My hands still shook, so I kept them at my sides, I didn't want to give anyone the incorrect idea that it was from any reason besides a lingering exhaustion from stretching my powers towards their full extent. Despite the serious looks on the faces of Mari and Mistra, I did not feel any remorse or regret.

The remnants of the men had been swept and pried from the floor by terrified servants, the work hastily done by two of the older and more trusted servants. Mari had hand picked both of the women, having known them long enough to be confident of their allegiance, though being commoners it would only be a matter of time before the word spread that the entourage has perished. I did not know for certain if any of the commoners would know King Leon had been amongst the men, but it was likely someone who saw them enter would put the pieces together.

"Your father is going to want Toria's head on a pike," Mari said to Mistra. She sat in the closet seat to the throne, her eyes glancing back to the soot-stained spot where the king had perished. "He may have no love for human monarchs, but he is in no way ready for any sort of war yet."

"Is the late king's kingdom prepared for war?" Mistra questioned.

"Not according to traditional measures," Mari admitted, "but it's not like we pose much of a threat to them. We still have a bunch of wide-eyed little girls, not a band of hardened war witches yet."

"They don't know that," Mistra countered. "This kingdom is not heavily talked about in general political circles, it is mostly whispered on the lips of commoners. Even then, the talk is often a tale of great magical power not to be trifled with. Surely that was enhanced by the fact a Yser used to be their queen."

"The commoners of the kingdom are aware of our reputation," I confirmed. "Though my father was not overly impressed with the rumor. My mother being weak did not help his perspective."

Mari straightened up in her chair and shook her head.

"I can't believe the both of you are this calm. Toria has assassinated another monarch, her father no less, and has risked a premature war."

"I could not allow the disrespect to stand." I leaned back in my throne and set my hands on the arms, holding the golden furniture to further steady myself. "I do not begin to think that any other monarch would have allowed anyone, even a foreign king, to belittle their power and literally spit on the floor in front of them."

"Execution still likely would not have been on their mind," Mari said, a bit of sternness in her voice.

"Perhaps it should be."

Mari snapped her eyes to Mistra.

"I reminded Toria to stay level-headed and not start an early war before the entourage arrived, but I cannot deny that their demise did not cross my mind as well. Certain things are simply not tolerable, no matter the status of the offender."

"Hmm," Mari murmured, her eyes shifting between the two of us, "I think both your judgements are dangerously clouded for different reasons. This will not all blow over, we must be prepared and carefully plan how we are going to appease Raf."

"There is no need to tell him," Mistra said with a shrug, "having an ally never means letting them in on all their secrets."

Mari's face screwed up into an incredulous look, like she had just taken a bite of something disgusting.

"You can't be suggesting we keep him in the dark about this," Mari said with a short, disbelieving chuckle. "You're his daughter, you know better than anyone that prolonging the inevitable only makes it several times worse when he finally does discover it."

"He need never discover it." I raised my head high and let out a long, controlled breath. "We are the only ones who truly know what happened, so unless one of us plans on telling him, he will never know for sure."

"You can't be serious," Mari said with a raised eyebrow. "Of course he will eventually find out. It is known that King Leon left his kingdom with his men in tow, destined for here, then never returned. It does not take a great deal of thought to put the pieces together."

"And yet, what will he do if I deny?"

Mari cast a glance towards my consort and cracked a half-smile. "Far be it from me to stir the pot in this way, but your consort has a major reason to tell her father the truth. The admission would put her in even better grace with her father, who is not an easy man to garner favors from."

Mistra let out a light light and placed her hand on my arm. "I am not some traitorous commoner with eyes wide at the idea of gaining power through such means. It would be ridiculous of me to jeopardize my position as consort to the Queen Yser, this position allows me to have powers in both the demon and human realms. There are a slim few who can earnestly make that claim. My lips are firmly sealed on the matter and had you not brought it up, the possibility would have never even crossed my mind."

My blood pressure rose slightly and I felt my cheeks warm at the suggestion that Mistra might be tempted to betray me to gain power. It was not often I felt true anger towards Mari, but I felt a sharp retort and rant on my tongue, poised to cut her down to size. I had to physically put my tongue between my teeth and clench my jaw to prevent myself from saying anything before I had a moment to calm down.

"I am not trying to be accusatory," Mari said, "merely trying to do my job of quelling the possibility of more backlash against Toria."

"I'm sure that is your intent," Mistra said, an edge to her voice, "but perhaps it is best in that case to not alienate the people already in your corner."

Mari said nothing, but bowed her head in acceptance, though her face gave away that she did not necessarily agree, but would not press the issue further.

"Raf need not to know for now," I declared. "I do not need to even consider the idea that anyone in this room would betray my wishes. If he is suspicious and makes an accusation, we will deny it. While I do owe the demon court reverence and allegiance, I refuse to completely forfeit my power to them. The secrets and happenings in my court are none of their business unless I deem them to be."

Mari's head almost imperceptibly shook with her disagreement, but she then locked eyes with me and let out a sigh. "Yes, my queen, I will keep a monitor on the gossip and anything more official." She stood and smoothed the wrinkles from her dress, casting a glance towards Mistra in a way I didn't particularly like. "I hope we are able to keep the leak of information to a minimum, the last thing we need right now is Raf to overreact and do anything rash."

"That is for me to worry about."

She inclined to head to me again and looked toward the soot mark still on the floor. It looked as if she was prepared to say more, but instead turned and marched to the door, closing it behind her without another word said. Mistra and I sat in the silence for a long moment, the tingle of magic in the air still fading.

"She really does not trust me." Mistra's normally light and even tone had been replaced by something more cold and serious.

I nodded, still mulling over my anger towards my aunt's obvious accusations. It was out of character for her, generally she had been accepting of my consort's position as a confidant and advisor, it had not been directly called into question before. There had to be some mechanism behind her sudden change of heart, though I could not see an obvious one yet.

"A monarch cannot have their two closest confidants at odds," she continued. "That will only end up with distrust being bred into you. I'm not implying that you will turn against one of us, but many monarchs have fallen into such situations. I would not want you to end up finding yourself considering a choice between myself and your family."

I did not want to even imagine having to make that decision. I felt a deep affection for Mari as not only family, but as my savior. I owed her my upbringing and seat on the throne and I would not be able to easily turn my back on that. However, I could also not so easily forsake Mistra as well, we both knew too much about each other's plans and aspirations. My consort would not forsake me, I knew far too much that would destroy her if I were to utter a single word of it to the wrong person.

"I'm not sure how we went from worrying about retaliation from your late father's kingdom to me being a possible spy, but I think we need to be focused on the possibility of the former."

I turned my head to Mistra and nodded. "Eventually they will suspect and it is not like I was without reason to want his demise even before his gross disrespect."

"How old would your brother be now?" she asked.

"Perhaps around 12 years," I answered.

"Old enough to start taking on some royal duties, but still young enough to need guidance." A thoughtful look crossed her face followed by the gentle crack of a smile. " I doubt a war would be a wise idea with such a young regent, but I'm sure he will be pushed towards maturing quickly now." She leaned towards me and caught my eye as her smile grew bigger. "Perhaps even be guided towards choosing a wife."