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The situation was not made easier by the reaction of the Akathinian people. Such an act of provocation on the heels of the crown prince’s death could not be tolerated was the majority opinion. Get our men back.
Deep into the third day of the crisis, Abram appeared in the salon to say it was done. Sofi´a’s heart pounded as he announced the negotiations had been successful and the ship had been returned to Akathinian hands, but that five men had been killed in the taking of the ship.
When Nik walked into the palace hours later, dark circles ringing his eyes, Sofi´a, who had not slept for three days except for a couple of hours here and there, got to her feet, along with Stella and Queen Amara.
“Why did the Carnelians take the ship?” Queen Amara asked. “Why did Idas break his promise?”
Nik rubbed a hand across his brow. “They accused the ship of provocation toward one of its own. Clearly a fabrication, as our vessel was in neutral waters at the time, doing routine exercises.”
His mother’s gaze softened. “You must eat, Nikandros. Get some rest.”
“I need to brief Father first.” He flicked a glance at Sofi´a. “Go and eat. Don’t wait for me.”
She did, but the anxiety seizing her insides hardly inspired an appetite. Nik didn’t join her in their rooms until well after eleven as she sat trying to read a book, but failing miserably.
“Did you eat?” she asked.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Nik, you have to eat. Let me—”
“Don’t.” He held up a hand. “I’m fine.”
He started undoing the buttons of his shirt, cursed as his fingers fumbled over them, then pulled the material apart with a hard yank, buttons scattering and rolling across the floor. Her stomach knotted. She put the book down, got to her feet and crossed to him. Ignoring her, he yanked his belt buckle open, freed the button on his trousers and shoved them down his hips.
“Nik.” She moved closer as he stepped out of them. “Stop for a second. Breathe.”
He looked down at her, eyes blazing. “If I do, I will explode.”
“It’s not your fault. You can’t blame yourself for this. You had every reason to believe Idas would keep his word.”
“Did I?” He hurled the words at her. “Because in hindsight I feel like a fool. In hindsight he played me masterfully. He never intended on keeping that peace treaty.”
She swallowed hard. “How did he think he would get away with that explanation? Surely it was clear the ship was in neutral waters.”
“It’s his claim a commander on the scene who considered the ship a threat made the call.”
“Maybe that’s the truth.”
The curse he uttered snapped her head back. “We have a peace treaty, Sofi´a. He played me. Five men are dead because of my decisions. My naïveté.”
Her insides twisted. “You were trying to avoid a war, Nik. You are doing everything you can to protect this country, but it can only happen so fast. No one can fault you for that.”
“I could have been more vigilant. If I had listened to my instincts, I could have anticipated he’d do something like this. Instead I listened to everyone around me.”
“You had to do that. You have a council and advisers for a reason.”
He gave her a scathing look as if to say look where that’d gotten him. Then turned on his heel and headed for the bathroom.
She sat on a chair in the bedroom and waited for him. He was hurting. He felt he had to take responsibility for those men’s deaths. He was the head of the armed forces. The king of this country. It must be humiliating to be betrayed by Idas like that. But it didn’t mean anything he’d done had been wrong. It had all been right.
Nik walked into the bedroom after his shower and pulled on a pair of boxers, barely sparing her a glance. “Go to bed, Sofi´a. You need sleep.”
She stared at him, waiting, wondering what to do. He moved past her into the salon. The sound of the whiskey decanter being opened, the clink of ice hitting crystal and whiskey being poured filled the silence. The terrace doors clicked open, then shut. He needed time to process. To decompress. She should leave him alone. And for once she did. She was too exhausted not to.
She woke sometime later, something instinctively telling her Nik was not in bed. A look at the clock told her it was 2:00 a.m. Rubbing her eyes, she let them adjust to the darkness, then she slipped out of bed and went to find Nik. He was reclined in a chair on the terrace, the near-empty bottle of whiskey now sitting on the table beside him.
