The War of Queens

Chapter 45

Evelyn

 Amalia had returned to the Branches long before Raynor returned, and Evelyn was bored out of her mind by the time he did. There were barely any men in the castle, much less in the capital city itself. Helene read books and had found herself the pastime of playing chess, while Mary enjoyed dancing and stitching and playing the flute. If she was not at court doing either of those, she was in the gardens with Bertram. So by the time she heard about Raynor’s stupidity, all of her boredom and impatience was bottled up, ready to explode.

 “Why did you let him do it?” she hissed at Nicholas, who was doing his best to avoid eye contact. “You were there to make sure that he did not make mistakes like this one - and now I hear you actually advised him to do it!”

 Nicholas held his hands up. “Let me explain.”

 “There is no time,” she said. “You are responsible for this, so you had better use what little time you have to fix it.”

 “But don’t you see?” He leaned across the table that separated them. “I planned this. I know what will happen, but I promise you it’ll all turn out well.”

 She narrowed her eyes at him, trying her best to turn glares into daggers. “What do you mean?”

 “If you would just give me the time to explain, you’d understand,” he said. “Now. Raynor came up with this idea on his own. He is plagued by his defeat at Snow’s Border and wishes to secure Tibera in case he loses the Kingslands.”

 She frowned. “But now that he has moved so much of his army to Tibera, surely his chances of keeping the Kingslands have greatly diminished.”

 “But I don’t want him to keep the Kingslands, not necessarily.” When she was about to speak up to protest, he glanced at her and she fell silent. “I want him to be sure to keep Tibera. Even if he did not move his army east, the chances of him winning the war are not something to rely on. The Tiberans love the Lamarcks more than anyone and they will not just let some foreign Queen take their lands.”

 Evelyn began to understand. “So you’d rather he play it safe?”

 “That too,” he said. “But mostly, I want chaos. Let Elizabeth have the Kingslands if she wants, as long as Raynor secures the east. You’ve already secured the west through your marriage with Tiraq. Once the war is over and Elizabeth focuses her energy on rebuilding, you can sweep down from the mountains while Raynor moves from the east. Between the two of you, she’ll be captured with nowhere to run. And you, Evelyn, may yet be Queen.”

 Evelyn’s eyes were wide by the end of his speech. “I did not expect such… cold-heartedness from you, sir.”

 He smirked in a way that reminded her of Jonathan. “Well, perhaps you should reevaluate your views on me.”

 She considered his plan for a moment. “Even if this should work,” she said, “then I still would not be Queen. Raynor would become King again and Sybil would be seated beside him. Even if Raynor should die in battle, Sybil would probably have sons by then to inherit his position.”

 “Probably,” he agreed. “But Sybil is a Renell. If Elizabeth wins now, then so does Caterina. I don’t think Sybil has the strength to stick to Raynor’s side if he has been defeated by her family. She will probably rejoin her house and if she does that, then I don’t think she or her sons will be considered fit for ruling.”

 Devious, Evelyn thought, and in her mind her tone of voice was praising. “We still can’t be sure that Raynor will be out of the way.”

 “People die in battle all the time,” he said. “Even Kings. We just need to make sure the right people die.”

 If someone had heard them then, they would have lost their heads, both of them. Worse than that, Evelyn would have lost her dignity, her honor - Raynor was her brother after all. I’ve already lost one brother, she thought to herself. I yet breathe, my heart yet beats. I can survive the loss of another one, if it gets me the throne. Anything is worth it, if it gets me the throne.