Velcorna’s arrival threw the atmosphere into a frenzy as nobles scrambled to choose a side or prove themselves somehow neutral to the feud between the Alodan women. Crystal standing by Ruena’s side made the split far more even than it had been last time.

  “If I am cold to you, Duchess, it must be a reflection of what you have given me in the past,” Ruena retorted sharply, unable to hold back the bite from her tone. No matter how many times it happened, it was difficult to face her.

  “A reflection, you say?” Vlecorna mused, sweeping her cool gaze across the room, “I have come to stop you from diving any deeper into this dangerous game you have been playing. There is no need for you to curry favor with mad kings and nobodies like these. If it is Alodan you want, I can just give it to you.”

  “With a price, I am sure,” Ruena replied, not willing to fall for such an obvious trap.

  “My offer is simple,” Velcorna continued as if there had been no barb in Ruena’s reply, “There are two seats and two women of Alodan. One of us will lead Alodan as the duchess, and the other will be the Queen of Altea. The choice is yours.”

  Choice? What choice?! What kind of nonsense was she saying right in front of Crystal with all of these nobles here. The only real choice Ruena had was to deny Velcorna’s entire deal. Densooth had proven that he was willing to punish failure severely, even if she had been remotely alright with the idea of Velcorna sitting on the throne.

  “That is an offer you have no authority to make,” Ruena growled, “I will take Alodan, with or without your approval. But that does not give you any right to the throne of Altea. Unless you have forgotten, you are a princess of Ariz without a drop of Alodan blood.”

  The dark scowl that immediately came over Velcorna’s features was enough to make Ruena flinch back. “Then you must take the throne and leave Alodan to me,” Velcorna snapped.

  “Ladies,” Crystal broke in, “I think you are forgetting the very important fact that Her Majesty Shirisha is still alive and well. Her magic has allowed Altea to thrive thus far, even without appearing in public.”

  Velcorna’s glare towards Crystal carried far more venom than it had towards Ruena. Should she be relieved that her relation granted her some sort of partial mercy from the scheming woman? The banquet hall was filled with a tense silence with the three women at the center. No one dared even breathe until Velcorna spoke again.

  “Have it your way. Live as a puppet to that greedy advisor and cover that cowardly Queen,” Velcorna spat, “Ruena, if you ever change your mind, I will do whatever it takes to assist you. Think about who is truly on your side and make your choice again.”

  After those parting words, Velcorna left with just as much power as she had entered. Every guest in the hall seemed to let out a breath of relief, and the earlier relaxed mood had become tense and awkward. It was Xandus who broke through the tension like it was nothing.

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  “It is your turn, you know,” he prodded his latest victim in chess, “What have you been getting distracted by this whole time? There is nothing that could possibly be more important than chess.”

  The noble, who had earlier been terrified of the Valen king, seemed more than relieved by his words. The atmosphere of a banquet slowly returned with a far higher focus on chess than there had been before Velcorna’s arrival. No one spoke a word about what had just happened. They would likely wait to do so until they returned to their homes and their various gatherings where neither Ruena or Crystal would be present.

  The feast began in earnest, and everyone truly seemed to be able to enjoy themselves as well as the chance to try Soral’s delicious cooking. Soral, always the showman, came out to personally add a finishing flourish to everyone’s dishes all at once with a dramatic showing of magic. Even Crystal seemed impressed with his seemingly effortless display.

  “Is that young man your rumored lover?” Crystal asked Ruena, drawing the attention of several nearby nobles hungry for gossip that wouldn’t get them killed.

  “Soral?” Ruena confirmed, making sure no one could possibly get their facts mixed up, “I don’t know how rumored he is, but yes. We are dating. Returning to Alodan wasn’t part of my plans when we started our relationship, but we have our plans to overcome it. I mean, he already took over a kingdom for me.”

  There was a rush of whispers at her words. The kingdom had been more of an accident than anything else, but it wasn’t wrong to say he had taken on the burden for her sake. Besides, if she convinced them it was all part of a romantic gesture to earn his place by her side it would make things easier later on.

  “Sounds like quite the serious relationship,” Crystal noted, eyeing Soral as he continued to show off his culinary and magic skills, “If he is willing to do that much for you, he must be incredibly devoted.”

  “Yes, very,” Ruena confirmed with a warm smile, “He acts like a charmer and a flirt, but I can guarantee he has never even looked at anyone else. Soral is far too precious to lose.”

  The topic of conversation quickly changed to how amazing Soral was as more and more nobles jumped into the mood. With any luck, more people would be taken by their romance than by the challenge Velcorna had thrown down before the feast. Even if they wouldn’t forget it entirely, the less important it seemed, the better.

  By the time dessert came around, Soral was telling everyone the tales of his grand adventures, leaving out the important secret dealings, and using them to loudly proclaim his undying love for Ruena. It was incredibly embarrassing, but she knew he was doing it because he had heard her intentions in her thoughts.

  All in all, the guests left in a far more jovial mood than when they had arrived, and many of them offered to invite Ruena to their own functions and promote a friendship between their houses. Most of them wanted her to bring Soral along, too. Perhaps he had won them all over a little too well. Either way, she was glad everything had turned out well and they had managed to salvage the feast after Velcorna crashed it.

  As for Xandus, he had already managed to form some sort of chess club among the nobility, and several of his victims asked for permission to visit the estate and play against him again while he stayed in Altea. Everything should have felt like a success. It really should, but Ruena could not get Velcorna’s words out of her mind. Was the reason Densooth dragged her into this because he wanted to control Altea with the Queen in seclusion? If that was really the case, did she have to make the sacrifice and try to claim the throne for herself? No. She couldn’t betray Crystal like that. Instead, she decided to send Crystal a message asking for advice.