“You speak as if they have already been found guilty!” Maxim scoffed, furious.
“My lord, it’s not like that-” Finn said, trying to calm tensions before Katryna interrupted again.
“The king and queen were murdered. My Aunt Rashel was murdered. There will be no mercy for traitors to the crown.”
Maxim Seros started becoming distraught, not with anger but with fear. He fell to his knees before Katryna, pleading. “Please, do not hurt my daughter! I beg you!”
“Guards, remove Baron Maxim from the throne hall. He is clearly hysterical,” Katryna ordered coldly.
Two guards stepped forward and dragged Maxim Seros out by the arms. He resisted and continued to beg for mercy for his family to no avail.
Katryna stood up from the throne, arms behind her back and chin high so that her voice would carry. “Until we have a new king, my brother Finnigan and I will be leading this investigation. We will leave no stone unturned until this assassin is found, tried, and executed.”
Hectar Maarsden glared at Katryna before barging through the crowd with an angry finger pointed her way. “What right have you to command us? You are no family of ours! You are no princess!”
Some members of the court voiced their support for the late-queen’s brother to Katryna’s dismay.
“Rowan is to be king now, and you stand there claiming him to be a murderer! You are nothing but a usurper to his throne!” Ellene Maarsden hissed before spitting at Katryna’s feet.
A few raised their fists in protest with shouts. Finn took a step back away from the angering crowd.
Katryna was losing them fast.
“Guards!” Katryna did not even hesitate.
Within seconds, several more armed Infinity Guardsmen had taken Hectar and Ellene by the arms, dragging them away from the throne.
“Throw them in a cell,” Katryna ordered.
“Kat, wait! You can’t!” Finn protested.
“I can and I must. We need to keep order, now of all times. They have offered nothing but spite towards me ever since I stepped foot back in this castle.”
Finn went up to Katryna’s ear to talk privately. “Kat, please think this through. Imprisoning our family members is not a good look to anyone. We have no evidence of any wrongdoing by Aunt Ellene and Uncle Hectar.”
“They stand there,” Katryna shouted, “calling me ‘usurper’ in front of our people. I will have no interruptions to finding this assassin. None. Anyone who wishes to stand against us will be arrested for perverting justice.”
As her uncle and aunt were dragged down the throne hall towards the exit, Hectar continued hurling insults. “She did this! She’s the one! Usurper!”
“You are no kin of ours!” Ellene shouted, kicking at the floor to try and get free of the guards.
Looks of shock and gazes of suspicion spread through the throne hall, back and forth between the distraught members of the extended royal family being arrested and the princess by the throne making the harsh decisions.
The High Sword stepped up to Katryna, blocking her view of the crowd so that no one would hear him speak or even catch his lips moving.
“My lady, I must urge caution,” Arthus said softly and calmly. “I feel you are acting brash.”
Katryna cocked her head arrogantly, brushing off Arthus’s concern. She was not thinking clearly, but that was fine to her. She had no inhibitions left. Arthus was a good man and someone whose input she valued. But in that moment, she had to decide what was best.
“Rash is what we need right now, ser. I will do what must be done to get justice for our people.”
“For our people,” Finn muttered hesitantly, “or for yourself?”
The words cut like daggers in her chest. Katryna felt her eyes quivering and hand begin to tremble from both anger and anxiety.
Finn turned away, as if disgusted by her.
Was she losing him, too?
“Ambassadors J’rillo N’va and Siah R’no of Ember, please step forward,” Katryna commanded, sitting back down upon the cold throne.
From in amongst the crowd, the two masked diplomats appeared. They were each wearing elegant robes of red, orange, yellow and white. As usual, their faces were covered by ornate yet sinister-looking masks.
“We are at your service, my lady,” the taller of the two ambassadors, J’rillo N’va said in his thick southern accent, opening his hand out in a gesture of good faith.
“I have already asked you once, and I will ask once more for confirmation before the people of the Camridian court,” Katryna said, staring them squarely in the eyeholes in their masks. “Did you have any part in the murders of the king and queen?”
The Emberian men shook their heads. “Of course not, my lady. We are friends to Camridia, and we bore no ill will towards the king and queen.”
Katryna felt they were telling the truth. The only evidence of Ember’s role in the assassinations was the meal they had shared with her mother and father, where Mira had supposedly been poisoned.
However, that was purely circumstantial. Besides that, Ember had been planning for a diplomatic future with Camridia- why assassinate their rulers?
Katryna thought for a moment on how to approach her next words. The resilience and self-reliance she had developed over all those years of loneliness screamed out to her, telling her to defend herself and stand up for what she knew was right… despite the possible repercussions.
Trusting her gut had worked this far into her life, why stop now?
“Ambassadors, you are free to leave Ravenrock and head back to Aurora. I would also like you to send word to Queen Virala, in regard to the offer of marriage from her son.”
The Emberian men leaned forward with anticipation, clasping their hands together. Their hopeful expectations were quickly shattered.
Katryna let out the breath she had been holding. “I am sorry to say that I will be declining
