Chapter 1- Ty (Part 2)
The kitchen served the first course an hour after the official start time of the dinner.
“What do you want me to do, Ken?” Ty asked through the ring. Outwardly, he didn’t tear his gaze from the tipsy duke across from him, detailing his most recent romp through debauchery.
“Eat.” Even through the overlapping echo of the ring, Kenna’s voice was terse. She had her back turned to Ty as she gossiped with the duke’s equally tipsy wife. “There are already whispers. We can’t give them more to whisper about.”
A servant placed the soup in front of Ty, and he didn’t waste a single second before dunking his spoon and taking a bite. He barely tasted the carrots and potatoes as it scalded his mouth. The duchess across Kenna leaned toward him conspiratorially; her chain of emeralds dangerously close to dipping into her own bowl. She asked, not at all conspicuous, “Do you think it wise, my lord, to begin eating before our guests of honor have arrived?”
At Ty’s side, Kenna lifted her goblet to her pursed lips and sipped, but he didn’t miss the tremble in her hands. She set down the goblet a little too quickly to be casual. The duchess’s focus, though, never left Ty’s reddening face from the too-hot bite, missing the queen’s faux pas. He swallowed what felt like fire before he managed to reply, “Here in the Mountain Kingdom, we eat when the food is hot. I cannot speak to the customs of the Valley Kingdoms.”
The duchess’s eagle eyes narrowed, clearly displeased with how he dodged her question. To Ty’s right, Kenna dipped her spoon into the ceramic bowl.
Beneath the table, Ty touched his ring and jumped into her mind. “Be careful. It's really hot.”
She didn’t spare him a glance as she gingerly took a bite, but he felt her quiet voice slip through his mind. “Oh, I could tell. You looked like you were choking over there. But I can’t let your words go unsupported.”
Ty took another bite, smaller this time. He winced as he swallowed; his throat still raw from the first bite. “Your support is touching.”
The second course arrived at the top of the second hour. Half an hour prior, Kenna had instructed Ty to avoid looking down to the other end of the table and the cluster of empty seats at all costs. Kenna’s eyes had been glassy for the last five minutes at least, and he knew she was in the head of her captain of the guard, scheming and plotting and begging to know if any of his team had spotted the emissaries arriving. As Collins slipped undetected from the ballroom, Ty carried on his animated tale about his most recent hunt, doing his best to draw as many eyes to him as possible.
Normally, at this point in state dinners, Kenna was relaxed. She was at least a glass deep and up to her chin in courtly gossip. Normally, she had ladies gathered in a circle around her chair, eager to hear whatever gospel truth she imparted. Today, she was as rigid as a lightning rod. Even when Ty’s hand swung haphazardly in her direction in a weak attempt to catch her attention and drag her into the conversation.
Chatter stalled as the table began picking at their salads, feigning interest despite the omnipresent elephant in the room. Kenna again slipped into Ty’s mind. “They’re not coming. We need a distraction, something to make the court talk about anything else.”
Ty set down his fork and made a show of adjusting the napkin in his lap. “They’re coming. They’re just late—”
“No, they're not.”
“—They’re trying to make you squirm after the embarrassment of this afternoon. It’s a little man’s ploy at regaining power and the upper hand. They could never be so stupid as to blow off a state dinner held in their honor.”
She looked at him for the first time since the dinner began, and he almost choked under the sudden intense scrutiny. Her imploring gaze was too open for this dinner with court vipers, so he hastily added, “Don’t give them what they want. You said so yourself that gossip from tonight will spread. Don’t let the emissaries hear that their intimidation worked.”
She returned to picking at her food and took a bite with a wince.
After the third course went untouched on her plate for ten minutes, Ty slipped his hand back under the table and found hers fisted in her skirts. He ignored her clammy palms in the same way he hoped she would ignore the desperation in his voice. “The court will soon find it disrespectful if you don’t start eating. That is not the distraction you want them gossiping about.”
She didn't hold his hand back. Her voice in his head sounded too tired for the time of day. “Their speculation that I don’t like my chef’s food is better than the alternative. Plus, I’m full, too,” she weakly added.
Ty grit his teeth. He recognized that tone. Resignation. Defeat. “Bullshit. You’ve barely had ten bites this entire evening. And you like pork chops.”
Kenna wrenched her hand from his, and he couldn’t blame her for it. He had no reason to hold her hand in the first place. No place to do so. A careless mistake. Did she think so too, or was she too lost in her thoughts to have even noticed him?
Clearly, the latter. “I’m not eating, Ty, so stop micromanaging me.”
He sucked on his teeth in annoyance. The telltale groan of the oak doors slowly opening had every head in the room looking to see if, at last, the emissaries had arrived.
With those around them distracted, Ty grabbed Kenna’s plate and scraped its contents onto his. Quick and sure movements had the now-empty plate back in front of her before the sly duchess’s shrewd gaze could catch him in the act.
“Oh, Tiberius Everly, I could punch you for doing that.”
An angry tone was better than a resigned one. “Consider me grateful we’re at this dinner, then.”
Before Kenna could flay him further, Collins materialized at their backs. It was he, then, who had arrived at the party. Not the Valley Kingdoms’ representatives.
“Your Majesty.” His bow somehow rivaled Kenna’s posture for stiffness. “A letter from the Duke and Duchess of the Beyond. They express their remorse at having missed this event.”
Ty scratched his head. A letter from his mother? She had never written to Kenna directly before. At least as far as he knew.
He peered over Kenna’s shoulder and saw that it was not, in fact, a letter from his mother on the other side of the mountain range. It was a joint letter from each Valley King emissary. Informing Her Most Forgiving Majesty that they would not show up tonight. At all.
Kenna pushed back from the table with the letter clenched in her hand. The eyes of every member of her court and every wealthy, well-to-do person living within the Mountain Kingdom’s borders trained solely on her. The Duchess across the table rested her chin on steepled hands, as if she knew exactly what was happening and what exactly the letter said.
“Please allow me to beg your excuses—” Kenna gestured to the long dining table and its occupants— “as I must retire early this evening. I desire to respond and extend my gratitude to the dear Duchess Everly while the messenger still tarries at the palace.”
Kenna dropped her free hand next to her empty plate. “I hope you all enjoyed this meal as much as I did. Do be sure to sing our chefs’ praises to your peers. Now, if you’ll all excuse me. Tiberius.”
Ty rose at the sound of his name and dutifully kept pace beside her as they left the ballroom. He tried to position himself beside her so that the countless eyes burning holes through their backs saw only an advisor and his queen unified, not terrified.
The moment the doors shut behind them, Kenna dropped to a crouch in the middle of the entryway. Her head fell into her hands, and her billowing skirts bunched at her hips as she wobbled; her thin heels almost sliding on the freshly waxed marble.
Collins, who had been a few steps ahead, jumped in surprise. A hint of fear crossed his face. He made to reach for Kenna, and Ty physically body-checked him out of the way, his arm a band across the other man’s chest.
“Don’t,” he snapped. “She’s fine. She’s just breathing.”
“But, sir—”
Kenna waved her hand in Collins’ general direction before twisting her fingers through her hair. She tugged at the pins holding her diadem in place. She dropped them onto the floor without caring where they bounced or rolled.
With one last glare at Collins’ shrinking form, Ty knelt next to her. His right knee twinged and almost gave out as it took the brunt of his weight. The damn joint still refused to work properly, even after all this time. He ignored the pain and reached forward. He began collecting the pins from the floor and tipped them into her hand. Kenna yanked the Twining Rivers Diadem from her hair before it got knotted in like last time.
The mammoth wall of blue diamonds fought her, its teeth clinging to Kenna’s hair. When she held it outstretched, Ty took it from her wordlessly. They had done this dance before. He had learned over time that her headpieces were the most overstimulating items she owned. When she got overwhelmed, it was the first thing she wanted gone. She claimed she couldn’t think with all the weight on her head, and he never once questioned it.
Kenna covered her face with her hands. Her fingers dug into her temples hard enough to leave red marks. But the cadence of her breathing was steady and deep. It wasn’t automatic but forced and controlled. She glued her eyes to a spot in the marble between her feet as Ty weighed the freed diadem in his palm, the one thing she so despised about her role.
It was heavy, no doubt. Ty wondered sometimes, when he felt the weight of these jewels, how her head and neck could hold them up all day and night without buckling. Perhaps that was why holding her head in her hands was her go-to de-stress method.
Heavy was the head that bore the crown, as her mother used to say. And heavier still was the head without it.
The diamonds winked at Ty and reflected the firelight from the lanterns lining the hall. The diadem was Kenna’s mother’s, originally. It was a wedding gift from the King of the Marsh Kingdom to the south. That was why Kenna had chosen to wear it for the dinner tonight. She meant it to be a nod of respect and shared history with the emissary from the Marsh Kingdom.
After another minute of studying the diamonds and listening to his friend’s controlled breathing, Ty said, “We should move elsewhere. People might see us here.” He peered at her. Her hands still held her head aloft, and her eyes were closed. “We should discuss the letter in private. Somewhere with no guards or servants. Either your rooms or mine.”
“There’s nothing to discuss.” Kenna moved her hands to the side of her head and stared absent-mindedly at the floor. The giant sapphire rings on her fingers caught strands of hair and pulled them out of the tight updo. They floated around her face in a phantom wind.
“Kenna.” He chose his words carefully. “There is so much for us to discuss. The prospect of war—”
“There will be no war, Ty.” She looked at him and rose from her crouch. Collins, from where he had stepped away to give them privacy, stepped forward again. Ty pushed off the ground, his knee barking. Kenna looked at them both and began walking toward the grand staircase. They hastened to follow. “We’re going on a hunt tomorrow, Ty. I’d like to leave at first light.”
“Okay.” Ty took the winding stairs two at a time to catch up. For a woman wearing heels, she was fast. “Say more.”
“We’re going to gift the emissaries blue bear pelts. Each Valley King will get his own.”
The breath whooshed out of Collins, and Ty missed a step going up. His shin banged painfully against the stone, and he grabbed the banister to keep his balance. Kenna paused and looked down at him, worry and concern lining her face.
Collins spluttered, “Ma’am, blue bears are the most elusive—”
“Ty is my best hunter. I have full faith that he’ll be able to lead us to four bears.”
Ty’s heart swelled in his chest, and he fought to keep his face neutral. Damn right he was her best hunter. Still…
“You want to give each Valley King their own pelt? It’s...I mean…” Ty fumbled for words as Kenna leveled him with a quizzical look. He ran a hand through his hair. “Dare I say, it’s preposterous, Ken. To find even one bear in a single day’s hunt would be a miracle.”
She turned and kept climbing the steps, passing the landing that led to Ty’s chambers, which meant she was headed for hers. She said over her shoulder, “There is nothing the Valley Kings value more than sacred nature. It is their greatest desire and our greatest weapon. It will quell their blood rage, at least for now. Most importantly, it will buy us time, Ty.”
Ty reached her on the steps and grabbed her forearm, turning her to face him. Her head tilted down to challenge him from above; the two of them toe to toe. “Ken, I have to ask if you’re thinking this through. Blue bears are our greatest resource. Why would you give that up? To them, of all people! They already scorned you twice over today!”
“Tiberius, I appreciate your concern, but please do not mock me.” Her voice did not rise to match his. It held steady and firm, and its echo bounced off the walls and pillars. “We do not have any other options. If we don’t hand over a fraction of this wealth, they will deny us access to every foreign port. Our imports and exports will grind to a halt. They outlined it all here.” She slapped the letter against the banister, her grip ripping the paper.
She stepped down so they could be eye-to-eye when she said, “They cut off our access to everything. Every port, every field, every mine and factory that is not within our borders. There will be famine, and our people will starve. And I will not stand for that!”
Ty stepped up the last step, separating them. Kenna’s head tilted back like she refused to break eye contact. The corners of her eyes crinkled in anger, and she set her mouth in a firm line. She wouldn’t back down. Ty leaned forward, so they breathed the same air. He smelled the barest hint of wine on her breath as she let out a shaky exhale.
“I do not mean to mock you, but the emissaries scorned you first,” he hissed. “They turned their backs on your troops and spat on the dinner you threw in their honor. They’re not in a position to withhold resources. They don’t get to claim that you antagonized them. We can challenge them and take this to the Goddess Island. You will emerge victorious.”
She leaned forward, too, until they were nose to nose. If she weren’t vibrating with anger, Ty would have counted every gold and umber fleck in her irises. “And in the time that takes, my good people will suffer. Innocent civilians will die. The children and the sick will go first.”
“Kenna—”
“I have no qualms about swallowing my pride, Tiberius. I am the newest monarch on the continent. The youngest. The only woman. It is not beneath me to kneel for the sake of my people’s security.” Ty stepped back, and Kenna pushed forward, following him down a step. “I do not find it humiliating to cede defeat in this battle of wills if it means they’ll spare my people. There will be other times, other ways to prove the might of the Mountain Kingdom. This is not that time.”
Ty’s jaw clicked shut, and Kenna turned to Collins, who had watched this all unfold from a healthy distance away. He straightened from where he had been leaning against the far railing. Kenna pleaded, “If you can think of a way to placate these kings’ pride without sacrificing our precious bears, then please, I am all ears. But I can think of nothing we can offer of enough value to satiate their greed and soothe their egos.”
“We can offer the Beyond.” Ty’s voice was a whisper.
Kenna’s head whipped toward him. “No. Not an option. Your home is not my bargaining chip. Try again.”
Crickets.
She looked between her duke and the captain of her guard, as if genuinely hoping they could come up with a better idea than hunting their most sacred possessions. When they said nothing, she shook her head with either remorse or resignation, which, exactly, Ty couldn’t tell.
“Then it’s settled, boys. We will leave tomorrow at dawn for the hunt. And we won’t return unless it is with four pelts in our bags.”
Collins bowed again. “Understood, ma’am. I will begin the preparations now.” He took off back down the steps, his pace betraying just how eager he was to escape the atmosphere Ty and Kenna had created.
Kenna cast Ty another look; the fight drained out of her. He offered only a terse nod. He would have her back on this, now and always. She turned away and, slower this time, finished the trek back to her rooms.
Ty reached past her and pushed open the gilt doors to her private chambers. He held the door open for her as she brushed past. Her posture sagged as they were at last ensconced in true privacy. She paused at a little golden table next to the door and pulled off her heels.
Ty continued deeper into her rooms, intent on returning her diadem to its rightful home in her closet. He stopped dead in his tracks when he spied the other man in the room, his hands clasped behind his back as he studied the view out the windows. The other man turned at the sound of Ty’s scuffling feet. The corner of his lip curled when he spotted Ty and the diadem in his clenched fist.
A little sob sounded from behind Ty, and Kenna knocked his arm as she pushed past and launched herself into the man’s arms. She buried her head in the crook of his shoulder. His hands came up automatically around her, though he just held her in place as he continued staring Ty down.
Ty broke the showdown first. “Samael,” he said, swallowing the bitter taste on his tongue as he started again toward the closet.
“Lord Everly.” The man’s gaze snapped back to the diadem. “I can put that away for her. You don’t need to be doing that.”
“Fine.” Ty let the priceless jewels clatter to the coffee table in front of the fireplace with a little more force than necessary.
Satisfied, Sam turned his gaze to Kenna. He pushed her away to appraise her, and Ty averted his gaze in an attempt to hide the way his jaw ground at the sight. The tops of his shoes were certainly fascinating. “You left the dinner before dessert,” Sam said. “You didn’t get to try what I made for you.”
Kenna shook her head as she looked up at him with those big eyes Ty had only ever seen from afar. She said, “I wasn’t hungry; I couldn’t eat.”
The flash of hurt across Sam’s face brought Ty a sick satisfaction. Kenna said, “I’ve had the most awful day, Sam. My plan to start fresh relations with the Valley Kings and their emissaries backfired spectacularly. It seems I have new enemies now.”
“So I’ve heard.” There was an edge in Sam’s voice. “Must have been pretty terrible if it made you miss my dessert.”
As if his precious dessert was the most important thing in the world right now. As if there weren’t bigger problems to tackle than if one did or didn’t consume a mountain of sugar.
But Kenna nodded earnestly. “I wish I could have tried it.” She spun away, and the way Sam’s hungry eyes tracked her movements elicited a feeling in Ty that he wasn’t too keen on studying. “I’m sure it would have been the best part of the whole dinner. Perhaps I’ll ring another kitchen pastry worker to bring up some extras.”
Ty used the time when she disappeared into her closet to approach Sam. Swallowing his pride the same way that Kenna preached on the stairs, he said, “Don't harp on her about this tonight, okay? She had such a hard day—”
“All day, every day, I slave away in the kitchens from dawn till well after dusk, baking for this entire palace,” Sam said irritably. He turned to the fireplace mantle and poured himself a glass of the expensive scotch from Kenna’s father’s collection. “I’m sure her day was fine in comparison.”
It took every ounce of self-control Ty had to keep his voice even and not let slip his anger at Sam’s indignation toward his queen. “Don’t,” Ty said through pressed lips, “Belittle her experiences. They differ from yours but are not less by far. It is hard work running this kingdom.” Sam scoffed, and now Ty’s anger began boiling over. “All I’m asking is that you hear her out tonight. She has a good plan. She planned a hunt for tomorrow—”
“Ty-Ty.” Sam tipped his tumbler back and downed its contents in one gulp. “I don’t appreciate you telling me how to take care of her. I think I know what I’m doing by now.” He returned Ty’s glare inch by inch.
When Kenna flounced out of her closet, bare-faced and without all her heavy jewelry, Sam’s tone and demeanor flipped. “What’s this Lord Everly is telling me about a hunt you’ve planned for tomorrow, baby? I didn’t think you were a big hunter. Will it be dangerous?” He threw himself into one of the lounge chairs and kicked his feet up. His face was one of fake interest and enthusiasm.
“I don’t really want to talk about it right now. I’ll tell you once we get into bed.”
Ty poured himself his own tumbler of scotch and, at the sight of Sam’s smirk when Kenna wasn’t looking, threw it back just as quickly.
“Right now,” Kenna said, unaware of the tension brewing in the room, “I just want to relax after today. And get out of this heavy dress. Can you just loosen it, please? I can do the rest.” She placed herself in front of Sam, her eyes on the floor. Another triumphant grin tossed Ty’s way had Ty clenching his fists until his hands went numb. Sam leaned forward on his chaise, and Ty glanced away, suddenly regretting the scotch now sloshing dangerously in his stomach.
Ty said, more to his feet than to the other man, “Just remember what I said, Sam. Ken, I know you said you’re ready to relax, but if there’s anything else you need from me—”
“I have my own ways of helping Ken unwind,” Sam drawled, and that alone was enough to conjure up the soup Ty had scarfed down earlier that evening.
Kenna lightly slapped Sam’s arm behind her and admonished him with a look tossed over her shoulder. “Why would you say that? What is wrong with you?” Sam’s gaze flashed with ire at her back, but the eyes Kenna focused on Ty were sympathetic and kind.
“I don’t need anything else from you tonight, Ty. You may retire if you'd like. Thank you for all your help and everything you did today. I’ll see you in the morning for the hunt. Good night, sleep well.”
Ty nodded, barely able to process her words as Sam leaned forward again and began undoing the laces of her dress. He might have stumbled over both feet and the rug as he saw himself out of her room. He could swear he heard Sam’s phantom laughter floating on the wind as he slammed shut the doors to Kenna’s rooms. Ty leaned his back against the wall, his breath sawing in and out in bursts.
He raked his fingers through his hair and tried not to think about the kitchen pastry boy on the other side of the aged wood. Tried not to think about what they would be talking about, now that they had the room to themselves. He didn’t want to know what kind of things Sam got to know or hear that he would never be privy to.
Ty pushed off the doors with a shake of his head. He couldn’t afford to think like that. Couldn’t afford the distraction that it brought. He made his way back to the staircase. Yes, Kenna had bid him goodnight, but a deep slumber was not in his plan. Kenna had tasked him with hunting down four evasive bears the next morning. He needed to prepare. He needed a plan.
About the Author
Madeline is a third-year student at the University of Iowa. When not focused on classwork, she can be found watching football and enjoying a mug of coffee. Madeline loves hanging out with her friends, reading anything fantasy-related, and is inspired by TikTok edits and cheesy Pinterest posts.
Instagram: @Madeline_hussey, @Madelinehusseywrites
Cover design made using Canva design tools.