Was this not the same Queen who had once called them all Castle Court spies and scattered her informants among their households?
Now here she was offering condolences?
What was going on in her mind? She didn't even look the slightest bit disturbed by the chaos from just thirty minutes ago.
"Please be seated, Lords and Ladies of Castle Court," Queen Isolde finally said. Her gaze swept over the room, cold and exacting. "Someone tried to do the unthinkable this morning. And it wasn't even the undead."
The moment she mentioned the undead, murmurs spread like a current through the room.
"We must deliver justice to whoever—"
"May I speak, Your Highness?" Lord Alrik Thorne rose suddenly.
Queen Isolde's jaw tightened at the interruption, but she gave a curt nod.
"We're here because of the King's death. Frankly, we care little for this morning's incident. I suggest we get on with the memorial and let Lady Nysha handle her assassin."
"But I didn't catch the assassin," Lady Nysha Evermoor said quietly, from where she sat. Her fingers tapped restlessly against her legs. "Just like we didn't catch the one who killed the King."
Lord Vikar Varek cleared his throat. "My guard saved your life, Lady Nysha. You could at least say thank you."
"But he didn't." Lord Cale Elrean chuckled faintly. "There's a stranger in our midst. One the Queen knows very well."
The Queen tensed, wondering how the conversation had pivoted so quickly from justice to that. She had known this moment would come eventually, but not so soon.
She bit her lower lip, annoyed, and raised a finger.
Silence.
"Lord Cale, what do you mean by that statement?"
The Lord of the House Elrean, marked with the owl insignia, rose. "Everyone, look around. You should see someone from your own house. If you don't, then someone who wasn't invited is among us. That's how we catch killers. Not by disrupting the court, Lord Alrik."
"What?" Lord Alrik growled. "You better sit your fishy ass down, Librarian."
Ouch.
Lord Cale's face twitched. The insult landed hard.
"You…!"
"I need your mouths shut." Queen Isolde's voice was low but irritated. The headache was creeping in. All she wanted was to play the heartful queen, bring justice for her cousin, cut off the assassin's head, and move on to the memorial.
But this… was a waste of time.
"Fine," she said coldly. "Everyone look at your families. Hug the ones you recognize. If you don't recognize anyone around you, take three steps away from them. General Loric, deal with the outsiders as you see fit. Cut off their heads."
And that… was when the real horror began.
While everyone turned and embraced their family members…
The girl in the wheelchair had no one to hug.
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/-Kaelynn's pov-/
When the rest of the guests were ushered into the grand room, I expected to be left behind… forgotten or delayed as usual, but to my surprise, Syrr, Nephroma, and Evangra guided me forward, pushing my chair with strange calmness.
How they managed to slip past General Loric without protest was beyond me. Perhaps they had pulled the scroll trick again, flashing the end of my mother's will like some seal that couldn't be questioned.
At the time, I assumed I'd never find out how they did it. But now I realized it wasn't just the Five Great Houses that had gathered for the king's memorial. The entire capital had come to a halt for this moment. Shops were ordered shut. Trade was suspended. And beyond the court gates, I could see a restless crowd… over a thousand people, pressed and waiting, though not permitted to step foot inside the inner Castle Court.
I smiled. How lucky I was, truly, to sit among such a great court? Among legends. But that happiness was naïve and never meant to last. No one could have prepared me for what came next.
No one could have told me that my own mother, Queen Isolde, would ask General Loric, the terrifying, scar-riddled man to cut off the heads of those the royal family no longer recognized.
I turned around, searching for my courtiers but they were gone. They had vanished from my side.
I closed my eyes. Breathe, Kaelynn. Maybe they were still nearby… maybe just behind me and I couldn't hear them through the crowd… until I looked again, and everything slowly, horribly, began to fall apart.
My eyes caught three familiar silhouettes standing a little too close to my mother's side in silence.
I had forgotten. They were her eyes and ears, not mine. Panic settled deep in my chest as the scene around me blurred into a sea of colored cloaks and cold stares. House Thorne found red. House Elrean hugged blue. House Varek clasped yellow… Each house reunited with its kin, and even the castle guards were pairing off with their comrades.
They all held hands together for evidence.
That was when I glanced down at myself.
A bitter snort escaped before I could stop it. The courtiers had dressed me in a flowery gown that was completely out of place in this color-coded spectacle of House pride. While others were wrapped in ancestral cloaks, marked in sigils and honor, I sat there in a flowery dress.
By the time everyone had found someone to hold, I was still there.
Alone.
In my ridiculous dress.
In a wheelchair.
"You," General Loric's voice rang out. "Come forward."
He was pointing at me.
They were all looking at me. Whatever strength I thought I had gathered abandoned me instantly. I didn't walk… I rolled. Or rather, it felt more like being dragged. At least he hadn't drawn his sword yet. With trembling fingers and a weak grip, I pushed the wheels forward. This chair was newer than my old one without any squeaks or groans, but it was stifling, and uncomfortable.
I had always heard tales of the Five Houses, how they were both the kingdom's greatest strength and its most dangerous fault lines.
Up close, they were terrifying.