The ferocious glint in my father’s eyes made my stomach sink. Most of the time, he could hide his power-hungry madness, but not today.
“But you’re with those creatures daily… and their women,” he said.
I suspected where this was going but wanted to hear him say it. “So what?”
“They know you and welcome you into their shit-holes. You’re the Scourge of the Ghouls who fought for them against those monsters. They like you… even if they don’t trust you.”
“And?”
“They may not trust you, but they admire you and know you’re my son.”
I released a bitter laugh. “That won’t make them trustyoumore.”
My father shrugged. “Maybe, but maybe not.”
“So, what’s your plan? You marry her and bide your time until Ivan pisses off everyone enough for the aristocrats to turn on him. Once that happens, you announce you’ve married Leo’s daughter.”
“Maybe.”
“And you expect me to help you with the peasants?”
“You can either help me, or I slaughter any who show any disdain for me.”
“You’d have to slaughter the entire realm.”
“It would only take half before they got the point.”
And he would do it. I didn’t doubt that. Ivan was an incompetent idiot who would starve, imprison, and kill some of them. My father would lay waste to Tempest and anyone in his way to make sure they cowered, groveled, and licked his boots whenever he approached.
“How do you plan to get her to marry you?” I inquired.
He waved his hand around the room. “What woman would turn down all this wealth, a palace, and power, especially when she has nothing?”
“Maybe she wants to marry for love.”
“It’s not difficult to get a woman to fall in love with you, Ryker. That’s the easy part.”
“Is that what you did with my mother?”
“Your mother was as foolish and naïve as you. I never promised her marriage.”
“No, but I’m sure you hid who you truly are from her before revealing your true colors.”
“I got what I wanted out of the relationship.”
He had gotten a lightning bearer for a son, and while I was ahugedisappointment to him, once I revealed my power, it was all that mattered back then. My father had been making moves to advance himself since before I was born, and Leo had given him the key to possibly securing control of Tempest.
That would be worse than Ivan continuing to rule.
I stared at the wall as I pondered my father’s revelations. Leo had a daughter he’d kept hidden from me and, I was certain, everyone else in the realm.
He’d most likely kept her a secret to hide her from Ivan; he would kill his niece if he learned of her existence. When he went to my father with the news, he’d taken a big leap of faith that my father would keep it secret.
“What did Leo give you to keep your silence about her?” I asked.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ryker
