Golden Crown by M. Lynn

Author:M. Lynn [Lynn, M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: M. Lynn

Chapter Thirteen

Etta led Vérité into the pen outside the stables and removed his saddle. She walked toward the shelter to hang it, enjoying a temporary reprieve from the dampness outside as she walked the length of the dry stables.

Three horses entered the stables at the opposite end. Catrine rode between two of her guards. She slid down gracefully, not needing or wanting the help of her men. After handing the reins of her horse off to a stable lad, she turned as if she’d known Etta was there all along.

“Queen Persinette.” Catrine dipped her head formally.

Etta hated the distance between them. Once, she’d been trusted by the queen mother. But that was before the magic took hold of her and Bela rejoined the world.

“Queen mother.” Making a quick decision, Etta turned on her heel and walked back to where she’d left Vérité eating from a trough. To her surprise, Catrine followed her into the muddy corral, not even bothering to lift the ends of her thick green skirt.

Etta released a sigh and turned to meet her gaze. “Is there something you’d like to say to me?” She imagined what all Gauleans thought of her and the desire to protect her people within their borders. But as she looked at Catrine, she saw the same burning intensity in her gaze. This was a woman who’d stand for her kingdom until she couldn’t any longer.

And Etta suddenly didn’t want to be looking at the queen mother anymore. She wanted to see the woman her father must have seen.

“Were you and my mother true friends?” Etta’s shoulders tensed, waiting for an answer.

Catrine nodded, sadness etched across her face. “She was the greatest friend I’ve ever had.”

“Then how-”

“How could I love her husband?” Emotions warred in the queen’s eyes. “Back then, things were very different for us. My husband was the king, but he was not a good man. He left the palace for months at a time with Viktor at his side. I led Gaule during those years. He made war on the magic folk. It was his one accomplishment. The purge. But the kingdom survived the years of isolation we experienced while the wards were in place because of me and my advisors.”

“That tells me nothing of my mother.” Etta began to turn away.

“No,” Catrine agreed. “But it tells you something of me. I know what you must think of me… of your father.”

“Did you love him?”

“Yes,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “But I wasn’t in love with him. I also loved your mother. Our relationship was… complicated. When we conceived Ty, your mother had left the palace.”

“Left?”

“She never understood why Viktor insisted on serving a cruel king.”

Etta gripped Vérité’s mane. “He never told her of the curse…” She lifted her eyes. “But why? Did my healing powers come from her?” She had to know. Was she the daughter of a Draconian?

Catrine’s eyes pinched in sadness. “No, dear. The healing powers are yet another gift from your father’s line. Your mother was… well, she had no magic.

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