Chapter 237

Watching the battle take place from the hallway had been unsettling for Kit, especially when she saw Eli faltering. For a moment, it had looked as if Vin might be victorious. Her attention had been pulled away when she learned Danyen was injured. Despite Galter’s best efforts to stop her, the princess insisted on going in and tending to him, and she had been there, placing pressure on the wound when Armant arrived. Danyen apologized for not being as handy with a sword as he was a quill, but Kit had only kissed him and assured him he was perfect in her sight.

And then she’d seen hesitancy in Cassius and Eli as they considered mercy for Vin, the monster who had hurt and tortured so many. Ending him seemed like the right thing to do for all of the people of Yewforia, though she could never fault her men for weighing the costs of taking a life, even when that life was as worthless as scar face’s.

She’d been stunned to see Jecob standing on the dais, wearing his province’s colors, ordering troops like a true commander of men. Her mother had taken so much from him for such ridiculous reasons; she shouldn’t have been surprised to learn he was as involved in organizing the revolt as anyone. She didn’t see the wounded man lying in the infirmary before her now. Rather, she saw a confident military man, capable of leading men and taking back some semblance of his dignity.

Now, she stood next to Eli, Cassius in front of her, facing the final barrier. On the other side of that door, she would encounter her mother. She’d have to face her, to demand she abdicate the throne and bow to her, Katrinetta, Queen of Yewforia. If Rona refused, Kit was prepared to have her taken to the tower to stay for as long as her mother needed in order to understand her crimes against the realm were inexcusable and had cost Rona the crown.

Wood raged against wood, splinters flying into the air as the men with the battering ram slammed into the barricade time and again, each thrust bringing the breach closer. Cassius and Eli moved closer to her, and Kit looped one hand around Cassius’s arm, the other intertwined in Eli’s fingers. Jecob counted to three, and his troops moved forward again, this time, their momentum carried them into the room several feet as the doors came apart. They dropped the battering ram behind them on the dais and Jecob gestured for Kit to advance.

She wouldn’t go in first, though. She assumed there would be some sort of guard in the room. Cassius and Eli freed themselves from her grasp as Jate, Landon, and Reeve approached the open door from across the room. Kit turned to look at Drake and Danyen, wishing they could come as well, but Danyen’s injury prevented him from walking at the moment, and Drake gave a reassuring wave, suggesting he would stay with his friend.

Her ladies had been waiting in the hallway with Galter as instructed, but they entered the room now, none of them dissuaded by the state of the bodies on the floor. Kit followed her men at a distance, her ladies just behind her, as Eli and Cassius entered her mother’s chambers first.

There wasn’t much of a contest. The few soldiers who had taken up position here were not able to fight the Representatives off. Four of the seven fell quickly, the other three tossing their swords, raising their hands as they dropped to their knees. Jecob’s men pulled them out into the throne room as Kit followed him into the room.

Rona stood in the far corner, her head still held high, though her dark gown was disheveled, and the crown sitting on her head was crooked. Kit glanced around the room. A few councilwomen were standing huddled together against the back wall, but they seemed to understand Kit meant them no harm and relaxed slightly as she advanced into the room.

The only other figure that may be considered hostile was Pierce, whose distraught features made his handsome face look pitiful. He was standing a few feet away from the queen, pressed against the wall, his hands up, though Kit noticed he wore a small scabbard at his waist, one she assumed carried a knife, hardly a weapon any of her men would fear.

Kit stepped between the fallen guardsmen, crossing the room to face her mother. Gliding on the waves of victory, it was easy to keep her head up, her shoulders back, and ignore the whispers in the back of her mind that had always proclaimed she wasn’t good enough, that her mother would destroy her if she took a single misstep.

“Katrinetta,” Rona’s voice was clear and sharp, though Kit detected a slight waver. “What is the meaning of this? Do you know what you’ve done, daughter?”

“I know precisely what I’ve done, Rona. I have taken the throne from you. For crimes committed against Yewforia, your citizenry has declared you unfit to rule, and we demand you abdicate the crown to me at once. In exchange for your cooperation, you shall be allowed to keep your life.”

“Crimes?” Rona barked. “You can’t be serious. I am the queen. I am incapable of committing any crime against the realm.”

“You have committed several. Even a sovereign queen is subject to the laws of the land. You have sent prisoners to the dungeon to rot who have committed no crimes and had no trials. You have interfered with my Choosing, including having relations with a Representative while he was still participating. You have ordered the execution of at least one Representative. You’ve confiscated taxes beyond the lawful amounts, withheld staples from the citizens which were to be supplied by the crown, and paid unapproved funds to neighboring kingdoms without approval by the council, not to mention paying bribes to enemies of the crown.”

“Are you done?” Rona snapped, her eyes narrow slits.

“There’s more, but those are the most serious of your crimes, Rona. Do you deny them?”

The queen took a step forward. “You can’t prove anything.”

“I can prove everything.”

Avinia produced the documents taken from the secret storage room, and Kit waved them in front of her mother’s face, reading aloud a list of items confiscated from the people of Yewforia and sent to a neighboring kingdom. She flipped to another page and read the sum sent to the woman who claimed to be the rightful queen. Kit glanced up to see her mother’s face pale. Across the room, the councilwomen who had previously sided with Rona gasped and covered their mouths. “Shall I continue?”

The queen seemed to realize there was nothing more she could say to persuade Kit that she had committed no crimes against the realm. With her nostrils flaring, she switched tactics. “Katrinetta, you are my daughter.” She marched forward, reaching for Kit’s hands. The princess stepped back, jerking her hands away before her mother could reach them. Rona gasped and stared at Kit for a moment, but the princess refused to fall for her mother’s pretend display of affection. “How could you do this to me?”

“How could I do this to you?” Kit felt the fiery rage she’d recently become so familiar with building up inside of her. “How could you do this to me? How could you treat your own daughter as if her needs were secondary to your own?”

“I never....”

“You lured Pierce into your bedroom when he was supposed to be my Representative! You ordered Eli to be killed! You had Cassius beaten because he refused you. Not to mention the fact that you attempted to alienate me from my own father, locking him in a room far away from anyone. I know about the swamp, all of the discarded bodies, including the poor driver I attempted to help not long ago. I know how you locked away Terrowin and the others I held most dear. You have done nothing but try to control my life from the time I was born, Rona! I will no longer refer to you as either my mother or my queen, so do not attempt to win sympathy from me now!”

“Katrinetta, Pierce serves only as council. I have no idea how Eliason Goedwig happens to be standing here when my guard reported to me that he was killed. I never ordered his death, and whatever Cassius may have said to you is simply his attempt to turn you against me.”

Kit heard Cassius scoff behind her but didn’t need to assure him she was aware everything her mother had just uttered was a lie. “I saw you with Pierce, Rona. I. Saw. You.” Kit stepped forward her eyes slits, a finger jabbing at the older woman whose face blanched. “As for the other denials, you may take them up with the goddesses, as I know the truth. I am tired of this discussion. Do you choose to hand over the crown yourself, or shall I be forced to take it from you?”

“Over my dead body!” Rona screeched, flying at Kit, her hands raised as if she would choke her own daughter.