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“Well, this may work. The Grand Master and his apprentices will have to assess it, of course. He oversees all construction projects of this scale. You’ll have to present it to the Council—”
I stopped him, shaking my head. “They’ll never even look at it if they know it came from me. You'll have to tell them it was your idea.”
“But if it does prove executable and beneficial, don’t you want the credit for coming up with it?”
“No.” I huffed a laugh. “The levee will never be built if they know the idea for its construction came from the king’s human pet. There are more important things than my pride or any credit. If it does get built, both kingdoms will benefit from it. Lives may be saved. I don't care if I never get the recognition.”
He rested his gaze on me. “You put the interests of the kingdom before your own. That’s admirable. But you should care about your interests, too.”
I waved a hand, stifling a sigh.
“There is no point. For the councilors and the High Lords, I’m nothing but a king’s plaything. I might as well have played the part and kept the bells on my nipples.”
He laughed. “Those were delightful!”
I rolled my eyes but then smiled back at him. As the drought claimed more of his body, the king’s merry moods became rare. This time, too, his laughter didn’t last long. A serious expression settled over his face, now completely covered by the dark, raised pattern of diamond shaped mesh.
“You’re right. That's all you are to them,” he said somberly. “They will rip you apart and eat you alive after I’m gone. The pack of jackals,” he spat through his teeth.
That was the reality I faced if I stayed in the palace after his death.
“I can’t stay here without you,” I said. Unsure about my true place in Lorsan, I already knew it couldn’t be in Ufaris after the king had gone. “I’ll need to leave.”
He shook his head. “No matter where you go, they will hunt you. You’re too tempting a prize to let you be, my little human, a tasty morsel to be possessed and consumed, a status symbol. They’ll fight over you just as they will over my crown.”
Deep inside, I feared that, too.
I had enough skills and knowledge to perform a variety of jobs from a lady’s maid, to a tutor, or even to an apprentice of a keeper at the Archives. If I found employment at a lord’s court, I could make a living and support myself.
Except that the nobles wouldn’t leave me in peace.
My being a human made me unemployable anywhere in the kingdom. I was chattel, a rare property. And as the king’s pet, people knew about me. Hiding would be difficult if not impossible.
“I’m thinking about moving to Sarnala.” I’d been reading about the neighboring kingdom. That was how I came upon the information about the levees, in the first place. “At least when living among the werewolves, I wouldn’t need to wear the veil.”
The king didn’t appear to like that idea. Frowning, he rubbed his chest through his richly embroidered silk robe. “The werewolves have teeth sharp enough to literally tear you apart, Amira.”
“That’s why I thought that going to Sarnala as the Royal Ambassador would be ideal. The status would offer me protection.”
“It won’t be enough,” he dismissed. “You’ll need a much higher level of protection, the highest I can give you. I’ll have to marry you,” he added unexpectedly.
“You… What?” Surely, I’d misheard him.
He directed his eyes at me. They once were deep amber but had dulled and paled in color during the past months. The expression in them, however, remained as sharp as ever.
“The only way you would ever have a fighting chance after my death,” the king said, “is if I passed my crown on to you. As my wife, you will become my successor.”
“Wow… Hold on. You want to… It would never work.” My mind was reeling at his words. He couldn’t possibly be serious.
This was huge. This was…insane.
I wasn’t his mate.
I wasn’t even a gorgonian.
Yet the king appeared determined.
“When I’m gone, Amira, the crown will give you the protection I’ll no longer be able to provide to you.”
“But how? The nobles are already suspicious of me,” I pointed out. “They’ll rip my head off that much faster if you place the Crown of Lorsan on it.”
We would never get away with that.
He tapped the golden circlet decorated with polished spikes of gemstones that was nestled among the senties on his head. “The wearer of this crown holds power. If it’s passed publicly, it’d be hard to contest or remove. The High Lords will have to swear fealty to you as my successor. They’ll give a vow, which if broken, would condemn them to the Garden of the Cursed. Come here.” I kneeled in front of his chair, and he placed his hands on my shoulders. “If you play it right, child, the crown will help you keep your head on your shoulders.”
I closed my eyes, listening to his words. In my mind, they started to make sense. This could be my chance. In my heart, however…
“It’s just so…unexpected.”
This would be a marriage in the name only, but I’d be his wife. If there had ever been a man whom I could imagine as my husband, that man was now dead.
“Amira.” Taking my hand, the king helped me up to my feet, then pulled me down into his lap. His thighs were so hard and solid by now, even with the robe covering them, it felt like I was sitting on a wooden chair. “If it is a past commitment that holds you back, let it go,” he said sternly.
I dropped my gaze to my folded hands. True to his word, Kyllen had never left me. By now, his presence settled so deeply in my heart, I had no doubt we really were two parts of a whole. There was no life for me without him, even in death.
The king stroked my arm. “A message arrived from the commission I sent to Ellohi.”
“When?” My attention snapped back to him.
“Yesterday. Kiris delivered it while you were in the Archives.”
“And you’re just telling me about it now?”
“I was trying to figure out the best way to tell you.” He shifted slightly. “There is no good news.”
I’d tried hard not to let hope take root in my heart. Yet it had wormed its way in anyway. And now, it was crushed all over again.
“Kyllen is confirmed dead,” the king said.
The emptiness inside me grew bigger than ever, shutting away any remnants of light inside me. I closed my eyes as the world around me kept spinning out of control.
“How many times do I have to lose you?”
There was no limit. The torment never ended.
The king petted my knee. “The full report is in the Archives. You can read it when you’re ready.”
My head swam with dizziness. For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. The pain never stopped, never waned.
Then, an all-consuming need for revenge bubbled to the surface.
