"They're the same. You'd understand that if you were in my position," Camden said. Then, as if Brianna had agreed with him, he continued, "You don't know what I've endured all these years. The agony has been eating me from the inside out."
"I'm sure."
The king stepped over to Brianna and took her hand. A cold sweat had slickened his palms. "I'm glad you know the truth at last," he said. "It will make it easier to understand why I must send you back."
Brianna looked around the chamber. Gavorial and Hrodmar had slipped forward to be near the king, and were thus blocking her view of Celia and the earls attending her at the head of the table. But the men she could see were staring at her father with slack-jawed expressions of disbelief. Already, she guessed that half of them believed him an unfit king. The time had come to take the offensive and convince the other half.
Without removing her hand from her father's grasp, the princess asked, "Are you worried that there will be a war with Goboka and his ogres if I don't return to them?"
The king smiled. "I knew you'd understand," he said. "For the good of the kingdom, we must both live with my tragic mistake."
Brianna smiled back. "That won't be necessary." she said. "Goboka is dead."
"What?" Hrodmar boomed.
"The shaman poses no danger to me or Hartsvale." Brianna repeated. "Tavis Burdun and I killed him."
Many of the earls voiced their congratulations, while others sighed in relief, and the rest began to murmur among themselves about what Brianna's return meant to the kingdom's future.
Gavorial's voice knelled out above the din, bringing the babble to a sudden silence. "Perhaps you killed Goboka, but what of his horde?" the stone giant asked. "Surely, the two of you couldn't have slain so many hundreds of ogres?"
"Not by ourselves," Brianna replied.
The princess glanced around the shadowy room, hoping that Tavis had slipped into position by now. Her demented father no longer posed the greatest danger, for if Gavorial and Hrodmar knew of the Twilight Spirit's involvement in her abduction, there was no telling how the pair would react to what she was reporting. Fortunately, she and the scout had discussed this uncertainty beforehand, and Tavis knew what to do.
When Brianna offered no further information about the horde's fate, it was Hrodmar who demanded, "What do you mean? Are those ogres dead or not?"
Brianna regarded the frost giant with an expression of disdain. "I'm hardly accustomed to being interrogated by my father's guards," she replied. "But if you must know, Noote's hill giants killed most of them-though we certainly slayed our share as well."
"The hill giants!"
Hrodmar looked to Gavorial for guidance, but the stone giant had none to offer. He merely regarded Brianna with his gray eyes, a thumb and single long finger rubbing his chin.
Brianna turned back to her father, determined to have the earls solidly on her side before any trouble with the giants began. "Without Goboka and his horde to concern you, the time has come for you to make amends for your tragic mistake, Father."
A suspicious light flashed in the king's eyes. "What are you talking about amends?"
Raising her voice so she could be heard throughout the chamber, the princess replied, "As your daughter and the princess of Hartsvale, I demand your abdication."
"Don't mock me, foolish girl!" her father yelled. His eyes were gleaming with a mad purple light. "In spite of my mistakes, I've been a good king!"
"Really?" Brianna scoffed. "Would that be because you murder your queens, or because you were about to deliver Hartsvale into the hands of the ogres?"
"Enough!"
The king lashed out, striking her with the back of his hand. He hit her harder than Goboka had on Coggin's Rise and sent her tumbling over the banquet table into the empty seats beyond. The chairs toppled over, spilling her to the floor, and all she could do was lie on the cold stone with the blow still ringing in her ears.
Brianna heard the table being dragged aside and knew her father was coming. She shook her head clear, then grabbed a chair back and pulled herself to her feet. The princess found Wendel and three earls standing between her and her father.
Wendel gave her a clean cloth. "Perhaps you'd like to wipe your face." he suggested. "Then I think the earls would like to hear what you have to say."
"Thank you." As Brianna stanched her bleeding nose, she discreetly searched the shadows on the other side of the room. The princess found Tavis peeking out from behind a pillar, Bear Driller in his hand.
"Traitors!" Camden yelled, glaring at the earls. Despite his accusation, the king did not call on his giants for support. Instead, he returned his gaze to the princess. In a sly voice, he said, "I see your game now. You're jealous of Celia."
Brianna did not understand her father's purpose. By now, he should have been threatening the earls, not making flimsy accusations against her. "Why would I be jealous of Celia?"
"Because you want to be queen."
