Free Web NovelChapter 445: Chapter 445
The news reached every corner of the palace before the last of the nobles had even been escorted out. Servants whispered it to one another in passing, guards relayed it in hushed tones at their posts, and by the time the royal physician had been summoned to the king’s chambers, there was not a soul within those walls who did not know that Zeriel had collapsed at his own table.
The physician, a lean and serious man who had served the crown for over two decades. He had seen the king’s health decline over the years, had watched it happen gradually and with a quiet dread he had never voiced aloud. Zeriel had not been well for some time. That much was plain to anyone who knew where to look, though the king had taken considerable care to ensure that most did not. But even accounting for that, even knowing what the physician already knew of his condition, nothing had prepared him for what he found when he examined the king that night.
It had taken him very little time to reach his conclusion.
Poison.
A guard had managed to retrieve the king’s cup from the dining hall floor before it could be swept away with the rest of the evening’s disorder, and what the physician found in the residue that clung to its interior only confirmed what the examination had already told him.
That was four days ago now. The king’s health had not improved. He lay in his chambers still and unresponsive, his breathing shallow, his skin a sickly pallor. That he had survived this long was, by the physician’s private estimation, something close to remarkable given the severity of it. He had said as much to the queen, carefully and without embellishment, and she had listened to every word he said.
Nheera had come to see Zeriel each day without fail. She sat at his bedside, and stayed there for a considerable length of time on each visit. It was what was expected of her as his wife, even though she could barely stand to be in the same room with him. Whatever she felt, she did not allow it to show on her face.
What she did not allow to go to waste was the opening that had been handed to her.
With the king incapacitated, authority over the kingdom fell to the queen, and Nheera had not hesitated. She had moved quickly. Decisions that had previously required Zeriel’s approval now passed through her hands alone. Those who served her had already begun to notice the shift.
Laheir made his way to the king’s chambers, he did so when he thought Nheera would be absent. He had managed it successfully on each of the previous visits. Today, he was not so fortunate.
She was stepping out of the hall that led to Zeriel’s chambers just as he was approaching it, and the moment their eyes met, she stopped.
"I would like to have a word with you." ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Her voice was even, her expression giving nothing away. There was no trace of sadness in it, no exhaustion, none of the things one might reasonably expect to find on the face of a woman whose husband lay dying a short distance away. She was as composed and as formidable as she had ever been.
"Very well," Laheir said. "Lead the way."
There was an ease to the way he said it that felt wrong.
She turned without another word and he followed. She led him away from the wing, down a corridor that saw little traffic, and through a turn that brought them well away from anywhere their voices were likely to carry. She checked once to make sure that they were truly alone before she faced him.
"You are the reason he is like this, aren’t you?" she said, keeping her voice low. "You poisoned him."
Laheir held her gaze without flinching. "I did." No hesitation, no attempt at deflection. "He had overstayed his purpose and he had to go. You couldn’t do it when my brother asked, so I took it into my own hands."
"And you couldn’t even do the job properly," Nheera said. "He still lives."
"Not for long."
"That is not the point." Her voice sharpened, though she did not raise it. "You should have consulted me before you acted. I am your ally and I am the queen. I was owed that much."
"So you could drag your feet further on the matter?" Laheir replied. "This is what we have been working toward. Soon this kingdom will be ours to shape as we see fit. That is what you have wanted for years."
It was true. She did not deny it. But she shook her head anyway. "What I wanted was for Zeriel to name Hairan as his successor before he died. He hasn’t done that yet." ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"And he may never get to now. Would you have preferred we waited and risked him naming Ragnar instead?" He asked.
The name landed the way it always did, like something set down to provoke a reaction. Nheera’s gaze went cold.
"My children are the only heirs that matter," she said quietly. "I will kill that bastard of his and his filthy human wife long before I let him sit on that throne. Do you hear me?"
"I would hate to see Ragnar become king," Laheir said. "That is precisely why Aeron and I have been taking steps to prevent it. Zeriel had become unpredictable. He was making decisions that compromised everything we have built, and that made him a liability. Your children need not know what was done, but Zeriel had to go. Now, if that is all, I intend to check in on his Majesty. I would like you to accompany me."
Nheera considered him for a moment, then gave a single nod.
They walked back toward the king’s wing without speaking. Nheera entered the chamber first. Laheir came in behind her, drew the door shut, and crossed toward the bed where Zeriel lay.
