Page 38 of To Save a Kingdom

Thank the gods, the guards were gone. Balancing both plates on one arm, he opened the door. “Aliya, I—”

Aliya glanced up from the desk where she was in low conversation with King Roland and Princess Tsara.

Elessan stumbled, fighting the urge to freeze. But he had every right to be here, and judging by the glares Aliya was sending his way, whatever they were talking about likely involved him. The coldness in her expression chilled his core.

He cleared his throat as he slid around Roland to stand at Aliya’s side. “I brought you some dinner,” he said, sliding one of the two plates onto the corner of her desk.

Raising an eyebrow, he studied Roland and Tsara. “Am I interrupting something?”

Roland sniffed. “Not at all. We were discussing your betrothal to my daughter and our imminent departure.”

Elessan tensed. Valek. Taking a long breath through his nose, he exhaled. “Did you also tell her I haven’t accepted your daughter’s proposal?”

“But you will,” Roland said. “You’ll be officially part of the family.” He paused, eyeing Aliya with too much disdain to be concealed. “Elven royalty, officially in line for our throne.”

Not some side piece whose children are destined to be bastards.

The sun elf king didn’t have to say it out loud, the words rang between them.

Elessan ignored the flash of victory in Tsara’s eyes and the spark of rage in Aliya’s.

He would never understand why someone would want to force a marriage bond with another who didn’t want them back. Aliya and Malkov, him and Tsara… And yet, noble women were traded in political marriages all the time.

Looking Roland in the eye, he asked, “May I have a moment with Aliya?”

Roland pressed his lips into a thin line, but nodded. “Come, daughter.”

Something hard flashed in Tsara’s eyes as she spun to follow her father.

Clenching his teeth, Elessan turned to Aliya as the latch clicked closed. She wasn’t staring at him, but her entire body shook with tension. Her knuckles were white as they clenched the arm rests of her chair.

“Aliya, let me explain—”

She cut him off with a violent jerk of her head. “No, Elessan. There’s nothing to say. I saw you kissing Tsara in the corridor. And now I know you’ve just been using me until you could get to her.”

He blinked, his mind going blank. Aliya had been there? She’d seen him? He’d been so certain he and Tsara had been alone, though he hadn’t taken the time to scour the hallway before she’d ambushed him. It was entirely possible Aliya, or someone who reported to her, had caught Tsara forcing their kiss on him.

He stiffened at the sudden memory of the sounds of retreating footsteps during their kiss danced into his thoughts. Squeezing his eyes closed, he grimaced.

Aliya shoved to her feet, the legs of her chair scraping across the floor and sending a shiver up his spine. “You should take Princess Tsara up on her offer. It’s preferable to anything you’ll find here.”

“Wait, what?” No, she didn’t mean that. She couldn’t throw away everything they had before she let him explain.

Grabbing his upper arm, she escorted him to the door.

He tried again. “Aliya—”

“No, Elessan.” Gripping the doorknob, she wrenched it until the latch gave. “Go do what you want. I don’t care anymore. My niece is better off without you.”

His knees locked. Her niece? He braced his foot against the bottom of the door as she struggled to yank it open.

“What did you say?” He spun, dislodging her grip on him and pinning her to the wall, his hand around her throat.

Her quicksilver eyes bulged, the same color he loved gazing into so much. But Aliya’s expression held an unfamiliar coldness he’d never believed could be associated with her.

“Who are you?” he growled, slamming her head into the stone masonry with enough force to convey his warning. “What have you done with Aliya?”

The unknown shapeshifter’s eyes narrowed, her jaw hardening as she stuck her chin out. “Do it, mountain elf,” she rasped as his grip on her neck tightened. “Show the world the monster you truly are.”