.” The doorman strode down the hall to the double doors we’d entered through. “We welcome our first claimant to the title of High Queen.”
Bright light from the double doors made silhouettes of the figures who stood there. The doorman bowed low, but his deep baritone echoed through the hall. “It is recorded. For the title of eight hundred and seventy-fifth High Queen, I accept your claim.”
He turned and walked down the hall past us, opening the velvet rope for the three figures. The queen was tall, taller than her handmaidens, taller than me, and she swept down the hallway in an impractically long dress, her handmaidens trailing behind.
Then the swish of fabric stopped, and Liam growled, catching his breath, and his hand tightened over mine like iron.
I looked up, letting the overhead lights confirm the face I’d dreaded seeing, and yet, somehow expected.
The doorman nodded to me. “Your Highness, I present Marissa Locks, Handmaiden to the Black Queen.”
She ignored him. Her eyes never left mine, but her mouth pulled back in a tight smile. “Indeed.”
The doorman, perhaps sensing my murderous intentions, stepped between us. “Handmaiden, you may bow before Gwendolyn Thromson. For now, High Queen.”
Ten
WE WON’T GO into how, exactly, I got myself thrown out of the court. I managed to keep my purse, a bag with my old clothes, and two fistfuls of hair from Ari’s sisters, which I yanked out before Liam and the doorman wrestled me away. Ari’s stepmother ranked high on the list of people I’d willingly commit violence against.
The fact that she’d tried to kill both me and Ari on occasion might have factored into it. Then again, using her own stepdaughters as handmaidens didn’t score her any points either.
“You could’ve handled that better.” Liam sat on the curb with me while we waited for a bus to take us out of Kingdom. The doorman had ejected us into an area even I didn’t visit very often, and, judging from the diesel bus, one of the lower magic areas.
“I would have, if you’d grabbed the doorman instead of me. I was this close to taking one of her eyes out, and if I’d had my gun, I would have shot her dead.” In
“I set certain rules. You may not bring outside magic here. She is welcome in my walls, but as a seal bearer and queen only.” He nodded, as if repeating a rehearsed speech. “She must check her father’s power at the door. Not that she has any need of it. I would wager her the match in magic of any queen, living or dead.”
“So all I have to do is get her to come here, and she’s cut down to size.” My muscles tensed, as that old familiar determination set in.
The doorman shook his head. “She will never enter, nor does she need to. She has you.”
Liam spoke before I could. “Tell her about the handmaiden rules.”
If Liam had asked the doorman to explain basic addition, the doorman would not have looked more bored. “A queen chooses her handmaiden. A princess’s mother chooses the princess’s handmaidens.” He looked to my hand, where I wore the Black Queen’s signet ring. “Normally.”
Liam cut in, his patience wearing thinner than the socks I threw out of his drawer when he first moved in. “Ari’s mother kicked her out of Kingdom. The High Queen, with the support of all the others, can banish any other queen. Strip her of her rights. Can’t change her nature, but we think it would break the handmaiden’s bond. Right?” He glanced to the doorman.
“I have never seen it done. The other queens would turn on her in an instant.” The doorman’s frown threatened to pull his mouth off.
“But it’s possible?” Liam’s tone made it clear, as statement more than a question.
“I suppose—” The doorman cocked his head to one side, then his eyes lit up, and he smiled. “Sir, please step aside.”
Liam did, and the recliner, TV, everything but the mug of beer disappeared.
“Handmaiden, sir, please show proper respect.” The doorman strode down the hall to the double doors we’d entered through. “We welcome our first claimant to the title of High Queen.”
Bright light from the double doors made silhouettes of the figures who stood there. The doorman bowed low, but his deep baritone echoed through the hall. “It is recorded. For the title of eight hundred and seventy-fifth High Queen, I accept your claim.”
He turned and walked down the hall past us, opening the velvet rope for the three figures. The queen was tall, taller than her handmaidens, taller than me, and she swept down the hallway in an impractically long dress, her handmaidens trailing behind.
Then the swish of fabric stopped, and Liam growled, catching his breath, and his hand tightened over mine like iron.
I looked up, letting the overhead lights confirm the face I’d dreaded seeing, and yet, somehow expected.
The doorman nodded to me. “Your Highness, I present Marissa Locks, Handmaiden to the Black Queen.”
She ignored him. Her eyes never left mine, but her mouth pulled back in a tight smile. “Indeed.”
The doorman, perhaps sensing my murderous intentions, stepped between us. “Handmaiden, you may bow before Gwendolyn Thromson. For now, High Queen.”
Ten
WE WON’T GO into how, exactly, I got myself thrown out of the court. I managed to keep my purse, a bag with my old clothes, and two fistfuls of hair from Ari’s sisters, which I yanked out before Liam and the doorman wrestled me away. Ari’s stepmother ranked high on the list of people I’d willingly commit violence against.
The fact that she’d tried to kill both me and Ari on occasion might have factored into it. Then again, using her own stepdaughters as handmaidens didn’t score her any points either.
“You could’ve handled that better.” Liam sat on the curb with me while we waited for a bus to take us out of Kingdom. The doorman had ejected us into an area even I didn’t visit very often, and, judging from the diesel bus, one of the lower magic areas.
“I would have, if you’d grabbed the doorman instead of me. I was this close to taking one of her eyes out, and if I’d had my gun, I would have shot her dead.” In
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