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“Tournaments and quests for the Holy Grail.” Merlin sniffed with disdain. “Ridiculous, in my opinion.”
Carys laughed. “Oh, I like him, my queen. Though I admit reading about the grail quest is one of my guilty pleasures.”
“Why were you concerned about the queens in the tower?” Gwen asked.
I caught her up on what the Dauphine had done to Mom before I was called to Rome. How worried I’ve been that the Dauphine might strike against my human family. “And then I found out what she’d done to my mother’s former Blood, Thierry.”
Thankfully Magnum hadn’t started serving food yet. I didn’t go into full detail but mentioned the eel-sized leeches and resurrecting my mother’s former Blood. And of course, they had eyes and noses. They could smell the whiff of decay around him.
“No.” Thierry garbled another word that might have been touch or taint. I honestly wasn’t sure.
“We’re afraid he might still carry some kind of boobytrap,” I admitted. “I’ve done everything I can for him, but Carys isn’t optimistic about the probable outcome.”
Carys snorted. “There’s a difference between optimism and reality, my queen.”
“So you were afraid one of the queens in the tower might actually be the Dauphine? Goddess. You tasted all of them, Shara. If she’s already in your blood circle…”
“I know,” I replied grimly. “I don’t think she could hide that well if I’d already taken her blood as a sibling. If she’s as powerful as they say, she’d have already taken over the bond. Right?”
“Nothing is guaranteed,” Carys said. “But it’s highly unlikely even a lightly forged sibling bond would ever be safe with her.”
“I’m a strong healer but I’m sorry, my queen. I don’t need to draw my blood to know he’s beyond my abilities, if that’s why you asked me to come tonight.”
“No, that’s not what I hoped to talk about. I just wanted you to know what we’re dealing with. Xin is tracking back to Thierry’s previous location before Christmas, but I’m not hopeful the Dauphine is there. I need to find her before she completely disappears again. And when I do…”
I met Gwen’s gaze straight on. “I’m going to kill her. We’re here tonight to talk about the ramifications of what that means. I’ll remind everyone not to refer to any other Triune queen by her formal name unless she’s dead.”
Gwen shrugged though her eyes brightened again with anticipation. “You’re Triune. Are you worried about fallout from the queen of Rome? I’d think she’d be pleased as punch to have the Dauphine eliminated. She’ll have the run of the table.”
“Which is a whole other problem,” Guillaume said.
I gave him a tug in the bond. Sekh too. Willing them to at least come closer to be an active part of the conversation.
“There’s a reason there are three seats at the Triune table, my queen,” Guillaume continued, coming to stand at the edge of the table on my right. “A healthy Triune is balanced, each queen checked by the others.”
“Are you suggesting the queen of Rome and the Dauphine could have stopped Desideria’s reign of terror?” I asked.
He nodded. “In fact, I believe they failed in their sacred duty to our goddesses by not checking her actions. Two against one should have been plenty to stop her, but allowing Desideria to destroy the other courts increased their power too.”
“By Triune law, he’s right,” Gina said. “Much can be accomplished with a quorum of Triune queens, including removing the other queen from her goddess-appointed seat. A quorum is enough to compel the third queen to come to the table for judgment or other Triune business.”
“That’s why you suspected Skolos might be revolting against each other.” Gwen looked confused, so I added, “When I was Calling Sekh, I noticed queens south of us near the Gulf of Mexico. Gina’s team was able to confirm two of the Skolos queens are in the area, and Okeanos confirmed his mother is there as well.”
Gwen’s eyes flared. “A full Triune. Goddess, when was the last time a full Triune even met? What laws require a full Triune to enact?”
“Very good questions I’m afraid I can’t answer off the top of my head,” Gina admitted. “The only law I’m sure of is the ability to pardon a queen from any guilt or retribution from killing another queen, even a Triune queen.”
“Are you saying a full Skolos Triune could pardon me for killing the Dauphine?” Excitement sparked through me. Maybe that’s exactly why the three queens had come together, drawn by the Great One…
But Esetta said I’d lose one of my greatest gifts if I was successful, and she hadn’t been wrong yet.
“It’s possible but not likely, I’m sorry to say,” Gina replied. “I wouldn’t want you to get your hopes up. Getting three powerful queens to agree on anything would require goddess-level approval. There are also many ritualistic laws governing the Triune, but they’re so archaic I don’t have any knowledge of them. I doubt many consiliari…”
Her words fell off as Kevin raised his hand, blushing. “Um, actually, Triune-specific law is one of my hyper-focused areas of interest. Though Her Majesty of Rome probably wouldn’t be very pleased with Granddad if she knew exactly how much access he’d allowed me during my internship.”
I could only laugh. “Kevin’s brilliance strikes again.”
“I’m not as brilliant as Kevin but I have the benefit of actually seeing a Triune queen seated at the table,” Guillaume said.
