Page 73 of Queen of War and Ruin

“We’re not a couple,” I say. “Not anymore.”

Lilias blinks, her eyes wide. I send a desperate prayer to the gods that she’ll understand what I’m trying to do.

I’m setting you free, I try to tell her. I’m keeping you safe.

“Excuse me?” Malrik says.

“We cut the ribbon,” I lie.

My voice catches on the word ribbon. Fuck.

“Oh, really?” Malrik asks. “You divorced this woman?”

He stares at me, his pale eyes drilling into my skull. I feel like I’m twelve years old again, sitting at the royal table, feeling like the lives of everyone in the kingdom hinge on whether or not I can choose the correct fork for my salad.

“It was Elrick’s idea,” Lilias says, her voice soft.

Malrik turns to face her. I remember to breathe.

“He thought I could m-marry Prince Laurance,” Lilias continues. Her voice trembles, like she’s about to cry. “So Marion could create an alliance with Ethiria.”

Malrik turns to me. My chest feels like it’s packed with lead, like I’ll never be able to get my lungs to open.

And then the king of Vsenrog laughs.

I don’t dare look at Lilias as Malrik’s booming laughter echoes through the room. He laughs so hard tears leak from the corners of his eyes, and by the time he finishes, even the guards from Ethiria are grinning like they’re in on the joke. Malrik turns to Lilias, shaking his head.

“You little whore,” he says. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”

Lilias stares at her hands as they twist together at her waist. Her cheeks darken in the early morning light.

“No wonder Laurance wouldn’t marry you,” Malrik tells Lilias, with a grin.

He turns back to me, then claps his hand on my shoulder. I try not to flinch.

“Zarek, you idiot,” he declares. “This little bitch already has another husband.”

My breath catches in the back of my throat. I try not to change my expression.

“She’s married to her tutor,” Malrik announces, with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. “The one she was fucking back in Marion. I don’t know how in the hells you managed to find her again, Zarek, my boy, but she and Elrick played you for a fool. Divorcing her was exactly what she wanted.”

Malrik hits my arm again, then turns to Lilias.

“Blayne said you were in love with him,” Malrik tells her. “I never would have believed it!”

He laughs again. I turn away, staring at the elegant pattern in the carpet until Malrik’s laughter fades. This is good, my mind screams, arguing with the aching void in my chest. If Malrik thinks we’re divorced, then he has no reason to harm Lilias.

I raise my head and look at my wife. Please understand, I pray. Please, gods, let her understand what I’m trying to do.

“Is this true?” I ask Lilias.

I do my best to make my voice sound like a rusty dagger dragged across a sharpening stone. Lilias looks down at her feet.

“Yes,” she whispers.

I exhale sharply, like I’ve been punched in the gut. And then I turn to stare out the window.

Malrik would never believe me if I said I wanted to divorce my wife. It was far too obvious, even before our doomed unity tour, just how well his trap worked. Hells, Malrik probably knew I was falling in love with the princess of Marion even before I realized what was happening.