The Heretic Prince by Theo J Malloy

Author:Theo J Malloy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Collin Malloy

17

Samira

Samira hadn't spoken for a long time when Jullia progressed from shouting to beating on the doors to the cathedral. Despite the growing crowd outside in the street behind them, no one from inside had acknowledged them since they arrived, and the younger girl was growing more desperate by the minute.

"Please!" she insisted, when she'd grown frustrated and her palms had started to turn red. "He's my brother! As Princess of the Hartlands, as heir to the Hartlands now, I demand to see Deronn!"

"Er, princess," one of the men interjected, a courtier of King Eronn's with one foot out the door and a member of the congregation of nobles Samira could best describe as 'snivelling', "actually the Hartlands would pass to one of your cousins should some misfortune befall the king--"

Jullia whirled around and shot the man a look that even Samira would bend to, as Petra Keaton ordered the man away without a word. There was a long silence as the court stood there, waiting for an answer from the Priests.

Deronn had been whisked away in the hours after the king's death, and no one had seen him since other than the Priests in the King's Cathedral. This was fairly normal, considering the circumstances; princes often held vigils for their fathers, and everyone had expected the Priests to grasp for power with the need for a regency until Deronn came of age. But whatever was happening inside, Jullia wanted him out.

Samira couldn't blame her. It had been two weeks now, and there were plenty of urgent matters that Deronn had to be present to attend to, now that he was acting king. The Godhead had just sent word to wait to crown him until he could make it to a formal coronation, but until then, though unofficial, he was Eronn's son, and there was nothing anyone else had the right to do. She and Jullia were holding things together as long as they could, delaying their trip to the lords' castles until Deronn returned.

There was an arrival today, though, that had been the last straw-- a messenger from the Holy Army, about the battle at the Canyon, with strict orders not to speak to anyone but the king. So Jullia had brought both of them in a palanquin through the city to the holy men's doorstep, and now they would wait.

"What should we do if they don't let him go?" Samira asked Petra quietly.

"I have no idea," she admitted. "My first thought would be to write to Lord Wright. He might come, he's the boy's uncle..." And your lover, Samira amended privately, but she knew the woman was probably right.

"Lady Keaton," one of the courtiers said sharply. "Perhaps this is not a discussion for guests."

Samira rounded on the man. "Excuse me? And who are you?"

The man did not flinch. "A knight of the Hartlands, Princess. Meaning no offense, but I find it difficult to believe you stand in opposition to your betrothed's loyalists here."

She took a step back, genuinely surprised.

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