The Almost Queen by Alys Murray

Author:Alys Murray [Murray, Alys]
Language: eng
Format: epub

The first stop on their tour was Hill Country, a small province where Ellara had spent more than her fair share of the war hiding behind mounds of dirt and fighting for the High Ground. Neither the beauty of the purple leafed Sytranil trees nor the ghosts of her fallen comrades could return her from the spiraling of her distracted thoughts. Yesterday, after her humiliation with Terran at the riverbank and Elias’ horrified look at the sight of them together, she’d taken the time to reevaluate her feelings. It wouldn’t do her any good wishing she could go back to a time before she felt anything for him—no one had the power to turn back time—but she had to be more careful with herself. Terran’s people were still suspicious of her, Elias was ready to throw up at the sight of them almost kissing, and unless her magic directly benefited them like some kind of carnival diversion, the court still looked upon her as an outsider, an enemy coming to seduce their oh-so-righteous king. If she wanted to live through this trip with her skull intact and the agreement with Outerland still in place, she needed to play the game.

But then he had to go and ask that stupid question. As soon as the lovebirds flew into the sky, their fire-wings entwined, she’d made a beeline for her tent, not bothering to look behind her.

No one, not even Briony, tried to speak to her, but their eyes followed her everywhere she went.

So did their whispers. As much as the people of the court seemed to pride themselves on their ability to conduct gossip anywhere and at any time, they were terrible at keeping their voices low enough for discretion.

She never cared about the whispering. When she was at school, she’d taken everything—beatings and all—with good humor, trying to win them over with kindness and gentility. But now…she couldn’t help but care about every overheard conversation and snide remark. This was no longer just about her, something she had to bear in order to try and win friends. Maybe the country was no longer at war, but she knew better than to think the fighting had stopped. Gossip was just another form of warfare, one she had to wield and defend herself against carefully.

She thought Terran, of all people, would have understood that, which was why she couldn’t contain her shock when the idiot had asked her about love in front of all of those people. It was why she couldn’t contain her anger at him now, when she found herself partnered with him during the first of their “cultural exchanges,” a dance lesson offered by one of the ladies’ societies of Hill Country.

When Ellara had suggested a tour around the kingdom, she hadn’t meant that she wanted to spend her days in stuffy halls wearing extravagant dresses and being told how to properly jump on the two and four counts of the music. No, she’d anticipated working with farmers to

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