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Marc didn’t say anything in reply. He could feel Phuong now, just like he felt other Draka. The twins had won yet again.
It was unfair that, just by being born, they were always going to be on the winning side.
He heard a boom and his face snapped up to look at his brother, whose fist was on the table. His brother’s eyes were flames.
“Finish what you started, Marc. There are enough of us to take down two baby royals who don’t even wear their crowns.”
Marc stood, not too steadily. “I don’t like your tone, Lucien.”
His brother put his hand in the center of Marc’s chest and forced him to sit down again.
“Get off of me.” Marc knew that his eyes had burst into flames.
“Look at you,” Lucien sneered. “The head of the wealthiest auction house on Vestra and it doesn’t mean anything at all. Our mother would be ashamed.”
Marc tried to stomp on Lucien’s toe, but somehow it felt like he was doing it in slow motion. He’d had a lot of alcohol.
“Sleep it off, brother,” Lucien said as he stepped away from Marc’s attempts to hit him. “Tomorrow, we’ll make a plan.”
37
Questions
Phuong
Phuong felt much better than she had felt the day before. She felt more like herself. After Gahariet had brought food up from the kitchens for the four of them, she got started on a barrage of questions.
“Did you know my parents?”
“In passing, not very well, my dear.” The seer turned and looked at her mates. Phuong got the impression that even if she did know a lot about the dead royals, she wouldn’t say it in a room with two Draka. That was a shame. Then Phuong realized that she didn’t even know her new attendant’s name.
“What’s your name? You already know mine, which means that you knew about me.”
“My name is Hoa. Yes, we did know about you, but Phuong is a common name, so we couldn’t find you by asking about little girls named Phuong. That could’ve gotten you killed. Your parents named you Phoenix because they knew that you would bring the Yore back to greatness.”
Phuong shook her head. “I can’t bring the Yore back to greatness. I’m just an orphan.”
“You’re our queen,” Hoa said simply. “You must. It is your destiny.”
Phuong felt the burden of her responsibility to her people settle like a physical weight on her shoulders.
She didn’t know how to be a queen. She didn’t even know how to be a princess.
38
New Beginnings
Gahariet
Gahariet had noticed that the seer, Hoa, had looked at him and his brother before cautiously answering some of Phuong’s questions. Phuong was full of a million questions, but Gahariet wasn’t paying that much attention. He looked instead at Hoa’s body language. She’d been deferential, a Yore in a Draka castle, but now that she was with a woman that she called queen, her whole posture was different. Yes, she was kneeling on the ground, but her face was full of light and hope.
Interesting.
Could Phuong really be the girl that they were looking for? Time would tell, he supposed.
Hoa was careful enough to make Gahariet feel good about keeping her close to Phuong. Her cautiousness made Gahariet feel like she was safe and unlikely to be paid by Marc to lure Phuong back into his arms. Marc had quite a bit of money, which talked eloquently, especially when the Yore had very little.
Phuong was their mate now. Nothing could break that bond. However, Marc could start a war if he became fixated on their mate. He said that she belonged to him, even though she didn’t. Phuong wasn’t a spoil of war. She was a precious princess.
