I couldn’t help the smile that lifted the corners of my mouth. “Is that all I need to do?”
She nodded and went back to erasing the black circles beneath my eyes. “For now,” she laughed.
When Crenshaw swung the door open, I was waiting for him. He moved to grab me, but I held up a hand and told him, “I can walk on my own, thank you very much.”
He backed up but did not seem pleased. I didn’t care. The first thing I would do as queen would be to fire Crenshaw and escort him to the border of Elysia.
Unlike yesterday, my heart beat with confidence. I had been so afraid, so meek in my manners, but Matilda was right. The Crown of Nine belonged to me. To my bloodline.
And it was time I stood up for what was rightfully mine.
If they wanted to fight me for it, they could. But they would learn what it was like to go up against an Allisand.
Crenshaw paused outside the throne room doors. He turned to me and with a smirk tilting his thin mouth said, “You’ve been asked to wait here until they announce you.”
I nodded my reluctant acceptance. This was how it had worked yesterday, only I hadn’t had to wait in the hallway. Maybe they were already interrogating a witness?
A few stragglers scurried through the closing door and I wondered if not everyone had arrived yet. Something moved in my peripheral vision and I turned to look, but nothing was there. In fact, I was alone. The guards had disappeared. All the attendees had slipped inside. I was left by myself with no one to watch over me.
I took a step forward, fearing that they were waiting for me and I had somehow been forgotten about. The same flicker of something caught my attention again. This time it was accompanied by a sound. Light clacking. Like claws against…
I looked up toward the ceiling where I found the most peculiar sight. A bird had managed to get inside the palace. It perched on the ledge of a stained-glass window. I took a step toward it, admiring its sleek black coat and onyx beak. “How did you get inside?” I asked the thing.
It stared down at me, unblinking. I took another step toward it. There was an infestation of these creatures in Elysia. Absently I wondered if there was anything I could do about it, thin their numbers somehow. Surely, they were detrimental to the crops and—
The raven opened its beak and squawked. I jumped back and covered one ear, surprised by how much that sound hurt my head. Pain split my skull and I doubled over. It was enough to shake me out of my stupor. Instinct drew my eyes up and I managed to catch a glimpse of the cord holding the gigantic chandelier overhead snapping in two.
I didn’t even think to scream. The chandelier would crush me beneath all those diamonds and ornate titanium rods. A useless memory flashed in my mind of ten of my father’s footmen working together to lift it back into place after the maids had spent the day polishing it.
That was what was about to fall on me.
I threw my hands over my head just as the monstrous thing rushed into my side, knocking me over and stealing the wind from my lungs. I hit the ground with a smack, crushing my shoulder between the smooth marble and the heavy weight of the chandelier.
No, wait.
That wasn’t right.
The chandelier hit the ground a second later, screaming through the corridor with a deafening crash. Diamonds splintered and glass shattered, landing all around me. Screams echoed from inside the throne room and guards rushed to the hallway.
The chandelier had crashed to the ground after I did. That meant it wasn’t on top of me.
That meant I wasn’t crushed beneath it!
I searched for the heavy object compressing me. Taelon looked down, his bright blue eyes wide with fear. Taelon had pushed me to the side. Taelon had landed on top of me.
Not the chandelier.
“What are you doing here?” I gasped.
“Rescuing you,” he panted. “Again.”
I smacked his shoulder. “I don’t need you to rescue me!” He scrambled back and offered a hand. I could not believe him! “Where have you been? I’ve been rotting in my room and there has been not even a word from you! How could you have left—”
Two fingers covered my mouth briefly when monarchs started to filter into the hall. “What happened?” Tyrn demanded.
“Relax, Tessana,” Taelon whispered. “Let me do the talking.”
I rolled my eyes. Because that had always worked out for me in the past.
“The chandelier fell, Your Majesty,” one of the guards pointed out.
“I can see that, you idiot,” Tyrn snarled. “But how did it fall? Look at this mess.” Tyrn’s gaze swung to mine. “What are you doing out here? Did you have something to do with this?”
Taelon stepped in front of me. “She was nearly pulverized,” he stated crisply. “If I had not been here to intercede, she would have been flattened beneath it. If I didn’t know any better, I’d believe that she’d been set up. Someone didn’t want her to go to trial today.”
Tyrn’s gaze narrowed. “You’re saying the chandelier tried to kill her?”
Taelon’s jaw ticked. “I’m saying the chandelier cord was cut by someone trying to kill her.”
Tyrn looked at me. “Why were you out in the hall? Why didn’t you let the guards escort you inside?”
“I was told to wait outside.” The fury inside me burst. “Your guards ordered me to wait right there, right beneath the chandelier.”
Tyrn turned toward Crenshaw. “Is this true? Did you tell her to wait?”
Crenshaw shrugged. “I needed to inform the herald that she was here. I didn’t know the chandelier was going
