Page 73 of The Seeker

It wasn’t until we reached a stone arch without a door, a booming voice coming from the room beyond, that I realized where they’d led us.

I was seeing the king now.

I gulped.

I rehearsed what I was going to say again, in my mind.

Otho’s hand drifted from my back to grab my hand once more. “You’ll do fine, Runa. I know you will,” he whispered in my ear as Ena reached for my other hand.

“You’re coming in with me, right?” I asked.

I felt a spike of fear from Otho, which had me drawing my eyebrows together, only for the reply to float through my mind.

“It’s better if I don’t.”

I nodded, not really understanding, but knowing that right now was not the time to discuss it.

The guard leading us paused in the doorway, motioning for us to wait as he cleared his throat. Ena was leaning to the side, and I knew she had a view of the king, but I kept my feet rooted in their spot on the stone floor, my mind a mess of what I wanted to say to the man who reigned over the entire continent.

Whatever the guard was waiting for had passed and he stepped to the side, allowing us to enter.

I couldn’t bring myself to step forward.

Ena, always the supportive friend, noticed the problem immediately, taking my hand and pulling me forward, into the room.

My mouth dropped open.

The king’s palace was nothing like Adis’s or Hansen’s palaces, the room alone having a high ceiling—so high I could barely see—the walls decked with colorful tapestries and gold molding. There were guards along each wall, in the same red uniform as the one who had led us in. At the end of the room was a raised dais, the floor of it at the same level as my chin. There were no stairs in sight, leaving me to wonder how the king arrived at his perch each day—and a perch it was. On the main dais there was a smaller raised platform, and on that sat a gold-plated chair with red cushions, holding the man I’d set my eyes on only once as a child.

I only remembered his outfit from the parade, how it shone in the sun, and now I was able to take in his dark features and dark hair. He was still dressed opulently, but what stood out the most was his bored posture, his head resting on his hand, his elbow placed on the arm of the chair. His eyes darted from Ena and I, to something we couldn’t see over our shoulders.

Ena snapped out of her awe first, pulling me into a bow. When we stood again, I raised my eyes to the king, but his lips didn’t move.

I glanced over my shoulder, my hands twisting as they always did when I was nervous. I could see the outline of Otho, where he stood in the hall in the shadows, but just barely.

Go on. Ask.

Encouraged, I opened my mouth and began the sentence I’d rehearsed, even though I could no longer remember what came after. “Your Highness, my name is Runa Wormald, and this is Ena—” I paused, realizing for the first time that I didn’t know her last name.

“Arfter,” she supplied, noticing my predicament.

“—And we have come from Heimland, where, as you probably know⁠—”

The king was still staring at something over my shoulder when he said, “Where is he? You said he was here.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, unsure if I should continue or⁠—

He motioned to the guards. “I asked you to bring him here. Now bring me my son.”

CHAPTER 24

Icouldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe.

My vision started to go dark.

The king . . . He couldn’t mean Otho . . . he couldn’t.

Otho wouldn’t have hidden this from me.