He stilled, and for a moment, I believed I had gotten through to him.
Then he sneered. “I have a better idea. This warwillhappen. When I win, I will put you in charge of my statue. And you will erect it somewhere you will see it every single day of your life.”
“Why must you make everything into some sort of competition? Can’t you see you’ve already won? You’ve won, and I’ve lost. Now, I’m begging you to think this through. Your decision will cost others their lives. You can still be a decent king. Start by setting a good example for your people instead of disappointing them from the moment your arse lands on our father’s throne.”
His narrowed eyes widened. “You think winning a war would be a disappointment? I will be revered as a god. They will write songs commemorating my victory.”
“Or they’ll curse your name for sending them out to fight while you hide inside these walls like a coward. If you sent me as emissary—”
He lunged, catching me by the collar. Spittle hit my face when he growled, “After the way you’ve questioned my authority in front of everyone? I’d sooner send my wife.”
He let me go with a shove, and I fell back against my chair, gasping and massaging my neck. “She’s your betrothed, not your wife.”
He blinked at me once. Twice. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it?” he said slowly. “Even after all these years, you still cannot stand the fact that she chose me.”
“She didn’t choose you. She chose to be queen.”
Alrec’s face went as red as his overcoat.
Dammit. I’d pushed him too far. I’d be lucky if I only ended up in the dungeon for the week.
“Is that what you think?”
If I was to be sent to the dungeon, I may as well earn it. “I think you are weak of mind and character. I think you are unfit to sit on our father’s throne. I think you will run this kingdom into the ground. And I think Roisin chose wrong.”
Alrec’s hand fell to the pommel of the short sword he wore at his waist.
What was he going to do? Kill me? He wouldn’t dare.Except the way he drew his sword, with deliberate slowness, and aimed it at my chest said differently. Something moved in the corner of my eye. Broderick emerged from between two suits of armor, his hand on the hilt of his weapon.
Alrec’s twisted smile faltered for a split second before he pressed the tip of his blade against my hammering heart. Every ounce of his hatred, I returned tenfold. It hummed in my veins. Lived on my tongue. “Do it. You know you want to.”
“And put you out of your misery? I think not.” Sneering, he returned his sword to its sheath. “Instead, I will accompany my soldiers to the bay and lead them into battle while you hide inside these walls ‘like a coward.’”
Had he lost his mind? “You can’t—”
“All the while, I will be thinking on your punishment for this defiance. When I return, you will be sorry you ever stood against me.”
He stood and stalked from the room. Broderick gave me one final glance before following my brother into the hallway.
Alrec was going to start a war just to spite me?
Good god, what had I done?
8
ROISIN
A petal-scented breezecaught the blue satin ribbon in my hair, twisting and tugging, mimicking the way my heart felt in my chest. In the distance, bees buzzed and horses knickered.
“I will miss you every moment of every day that I am gone,” Alrec whispered, pressing a warm kiss to my forehead.
A mass of soldiers waited at his back, standing at attention in orderly lines. The gold buttons on their red coats glinted in the blinding sun. Lord Devon and Kerrington remained with the other advisors next to the castle stairs. Lowri’s violet hair peeked from behind them as she bobbed up and down, no doubt standing on her tiptoes to see over the crowd. Instead of coming to see them off, my mother had chosen to remain inside with the king.
“Are you certain you must go?” With his father so unwell, surely someone could travel to Southbay in his stead. What about Caiman? Alrec’s brother scowled from the castle’s main doorway, cloaked in shadows. “Why not send your brother?”
Alrec’s face turned as red as his coat; a vein in his forehead bulged. “Do not say that traitor’s name. Promise me you will not so much as speak to him while I am away.”
“We share the same dinner table every night. Am I to ignore him completely?”