Page 14 of Blood & Roses

It wasn’t the same fated, instant attraction that mates had. Mates were a fae phenomenon, their magic wilder and more primal than elven magic. It was why Orson and Lis were mates. The shifters’ magic was closer to the fae, and derived from the instincts of the creatures they shared a form with.

“No,” Rowan replied darkly. “My father liked his freedom too much for that.”

“I see. Does he know?” I asked, nodding to the prince, who slept far too deeply on the couch.

“Yes,” Rowan said, squeezing his brother’s hand. “My father tolerated me in exchange for my mother’s silence. Tristan is the only member of my father’s household who actually liked me. Loved me. His mother died when he was only two. He grew up knowing me, and I served as his personal guard until last year.”

“When the king remarried,” I said, trying to put the timeline together in my head.

Rowan nodded. “Amira was a handmaiden of the late queen,” he explained, looking at me with both sincerity and resignation. “There were whispers that she had killed Tristan’s mother, but I always chalked them up to court gossip. Then my father died and Tristan disappeared, and I knew.”

“You think Amira killed him?” I asked, finally voicing my guess.

Rowan nodded. “My father wasn’t beloved, but he was respected. I can’t think of anyone else who would have wanted him dead.”

“You said Amira sent guards after Tristan,” I said, finally getting to the piece I didn’t understand. “Mora saw that you had been protecting him. That the queen wanted his heart. But how is this possible if everyone thinks he’s dead already? And why didn’t she just kill Tristan outright? Why bother with the curse?”

“If I knew all the answers, I might not need your help,” Rowan said bitterly, glancing down at his brother’s drawn face before meeting my eyes again. “But I know she faked Tristan’s death. Don’t ask me why she didn’t kill him outright again,” he said sharply as I was about to repeat the question. “I don’t know. What Idoknow is that she gathered all of Tristan’s personal guards when he disappeared and told us that he was the one who killed the king. That she wanted him dead at their hands before the High King’s guard could find him and make a spectacle of her.”

“What about a body?” I asked, trying to understand why so many had bought the lie. Trying to work out the logic in not just killing Tristan outright. “There must have been evidence that both your brother and father were dead.”

“Oh, there was a body,” Rowan said darkly. “The build was right, but the face…” He shuddered. “I knew it wasn’t Tristan, but it would be difficult for anyone else to know.”

“Gods,” I breathed, trying to imagine the wickedness that would inspire someone to such evil. “So she commanded you to kill your own brother? Didn’t she know you would refuse?”

Lena returned with toast and a pot of tea at this moment and set them before me, offering Rowan a cup as she gave him a sympathetic smile. “It’s horrible, isn’t it?” she said in that quiet, feeling way of hers. “I’m so sorry, Your Highness.”

“Rowan, please,” he replied, with a grimace. “Like I said, I’m not royal. And to answer your question, Isolde, Amira doesn’t know who I am.” Rowan sipped the tea, looking at me with a frown. “Eat your toast.”

“I’ll eat when you’ve explained.”

“I’ll explain whenyoueat.”

He sat in silence, watching me and giving the toast a pointed nod.

“Fine,” I growled, taking a bite of the toast and promptly choking on it in my ire. I coughed, taking a sip of tea as my eyes watered and Lena patted me on the back. “Happy?”

“Very,” Rowan replied, taking another sip of tea.

“My father never told Amira who I was,” Rowan said, picking up the thread of the conversation he had dropped. “Nor did Tristan. She didn’t know that I would never believe her lies.” He sighed, his eyes sad. Exhausted. “I’m not sure how she convinced them of his guilt, but the rest of the guards agreed without hesitation. Almost like they were entranced. She told them she would marry whoever killed him. Would make him king. ‘Bring me his heart,’ she said, ‘and I will giveyou mine’.”

“Gods,” I breathed again, horrified at this bloody proposition. Lena squeezed my hand in sympathy. “None of them believed he was innocent?”

“None,” Rowan agreed. “I killed two and incapacitated three. All good males. It doesn’t make sense that they so blindly followed Amira’s order. But there are still at least fourteen out there hunting him.”

“And you are surehedidn’t kill his father?” I asked. “Your father?”

Rowan’s gaze went steely, and I regretted the question.

“Tristan wouldn’t hurt a fly, let alone a father he adored. This has Amira written all over it.”

Mora and Sera finally reappeared, looking hesitantly around the corner of the room.

“Is it safe?” Sera asked, glancing between us and lingering on Rowan, who was glaring at me in fury. “Did she poison you?”

“Not yet,” Rowan said darkly.

“You can come in,” I said, rolling my eyes at my sisters and the huntsman. “Come and tell me how you lifted the curse.”