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“Vienne holds a highly honored position in our realm,” Brentley said. “She’s a direct descendent to one of the founding families. I’m sure if Urban had attached himself to any other female, this wouldn’t seem quite so—”
“I don’t give a fuck who she is,” Allera snarled. “Status means nothing to the mark. And furthermore, Urban didn’t intentionally set out to bond himself to anyone, certainly not an already married woman. He had no choice in the matter. Besides, what’s the very worst thing that could come from this? He tries to cuckold your cousin and tempt Vienne into his own bed? Wow. That would be so devastating to the kingdom.” She rolled her eyes, matching the sarcasm in her voice. “But he hasn’t even done that. He’s kept his distance from her and not even talked to her, so… What’s the true problem here? Is it just because we’re from High Cliff?”
“No! No, of course not. Caulder is just—”
“Being an idiot,” Allera muttered.
“He’s not. Allera, please see reason. It was a shock to learn your brother could even… You know… Bring anyone back from the dead. Anyone would be understandably leery, especially Caulder, after what happened to our parents.”
“Were you?” Allera spat back. “Did you automatically think Urban had some evil, undermining goal in plan when he saved her?”
Brentley hissed out a long, exasperated sigh. “Well… No,” he finally admitted.
“And neither did Nicolette,” Allera was quick to add. “I find both of you to be of a logical and sound mind. You lost your parents the same way Caulder did, and you two didn’t automatically accuse Urban of wicked sorcery.”
“Yes, but you must understand—”
“I understand that my brother was treated like a villain for his heroic deed. Everyone seems a hell of a lot more concerned with the fact that he put his mouth on Vienne than how she’s actually faring.”
Unable to bare their argument any longer, I lifted my face from where I was sitting on the edge of my bed. “I can hear you two, you know. And your argument solves nothing but to make my headache grow tenfold.”
“Urban,” Allera murmured, her voice full of sympathy and her gaze the same. She came to me and set her palm against my cheek. “How are you feeling?”
I was nauseated. And my head was pounding while my skin was burning up until I was sweating even though I felt chilled to the bone. I couldn’t tell if it was my own malady I was experiencing—because I’d never brought anyone back from the dead before; I wasn’t sure how much energy it was supposed to suck from me—or if it was Vienne trying to heal from her experience that I was getting a sense of. In either case, I wanted to lie down in my bed and sleep for about three days straight. Except my worry for her kept me alert and edgy, waiting for the slightest news that she was okay.
Brushing my sister’s hand away, I sent her an irritated glance before muttering, “I’m fine.”
She wrinkled her brow, letting me know she realized I was lying. Then she said, “I’ll make sure nothing happens to you, little brother. You did nothing wrong. I’ll convince them of it.”
I sniffed and closed my eyes as I shook my head. “Like I care about that.” When I opened again, I glanced past her toward Brentley. “Can you find out how she’s doing?”
The Donnelly prince looked momentarily boggled by the question before he stammered, “Oh! I, uh… Sure. I’ll go check now.”
I watched him leave. Allera was right about one thing. It was awfully curious why everyone was so concerned about what I had done while no one seemed to care if Vienne was truly okay or not.
To further my frustrations over that very fact, a knock came at my door before it opened. Indigo, one of my own men who’d come from High Cliff with us, stepped inside.
“My prince,” he said, bowing out his loyalty. “The Donnelly king wishes to question you in the Throne Room at once.”
“What?” Allera demanded, outraged. “Right now? It’s the middle of the goddamn night. This is madness.”
Indigo looked regretful when he answered, “They said at once, my lady.”
She muttered an obscenity under her breath and stormed toward the door. I glanced toward the window. Through the thin layer of clear rock, I could see the stars outside twinkling brightly, even as the sky began to lighten and change colors with the approaching dawn.
It felt like a sign of hope to me. I might die before the day was over, executed for whatever reason the crown saw fit, but it would be okay, because Vienne was alive.
I would damn the consequences of my actions over and over again an unlimited amount of times to keep her breathing.
At peace with my decision and ready to face the king and his cousin, I nodded to Indigo as I entered the hall.
Allera had marched so far ahead of me, she was already out of sight. By the time I reached the Throne Room, she was pleading my case, standing before Caulder, where he sat on the throne next to a seething Soren.
When Soren spotted me in the entrance, he surged to his feet, pointing.
“You! You stay away from my wife, you monster.”
“Oh, that’s a rich demand,” Allera laughed scornfully. “I mean, seriously, have you ever seen him actually talk to her? Even once?”
