Queen of Coin and Whispers: A kingdom of secrets and a game of lies

Chapter One

Lia

The sheep were undeniably dead. As I examined what the wolves had left behind, and tried not to panic, new footsteps stamped through the frozen grass. I rose, stiff with cold, as a servant hurried a rider towards me. The royal sigil was stitched onto his coat, but I focused on his sleeve: no purple armband for mourning.

A rider would race here in late winter for only one reason.

The King wasn’t dead, but he was dying.

Uncle had been clinging to life for months. The reports had varied – bleeding, vomiting, recovery, bleeding, vomiting – but still he had lived, complained, and made life unbearable for everyone.

And now –

My aunt had given me enough warning, at least. I’d worried that she wouldn’t.

‘Your Highness.’ The servant bowed and the rider sank to his knees, sweating, and held out a letter. I cracked the seal, tucked the smaller hidden note into my glove, and scanned the expected words.

…no longer eating, can’t keep water down, preparations are underway…

I’d waited years for this. I’d expected to feel delight, maybe even relief. My uncle was dying. The throne would finally be mine.

Panic bristled in my throat again. I lowered the note.

Father, please give me the courage to do this well.

‘You’ve made a difficult journey,’ I told the rider. ‘Please take the time to regain your strength here.’

‘The pleasure is mine, Your Highness.’ The rider trembled, as if the shadow of my uncle’s impending death had hounded him north. He’d probably expected to meet me in a drawing room, not in a field examining slaughtered sheep.

They left me, and I staggered towards a tree and leaned against the trunk. The bark pressed against my coat, reassuringly familiar. The air scraped my nose and throat as I took deep, shaky breaths. I fished the second note out of my glove. Matthias had written two words in a version of our childhood code:

No delays.

No delays. Our phrase for when Uncle’s death was imminent and I was to get down here now.

Matthias hated that I went north every winter when Uncle could no longer stand the sight of me. I was one of the few nobles who did. ‘It’s ridiculous,’ he’d fume. ‘You’re up there, freezing and alone, while the Court gets drunk and eats too much.’

‘I’m with my people,’ I always replied.

‘You’re the heir. Your people are the entire country, not just your estate tenants.’

We’d argued before I’d left Court in late summer. Matthias had suspected – correctly – that Uncle’s health was beyond help and I should stay, while I didn’t want to resemble a princess hovering over the crown like a scavenger bird. The throne would be mine whether or not I stayed in Arkaala.

I broke into a run, swearing under my breath, and hurried back towards the manor. We’d have to travel quickly. Uncle must have declined suddenly, or Matthias would have sent more warning to prepare for the trip.

I should have listened to him.

As I approached, the doors leading to the gardens burst open. Mother rushed down the steps. ‘Lia!’

The house staff were probably huddled at every window facing us. They’d all heard her improper glee.

I stopped. Stayed silent. Everyone at the windows would slink away; only the bravest would eavesdrop. The sun was still pale, the gardens still bright with winter roses. Everything looked the same as when I’d woken up. But nothing would be the same after this.

‘Lia, you will be Queen.’

If only Mother’s joy was entirely for me. She’d locked horns with Uncle long before marrying my father, their disagreements blooming into steady loathing. At least social propriety would get her into mourning dress. Uncle’s death would give her back a decade, where Father’s had threaded silver in her brown hair, deepened the wrinkles around her mouth.

I slipped by her and up the steps.

‘We need to discuss –’

‘We leave for Arkaala as soon as possible,’ I said. ‘There is little to discuss until we see Uncle.’ There was, in fact, plenty to discuss before I saw him. There was much to do and decide. But Uncle wasn’t dead yet. He still deserved my respect, even if he’d done little to earn it, and I couldn’t act otherwise if I wanted to win over his allies as Queen.

I was being unfair to Mother, to both of us – we’d dreamed of this moment for so long. I’d spent years frustrated by Uncle’s inept rule, knowing I could do better but powerless until I inherited.

We were so close.

But I could never publicly rejoice at his demise, and I wouldn’t allow Mother to relish hers.

She sputtered as I went through the doors.

I strode down the hall, already imagining the Court bowing and curtseying. A hard bud slowly unfurled inside me, releasing not just relief but anticipation. I’d waited years, biding my time, treading the stormy waves of family hatred to reach the other side mostly unscathed.

Now, I was Queen, a wolf in my own right. I held the chess pieces.

It was time to use them.

In a moment of decency, Uncle was dying as winter finally lost its grip. Travel would be as swift as the time of year would allow.

As the carriage thundered along the road, the grief finally hit. My chest ached as if someone had dumped cold water over me. I’d spent ten years in my family’s estate – too cold in winter, too warm in summer – learning how to be Queen. I’d grown up commanding imaginary armies against Matthias, my oldest friend. We’d wandered through every stream, climbed every tree, and planned our futures lying on summer grass.

Father had died there.

Now the estate would continue without me.

The poor autumn and winter had made food prices soar. About a third of my tenants couldn’t afford enough to last them through winter. We’d raided the estate’s food stores to keep them alive. Everyone we saw on the road was too thin, and too resigned about it. I’d known Uncle had ignored his duties in favour of the next meal, the next drink, the next entertainment, but it wasn’t the same as seeing it.

I worried, even though I tried not to. If I couldn’t keep sheep alive, how could I rule Edar?

Bad roads delayed us after several days of rain, so we arrived at Arkaala, the capital, in early afternoon, instead of late at night as planned. My heart still lifted at the crumbling remnants of Empire architecture, surrounded by layers of winding streets sprawling towards the docks.

Then the bells started.

We were too late.

Uncle was dead.

And I was Queen.

‘If dying wasn’t unavoidable,’ Mother said, ‘I’d swear he planned this.’

There would be no handover. No last-moment change of feelings from Uncle, no scraps of advice, no blessing. Just a Court flung into grief.

People turned our way as the carriage wound through the streets towards the palace. There were no cheers, no shouting. The mourning bells drowned everything out, except the panic in my head.

As the carriage stopped, Mother said, ‘Perhaps Jienne will be indisposed.’

‘Her husband is dead,’ I said. ‘She knows we must pay our respects.’

Mother rolled her eyes. ‘Grief won’t make her kind. You’ll see.’

‘Act sad,’ I hissed, before a footman opened the carriage door.

My aunt, now the Dowager Queen Jienne, hadn’t liked me after I was named heir, but was clever enough to stay cautiously civil. Secretly, I knew Mother was right – Jienne had now lost her power, why would she welcome us? As we followed servants to Uncle’s rooms, I was absurdly grateful for Mother’s black-edged purple armbands – ‘The one item that never goes out of fashion,’ she’d muttered in the carriage, her eyes sad – so whatever our private feelings, at least our grief looked respectable.

I didn’t feel respectful. I felt out of my depth: quick steps trying to be measured, sweat, and deep breaths through the nose.

Uncle’s chambers reeked of sickness, and stale air, and old blood. It stuck to my tongue, seemed to cling to my skin and clothes. Only long practice kept me from gagging or scratching at my hair. Mother swallowed compulsively, her eyes darting towards the thick window drapes.

Only three people attended my dead uncle. If there had been more – a reasonable possibility, given Aunt Jienne’s love, and my hatred, of an audience – they had been swiftly kicked out.

The doors closed behind us.

The physician dropped to his knees. ‘Long live the Queen.’

Aunt Jienne rose from the bedside, her skirts rustling. Her dress was the latest fashion – heavily embroidered, tucked at the waist and billowing at the back – but the black-edged purple reminded us that she was the grieving Dowager Queen. She kept her expression neutral as she curtseyed.

‘Dearest Aunt,’ I said and squeezed her hands, ‘we grieve for your husband. We will do our utmost to honour his memory and continue his legacy.’

I will make this country prosperous again and gouge out my uncle’s rot. I will fight all those loyal to him.

Aunt Jienne’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. ‘I appreciate your grief, and know you will continue his work and bring further honour to our family.’

Empty words; fulfilled duty. Everyone was happy –

‘Such a pity you didn’t make it in time for his blessing,’ she added, and stepped back.

– or perhaps not.

The third person strolled forward. I’d changed at our last stop, but my best dress hardly compared to his embroidered red velvet. I matched his charming smile and held out my hands. ‘Lord Vigrante.’ The Head of Government: my uncle’s greatest supporter and greatest manipulator. He radiated charisma and confidence; no wonder Uncle had given him so much freedom.

Lord Vigrante kissed my knuckles. His purple armband didn’t match his red velvet, or golden hair, and his charisma didn’t match the grief in the stifling room. ‘Your Majesty. So unfortunate you’ve returned under such sad, yet glorious circumstances.’

Aunt Jienne stiffened. It took gall to inform a Dowager Queen, paces away from her dead husband, that she was no longer in favour.

After a too-long pause, I said, ‘Your feelings are noted, Lord Vigrante. We will speak later. For now, I wish to mourn my uncle.’ I’d wanted to take a few moments to accept the finality of his death, but Jienne would want to mourn, likely alone now that Vigrante had shifted his potential allegiance to me.

Back in the hall, I sucked in deep breaths and shivered. Mother patted my arm, though she looked sadder, more sympathetic, than I’d expected from her behaviour in the carriage. A servant led us first to her rooms and then to the suites that had been reopened for my new status as Queen. It was a relief for another set of doors to close behind me.

In the receiving area, Matthias dozed in a chair. He immediately opened his eyes, gestured at the waiting tea service, and stood with a smile. His maroon clothing only highlighted the sickly tint to his thin, pale face; he likely hadn’t eaten or slept much in the last few days. But his demeanour held steady. He was my oldest friend, and would do everything I wanted and more.

He bowed with a flourish. ‘Welcome back, Your Majesty.’

I hugged him.

For a moment we were children again, sprawled under a tree. Sunlight dappled our skin. We’d picked out shapes in the clouds and decided how we’d fix everything when I was Queen.

Now we were here. It was time to begin.

Chapter Two

Xania

I love my sister, but this was one of the days I wanted to throttle her.

‘You can’t be serious!’ Zola said.

‘Ernest is unsuitable.’ I tried to stay calm, knowing I’d lose her the moment I lost patience. ‘You can do better.’ His older brother was also up to his eyeballs in debt and, as of last week, no longer had access to his inheritance. But Zola wouldn’t care, and technically I shouldn’t have seen those papers in the Treasury.

‘Ernest is charming.’

‘Ernest is smug.’ I couldn’t stop an edge creeping into my voice. Zola clenched her hands against her dress, barely a flounce away from the door. ‘People say –’

‘I don’t care what they say!’

‘He mocks you.’

My starry-eyed sister deflated into an unsure sixteenyear- old girl. It made me want to break Ernest Blackwood’s nose. The punch would be satisfying, and worth the pain and social backlash.

Zola twisted her mouth. ‘Of course he does.’

We both knew what he’d said. What everyone said, when they thought we couldn’t hear, or our presence went unnoticed. Clinging onto power. Foolish dead father. Grasping mother. Hopeless daughters.

Who do they think they are?

‘The Blackwoods are Sixth Step.’ The edge was gone from my voice – I didn’t have the energy for it. ‘We are Fifth.’ It wasn’t unheard of for Sixth and Seventh families to consider the lower Steps for marriages, but –

‘We’re Fifth now,’ Zola said.

Mama had done her best. I’d never fault her for remarrying up. But I wasn’t sure it had been the right thing to do.

I opened my mouth –

The sound of bells filled the air. We clapped our hands over our ears, but it boomed through the windows and walls, each set of peals rolling into the next. The echoes made my teeth hurt. After the initial flurry, they settled into a dreary three-tone pattern.

Death bells.

The King was finally dead.

The Princess was Queen.

Zola and I locked eyes, then we rushed towards the door. The Court had been rattled for the last few weeks, as it became clear the King’s health wouldn’t improve. Matthias had informed me that the Queen – the Dowager Queen – had held out longer than advised before sending for the Princess up north, and the Court was scrambling to sort out their new allegiances.

These last few weeks, I’d heard far more about Princess Aurelia – ‘Lia’ to those closest to her, apparently – from Matthias than I’d wanted. For someone who only spent spring and summer at Court, straddling a fragile line between outcast and successor, he knew a staggering amount about her.

‘The Court is never careful when they gossip,’ he’d said. ‘They always say too much.’ He’d never said if that was a good or bad thing.

While our stepfather maintained the family line of keeping out of drama and politics, he and Mama were still pulled into the seemingly endless discussions – fretting – about the future Queen’s intended changes. So they weren’t here to stop us from venturing into the halls and barely-contained chaos. In the uneasy hush, servants hurried while trying to pretend they were calm. Most had a snowflake over the royal crest stitched onto their upper sleeves: they were in the service of the Princess and her mother.

She was due to arrive, just too late for a smooth transition.

A flash of embroidered maroon caught my eye: Matthias rushed through a hallway junction ahead of us, his expression set and intent. I tapped Zola’s arm before she called out, and shook my head, trying not to frown. It wasn’t that he was rushing like the servants; Matthias hurried everywhere. But his expression had also been hopeful and worried, a strange mix.

Matthias never showed his true feelings. He adapted and discarded emotions and sincerity with dizzying speed. Even knowing how close he’d been to Papa, I still wasn’t sure if Matthias presented his real self, or a facade that was easier to interact with. For him to let his emotional guard down like this...

He’d been almost unbearably excited about the Princess’s arrival. ‘You have no idea how Court will change,’ he’d remarked one evening. ‘Lia will cut into the rotten core and yank it out. Vigrante’s allies have no idea what’s awaiting them.’ And he’d been acting oddly as the King’s health worsened: distracted and distant, as if juggling too much in his head. Thanks to Papa’s training, Matthias slid easily through the Step ranks, collecting acquaintances and debts in ways I couldn’t. But his cheerful mask didn’t usually slip –

Lia.

He’d called her Lia. And I hadn’t noticed.

Matthias was Third Step, like Papa had been. Too low-ranked to know the Queen personally.

But only those closet to Princess Aurelia used her family nickname.

A seed of suspicion dropped into my stomach, threatening to sprout tendrils.

Perhaps Matthias did know her.

Like he knew my secrets.

As he whirled around a corner, I turned to face Zola. ‘I just remembered, I have to finish an assignment for Coin. I’ll be done before dinner.’

She tilted her face. ‘The King’s just died. Taxes can wait.’

I snorted. ‘Not according to Coin. I bet he’s in the Treasury, insisting on work as usual, while the rest of the Court panics.’

‘I’m not taking that bet.’ Zola sighed. ‘You work too hard for him.’

‘I want that promotion.’

Zola squeezed my hand. ‘Try and have fun?’

‘Oh, absolutely. I’ll have so much fun, I won’t be able to remember my name.’ I blew Zola a kiss and hurried off towards the Treasury, then cut back towards the direction Matthias had gone until I stopped before an unremarkable wall.

I could be wrong about Matthias. I desperately wanted to be. But something was odd about him today, and I couldn’t ignore it.

No one else knew what Matthias tried to help me with behind closed doors, and I intended to keep it that way. He was sometimes a friend, but mostly a co-conspirator.

But people didn’t know what I was capable of, either, or what I wanted to do to those I hated.

I ran my fingertips down the wall, carefully applying pressure in a sequence until part of it sprung back. I took a deep breath, slid into the gap and, after adjusting to the gloom, started walking.

If my suspicions about Matthias were correct, and he secretly knew the Queen, he wouldn’t use the public halls to go to her.

According to him, the passages went back to the palace’s foundations. While the network was occasionally expanded by a paranoid ruler, the effort mostly went into maintaining the elaborate sprawl, the full extent of which was only known by the ruling monarch, their heir, and the Master of Whispers. No part of the palace was untouched, and the royal wing had several direct escape routes outside.

Matthias had given me some of the basic codes and patterns to start off with. I’d spent months mapping the routes, pretending it was another of Papa’s lessons. He had loved puzzles and ciphers and codes. Every one he’d taught me was a sign of his love. Matthias had said nothing about the royal wing, whose passage sequences worked from different roots, but I’d included it anyway. It was slow, painstaking work, despite everything Papa had taught me, but I’d cracked the sequences.

Most of the passages required an exact pattern to enter and leave, but some of the internal ones only needed the flick of a hidden catch. Each new monarch reset the sequences and patterns, but – as I’d hoped – nothing had changed yet. It was an extraordinary sign of royal trust to know about the passages. When I’d asked Matthias which unfortunate noble he’d wheedled the information from, he’d smiled and changed the subject.

But if the Queen had told him...

What had he told her? Every time we’d discussed Vigrante’s involvement in Papa’s murder, had he been helping me or waiting to use it against me?

My throat tightened with fear. I swallowed, and kept on walking, hoping I’d be right about his most likely route.

I finally reached an exit near the royal wing, counting three hundred heartbeats before I stepped out into the hall. I’d never been so close to the royal wing before, which was guarded night and day.

I peered around the corner, just as Matthias stopped before the guards. He held something out for inspection before they waved him through into the wing.

Spikes of terror exploded from the suspicious seed in my stomach.

Hurried footsteps grew louder from the other end of the hall. The Queen and her mother approached, travel-rumpled and – like the servants – trying to pretend they weren’t hurrying. I caught a flash of brown hair, pale skin, and purple before I bolted back into the passages. I leaned against the wall. Panic twisted under my skin.

After several deep breaths, I followed a route into the royal wing, avoiding the royal family and their guards. The codes and failsafes fell before me, pitifully easy after all my work.

I’d expected the royal wing to be ostentatious. The gilded wallpaper was beautiful, but the design was twenty years old. Everything reeked of old money, long accumulated wealth. I stepped lightly on the carpet. Portraits speckled the wall, not only of the royal family but their in-laws and extended relatives. They watched me as if they knew I didn’t belong.

Around another corner, I faced double doors stamped with the royal seal: the monarch’s public study. I glanced over my shoulder, but I was alone. Still, I could hardly march up and knock. No one entered the royal wing without permission. If I was discovered, the Queen would be justifiably furious.

It was easier to focus on that, instead of Matthias lying to me for years. He’d let me rage and plot and scheme, while all along he worked for the Queen. And if he’d told her I wanted to avenge Papa’s death...

Plotting murder wasn’t a problem – until the Queen discovered it. Then it usually ended in a meeting with an executioner’s axe.

The doors opened. I ducked back around the corner. Matthias stepped into the hall.

Betrayal and fury washed over me in a sweat. My hands tingled. He had lied – to me, my family, perhaps even Papa. He’d never once hinted that he knew the Queen. How long had he been working for her? Years? Had I risked myself, my family, with secrets that could be used against us?

I should control my anger, douse it with rationality and calculation. Instead, I stepped towards Matthias and reached into my skirts. I curled my fingers around the comforting weight of my dagger hilt.

Chapter Three

Lia

I inhaled the scent of spiced tea, then let out a long breath. ‘Who supported Alexandris becoming the Opposition Leader?’ A political problem was always easier to deal with than my family.

Matthias passed me a list of names in code. I’d kept the northern nobles on side for years, but Opposition support was my best weapon against Vigrante. Alexandris’s political career was stable and mediocre – not the makings of a strong leader.

I tapped the list of names. ‘Any proof they’re in Vigrante’s pocket?’

He passed me a sheet of numbers. ‘With the old King’s coin.’

My uncle had been an over-generous ruler. As his health had declined again this year, the Master of Coin started giving me copies of the financial reports. I wouldn’t know how bad the debt was until our first meeting, but I didn’t hold out much hope for the Royal Treasury’s prospects.

Matthias glanced around the study. ‘Needs a change,’ he said.

‘I was considering redecorating in red. The dark green will be depressing in winter. Speaking of green’ – I tried and failed for casualness – ‘what happened to the gentleman with the green velvet waistcoats? I thought it was going well.’

‘The green velvet gentleman decided I was too boring. Or I thought he was. We were too boring for each other,’ Matthias said. ‘This isn’t the time to discuss my love life.’

Taking a moment for him, even three sentences, would hardly bring the country to a standstill. ‘I need a meeting with Alexandris,’ I said, instead of asking, When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell me? ‘He has to stick his neck out more.’

‘Easily done.’ Matthias hesitated. ‘And my recommendation for dealing with Vigrante?’

I clenched my jaw. ‘My opinion hasn’t changed.’

‘My concern hasn’t changed, Your Majesty.’

‘My opinion outranks your concern.’ When I’d returned north, Matthias had stayed in Arkaala as my eyes and ears. I’d known he would be eager when I was Queen. But his eagerness often turned into overconfidence. I didn’t enjoy reminding him of his place, but I wouldn’t let him control me as Vigrante had controlled Uncle.

‘I presume the money Uncle promised would have come from taxes?’ I asked.

Matthias nodded.

‘The Court won’t support reforms if I disregard Uncle’s promises.’

Matthias’s nostrils flared. ‘Your uncle unclipped Vigrante’s leash and let him run wild with promises. He didn’t care, once he had his wine, and food, and his entertainment. Your aunt didn’t care, once she had her wine, new clothes, and her entertainment.’

‘Killing Vigrante won’t win me the Court’s favour,’ I said flatly.

I rose and went around the desk towards the bookshelves. Most of these books were usually found in Step libraries, nothing that truly indicated Uncle’s tastes. I trailed my fingers across the spines and paused at a volume of war poetry. The poet had risen to prominence during Great-Grandfather’s reign. My grandfather had later quoted his best-known poems to justify his aggressive rule.

I didn’t enjoy war poetry.

Matthias and I had spent years debating how Vigrante would fight my legislation and turn the Government against me. And since he’d entered politics, there had been deaths. All apparently natural, of course. Nothing led back to him. Nothing could be proven. Vigrante’s hands looked clean.

Killing him wouldn’t help me. I had to secure my own power base first. But I was royalty, born from a noble house. Vigrante had no bloodline to fall back upon, only a political title and a rise to power through allegiances built on Uncle’s coffers. Such allegiances always turned fragile, eventually. I wanted Vigrante gone. If I cut him from the Treasury purse-strings, his own allies could destroy him for me. I just had to survive the fallout.

Surviving a political fallout brought me to another matter. ‘Have you made progress on my Whispers?’

Matthias could juggle being my secretary and temporary Whispers for only so long. He’d kept my position at Court secure up until now, but a proper Whispers would keep me alive.

‘I have someone in mind,’ he said. ‘Xania Bayonn. Lady Harynne’s daughter.’

‘And the late Baron Bayonn’s daughter.’

Most people wouldn’t have interpreted Matthias’s face spasm as old grief, but most hadn’t known him since childhood. Bayonn had practically been a father to Matthias, teaching him the necessary skills to navigate Court and serve my interests. His death had hit Matthias harder than losing his own parents. The guilt of being convinced of Bayonn’s murder, but unable to