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Vicer stalked past me. “How the fuck—”
A short man with hunched shoulders strolled into the room, and I sighed.
“Tymriel.” My voice was cool.
I hadn’t exactly enjoyed my first meeting with him. As one of the five elders who had ruled the hybrid kingdom since Regner attacked, he’d interrogated me, told me my mother would be ashamed of the coward I’d become, and finally—along with the other elders—had refused to give me basic information, such as if the hybrid kingdom still had a functioning army.
Tymriel smiled at me, the lines in his face deepening with the movement.
I didn’t smile back.
Lorian shifted, stepping closer to me. Tymriel’s smile disappeared.
My visit to the hybrid kingdom had ended with the elders telling me I wasn’t yet the queen I should be. It was only after talking to Lorian that I’d realized the truth.
Their refusal to help me hadn’t really been about me at all. My cousin had gotten to them first.
So just what exactly were the hybrid elders hoping to achieve now—after they’d refused to help me mere weeks ago?
My hourglass warmed against my chest, and the realization slammed into me.
The elders knew I’d found my birthright.
And they wanted to take it from me.
* * *
“This man managed to find the location of this safe house. We’re now compromised.” If my voice had been cool, Vicer’s was pure ice.
“I have not told anyone of your location, and I have not been followed. I would never risk your plans,” Tymriel said into the awkward silence. “Is there somewhere we can speak privately?”
“As long as you understand that Lorian will be part of that conversation,” I said.
Tymriel frowned at Lorian. “I don’t believe your presence is necessary.”
“Anything you want to say to me can be said in front of him,” I said.
Tymriel sighed but didn’t argue.
Vicer was a silent, seething presence. He led us down the hall to what seemed to be a small meeting room before stalking out after one last furious glanced Tymriel’s direction. He was likely about to begin poring over every detail of his security. And while he’d wait until I’d spoken to Tymriel, there was no way Vicer would allow him to leave without learning exactly how he’d found us.
Tymriel’s frown deepened, but his gaze dropped to the hourglass around my neck. “You truly did it.”
I inclined my head. “Yes, I did.”
“While I’m pleased you managed to find the hourglass, the other elders may order you to give it to your cousin.”
Lorian’s expression turned lethal. “They won’t order Prisca to do anything.”
Tymriel glanced at me. As if he was expecting me to be oh-so reasonable and simply hand it over.
I met his gaze. “Zathrian has a man working beneath Regner. A man called Eadric. Eadric killed our friend. A man who had a wife and child. A good man. Eadric also tortured me. For days.”
Tymriel opened his mouth. I shook my head. “Listen carefully because I will only say this once. If anyone attempts to take the hourglass from me to give it to Zathrian, I will not hesitate. I will not show mercy. I will kill them without blinking.”
Next to me, Lorian practically glowed with pride. Of course, he wasn’t a good judge of my own morality. My mate still considered murder to be the best solution to most problems.
Tymriel gave me a look as if I’d greatly disappointed him. “Is that the kind of ruler you will be? A tyrant?”
