Great Sinner Queen [Death and the Maiden, #2]

Chapter Nineteen: Demeter

She reaches out and pulls me into an embrace.

I don't see anything but her arms, her darkness and the blurred flowers of her dress. The smell of wood and lavender is powerful, dizzying.

She lets go.

I can't read the emotion in her eyes.

I make myself to take a deep breath, to look shaken. 'My Queen.'

'Nerissa,' the queen says, 'Please call me Mother. Everyone else in this room calls me by my birth name, Cerelia. But to most people beyond these walls, I'm known as Demeter. Demeter means the ruling goddess of the harvest, agriculture and divine order.'

I hold back a quip about having three names and being selfish, and try to digest what she's told me. So, Demeter is a generic name. My mother's name is Cerelia.

I wish Mercer here so that he could be more clueless than I am.

'And these are my close advisers,' Cerelia says, gesturing to the people surrounding us.

'Despoina,' Cerelia points to a tall brunette with athletic limbs. 'Plutus, who bears the cornucopia. And lastly, Philomelus.'

Cerelia doesn't say anything further about Philomelus, and Plutus stands and gives a jovial nod. Like Despoina, he has brown hair and a strong, muscular body. Philomelus, in comparison, is lithe and dark, his hair almost black, and his skin a light brown.

'Your siblings,' Cerelia finishes.

The shock on my face isn't faked. 'I have other siblings?'

Other than Nate?

'Arion is missing, too,' the girl— Despoina— says kindly, as if another sibling is what will calm me down. 'Although he doesn't take human form.'

I open my mouth to ask what form he does take.

'There will be plenty of time for family reunion later,' Cerelia says, and cold steel lies behind her gentle smile. 'We cannot keep our prisoner waiting longer.'

Turning to us, she says, 'You came just in time. We were about to hear his defence. How about you all take a seat? The row there is free.'

I'm still staring at the three people announced as my relatives when Sybella steers me gently to the bench. Shoulder to shoulder with Quill and Sybella, I sit between them, as small as I can make myself. Cerelia returns to the throne, and she curls back onto it, crossing an ankle over the other and reclining with familiarity.

From her right, Despoina calls, 'You may continue.'

Her eyes are locked on the prisoner. I wrench my gaze away from my sister— I have a sister?— when the man kneeling before Cerelia speaks.

After his pleas die down, Cerelia looks slowly to him. 'What do you think, Nerissa? What punishment should this man receive?'

Punishment? My gut churns. I hadn't expected Cerelia to pick me out, single me out, like a challenge. My brain has been too busy dissecting my different siblings to pay much attention to the man's story. My brow furrows as I pretend to ponder the decision.

The man's case regards his young son. The man had tried to sneak both him and his son across Spring's borders, and into another Court.

I turn to the man. 'What was your reason for trying to leave Spring?'

He looks at me incredulously. 'T-that is, because of you, my l-lady.'

I see his Adam's apple move as he swallows, nervous about his response. He hunches over, waiting for a reprimand...or a beating. I can't tell which.

'Because of me?' I repeat, waving a hand to indicate my confusion. The onlookers glance around, unwilling to interrupt unless the Queen Demeter does. But she watches me with sheer interest, leaning forward, chin propped upon an elegant hand.

He licks his lips to wet them. His whole body has gone rigid. 'B-because they say the Spring Princess has returned, and the Gods don't want her to break the curse.'

'But...what does that have to do with leaving Spring?' My return is the same no matter where he goes.

'They say...' he looks up at the tree, and I see him mouth a prayer. 'They say war is coming. And with the conscription...'

It's an effort not to swing round and look at Cerelia's reaction. A conscription? To an army?

But here I can't be smart Nerissa. I can't even be a risk of smart. I have to act like a loyal puppy, gleaning the information the Queen Demeter would want me to. So, I push away asking him where this army is, and who the war would be against.

I set my mouth into a grim line. 'War? And you wanted to leave?'

'Yes,' the man says, hope flaring in his eyes. He speaks more loudly, hoping to convince one of the nearby listeners. 'Olympia will not get involved as they are not threatened by this yet. It's the safest place for my son.'

'So why did you want to leave?' I ask again. My cold tone gets the man anxious once more, but I don't blink. I don't waver. If my mother wants me to be ruthless, then let her see me a puppet.

'Be...because I have to raise...raise him,' he says.

'Do you?' I say, looking down upon him. 'My mother gave me away as a baby...for the good of her people. Your Queen. Who you should be loyal to.'

I fold my arms, my stare empty and devoid of sympathy. Inside, I want to vomit. The words that flow cruelly from my mouth sting as I speak them, cursing me a little more each time I say them.

'Your loyalty is to Spring, your children dedicated to Spring. Your punishment should be fitting of a betrayal.'

Yes— I want to vomit. Across the floor. As he's being dragged backwards.

The Queen Demeter claps. 'That's definitely my daughter.'

So— that's who she wants. Not a simpering, stupid Nerissa.

She wants one like her.

Aside, she nods to the others. 'Give him a reminder that he's conscripted into the Spring Army whether he has the legs to flee on or not. We can't have exceptions.'

Such an ominous statement is met with nods and approving smiles.

I steady my breathing. There's no way the man would have escaped, even if I'd have begged for his release. Even so, he glares at me as they haul him to his feet, guards flanking him on either side. It's a glare I'll remember for a long, long time.

If I live that long.

After the man has been dragged away, the Queen Demeter takes a seat on her throne again, casting me a graceful smile. Strangely, the court still seems to be in session. I just don't know who is on trial yet.

But as the Queen smiles even harder, and gestures for me to approach, I have an inkling who it might be.

'My lovely daughter,' Cerelia calls. 'Come closer. Take a seat in the middle. I'm sure you have a tale to tell.'

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A/N: this chapter has taken so long to write! I have to apologize, YET AGAIN! 

Do you find January a deplorable month? I find it so difficult to feel HAPPY in January, and I know it's a low point for a lot of people. Writing definitely took a hit as I hit a bit of a slump these last few weeks. Thank you for your patience and thank Hadrian it's February!

Sorry for lack of Hadrian in this chapter, but it's important! Do you like it? What do you think of Spring and Demeter/Cerelia?

Let me know!

Larissa

xxx