his chest, Kasia hugged him tight. “I am unharmed.”
“Not for lack of trying on the queen’s part.” One of the maidservants stepped forward, and her eyes burned with fury. “Her food was poisoned, master. Hemlock. Had she taken a sip, a bite . . .”
Kasia pulled away enough to send her maid a mild glare. “We know not that it was on her order.”
“Yes, we do.” Xerxes’ hand still shook as he lifted it to her cheek, but not with grief or fear now. With rage, pure and hot. “She has tried me enough. Her arrogance I can tolerate, but to disobey me in front of all the world because she is angry with me—to try to kill you! I will not suffer it. She will pay for this with her life.”
“Father, no!” Darius rushed forward, his distress coating his face.
It put not so much as a dent in Xerxes’ determination. The boy would be better off without his mother’s poisonous influence.
Kasia shook her head and splayed a hand on his chest. “Xerxes, please. She is the mother of four of your children, will soon deliver another.”
“Her execution can be stayed until after the birth, then.”
“My love, no. Act in haste now and you will regret it forever.”
He doubted that. “She tried to kill you.”
“She was angry, as you are now. But my God was watching over me, and he kept me from tasting the poisoned food. No harm has been done. And though her reaction was wrong, her feeling was justified.”
He tipped her chin up with a finger. “Do you rebuke me, woman?”
No fear entered her eyes, though he read respect within them. More than could ever be said for Amestris. “Punish me for it if you must—my life is worth far less than hers. I have no children to mourn me.”
Darius stepped forward with a worried frown. “You would take on yourself the wrath intended for your enemy? It makes no sense.”
She did not so much as glance at his son. “Forgiveness is not logical. But it heals the wounds left by bitterness and hatred.”
Xerxes sighed and lifted her hand to kiss her fingers. “I cannot forgive her. She would have stolen you from me, solely because she knows how it would pierce. But this crime was against you, and no one outside this room knows of it. If you wish her mercy, then mercy she shall receive. For this. But she publically disobeyed me. If I ignore that offense, everyone will whisper that Xerxes is a weak man ruled by his women.”
Zethar inclined his head. “And their wives, master, will remember that the queen greeted your servants with anger and defamed you before them all. They will use it as an excuse to act the same.”
“Your advisers on the law are right outside,” Masistes said. “Hear their counsel before you make your decision on a punishment.”
Xerxes nodded at the eunuch nearest the door, who motioned his advisers into the room. The seven of them filed in, the men of soundest wisdom and highest birth below the princes. Most of them had advised his father before him.
Were any fond of their queen? Or had they been bitten by her temper at some point?
They all looked around the chamber as if wondering why they had been called to one of the lowliest rooms in the palace compound.
Kasia tensed in his arms. Xerxes released her and urged her behind him, knowing she would be more comfortable shielded. “My noble friends, your king has need of your wisdom. You were all at my feast—you know I called Queen Amestris to me, and you saw that my eunuchs returned without her. Had her refusal been due to her physical condition, I would have understood. But she refused from anger—which she made clear to everyone within earshot. Such impudence cannot go unpunished. What is an appropriate reaction?”
The men exchanged a few glances, a few whispers. And, if he were not mistaken, a few smiles of glee.
Not fond of her, then. He had expected as much.
The eldest, Memucan, stepped forward. “How harsh does the king wish to be?”
He clenched his teeth, swallowed, and forced himself to relax. “The king would see her killed, were it not for the children we share and the one even now growing in her womb. For their sakes, and only for their sakes, do I wish to spare her life. There must be a punishment less than death but still severe.”
Memucan looked to another of the advisers with raised brows. At the answering nod, he said, “The queen has indeed done a great wrong, not only against the king, but against all of Persia and Media. For when the queen disobeys her husband, why should any woman in the empire obey theirs?
“If it pleases the king, she could be deposed. Knowing the queen as we all do, that may be harsher than death to her. The king could send out a royal decree and let it be written in the law, that the queen is never again to enter the presence of the great Xerxes. Let her crown be given to one more deserving.”
Xerxes’ lips tugged up. Losing her power would indeed be worse than death to Amestris. Yet it would spare his children the grief of losing a mother.
“This pleases the king very much. Write up the decree this very hour, and at first light it shall be sent out to every province in its own language. Let the world know that Amestris is queen no more.”
There would probably be dancing in many a street.
Memucan bowed. “It will be done as the king says. And in her place, who will you name? One of your other wives?”
“Father.” Darius stepped near, a line of worry between his brows. “You can take away her crown, but her power will not be easily negated. Whomever you appointed in her place would be dead before she could feel the weight of the crown upon her head.”
Xerxes smiled. “It is a wise son who knows his mother so well. Let it be enough for now that she is removed. Another queen can be named when we return triumphant from Greece. There is no rush—I have my heir already.”
Memucan and the other six bowed out to prepare the proclamation. Darius drew in a long breath. “Thank you, Father, for sparing her. I know she is a hard woman to love, but she is my mother.”
“I am not the one to thank. Letting her live will undoubtedly prove as troublesome as the canal at Mount Athos, as you yourself pointed out.”
His son acknowledged that truth with a glance over Xerxes’ shoulder. “I will use what influence I have with her to caution her against riling your anger any more.”
“I suggest you go to her now and keep her from anything rash when my decision reaches her ear.”
“Yes, Father.” Darius sped from the room.
Xerxes looked to Masistes. “Brother, bid our guests good night. You may tell them I am busy seeing justice done for the queen’s crime.”
“It is my honor to carry out your will.” Masistes left, too.
Xerxes turned back to Kasia. “My son is right about Amestris’s response, and not only for whomever I name the next queen. She will know that my anger is kindled largely on your behalf and will blame you for this.”
Kasia pressed her lips together. He read no fear in her eyes, only sorrow.“I am sorry to bring you such trouble.”
“It is no fault of yours.” He tugged her closer so that he could rest his cheek against her hair. “I will have her removed to Persepolis as soon as possible. In the meantime you must exercise the greatest caution.”
“I will. But there is no need to fear, my love. Jehovah has delivered me from her schemes this day, and I feel peace in my spirit that he will continue to protect me.” Her arms slipped around him.
He stroked his hand along the glossy locks that tumbled down her back. “Your God is responsible for your being spared?”
She hummed. “The moment