And Birdie was right. He was now the villain in the piece, and there was no other way to look at it.
He, who had always tried to be a hero in one manner or another, had failed on that score, horribly. There was no way around it.
And now he had to go and face her. And tell her that she was going to marry him.
“What is that look on your face?” Emerald asked.
“I have to take another queen who hates me. And I cannot waste another moment.”
“I would gently suggest that you not go in making demands to someone you have already treated so appallingly.”
“I must make this final demand,” he said. “I have no other choice. My child cannot be born a bastard, and she has to be my wife.”
“Or, hear me out,” Emerald said. “You could practice being decent.”
“There is no decency when it comes to matters of the throne and succession. I will find it later.”
“Will you? Because I thought that you were going to find something nice with Circe at some point, but you never did.”
“How dare you? My marriage is off-limits.”
“All of this needs to be within bounds, Onyx, because somebody needs to speak to you directly. Somebody who doesn’t fear you.”
“Apparently nobody fears me. Did you not hear all of the things that Birdie said to me?”
“Well. I’m not sure if I like you at the moment. But I have a feeling I’m going to like her.”
“I don’t need you to like me. I don’t need anyone to like me. I have to lead this country. And I will do it now.”
He stormed out of the office, and up the stairs. And then he realized he didn’t actually know which room they had installed Birdie in, which meant that he was sent down the corridor, knocking on empty rooms. And by the time he arrived where she was, he had never been so angry.
She made a noise, and he shoved the door open, not waiting for her to tell him to enter.
“The test was positive. The child is mine.”
She sat on the edge of the bed, her face pale, and he could tell that she’d been crying. But she looked at him with all of the steel that he knew was inside her. “You might be surprised by that. I’m not. But thank you for letting me know.”
“There is no question now of the path forward.”
“And what is that?”
“You will marry me. You will be my wife.”
“Will I?”
“You know it makes sense. You know it is the only thing that makes sense.”
“I thought I knew what made sense. And I will tell you, I thought that night that we…”
“What did you think? Were you afraid to say no?”
He was angry, and this feeling of shame wounded his pride, but he was going to be clear on this. Because if she had felt coerced in any way…
“No,” she said. “I wasn’t. I wasn’t scared to say no. I wanted you. I had opinions on who you were, from working for you. But I suppose in much the same way that you didn’t know me, I didn’t know you. I very much regret to say.”
“Good,” he said. “But you didn’t feel coerced.”
“Why? Is that the one thing that would’ve made you feel guilty?”
