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Jura came out.“They’re almost finished.”
“How is she?”
“Hurting, but better.She’s not an easy patient.”
“What can I do?”
“When the healer finishes and lets you in?Keep her still.She’s never done well at being told to stay in bed.”
“No, I can’t imagine she would be.”The door to the room opened with another maid rushing inside, and he tried to catch a glimpse of Vori.No luck.“I hate not being able to help her.She’s in pain, and there’s no healing charms, no human medicine, no magic to fix this.”
“Don’t be so sure of that last.You’ve got a certain power over her.You might be the only one who can convince her to stay in her suite and still long enough for her body to heal the internal wounds.Locked doors with guards posted outside mean nothing to Vori.”
He glanced at the maid, who looked so different without her iron collar.How much did the part-fae know about shadow magic?About his wife’s abilities?“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”Liar.
“Vori doesn’t stay trapped anywhere unless she wants to.You’re the only reason she would’ve stayed in a cell.”
And wasn’t that ironic given their past?Not that he wanted to explain his prison history to someone who mattered so much to his wife.“I’ll do what I can.”
Jura pressed her lips together but didn’t hide the slight smirk.“Consort.”
“Perry.”
“Get used to your new title.We’re counting on you for more than keeping her still for tonight.We need you to keep her in Kradnovtl.To save the realm.To save her people.”
“What makes you think I can do that?”
“Her mother always knew she would be a great queen, but Vori has towantthe throne.Maybe having you by her side will make it easier.”
“I don’t know about that.She has a whole lot of history—bad history—associated with the crown.Her mother’s death.The ‘mad king’ legacy.”
“Her father was a horrible man.He terrified the realm.”Jura glanced at the suite, pausing as if considering what secrets she could share.“Did you know that he forced her to witness executions?”
He nodded.“She told me that he wanted her to be like him.”
The woman seemed shocked that his wife had shared the information.“And you say you have no power over her?”
“I don’t want to control her.”He didn’t.He just wanted to be with her—here or in the human realm, and damn if that realization didn’t scare the shit out of him.“Did Artanya know about Vori being forced to witness executions as a kid?”
“The pretender knew some of what Vori had lived through, the respect the princess had shown me in the past, the flashbacks it might trigger.”
“Why would Artanya risk that?Because all it did was get her ass kicked.”And killed by her baby sister.
“She gambled that Vori would shut down or run away again.”
“That didn’t work out for her.”Although there’d been a brief moment he’d worried the same.
Jura grinned, and it wasn’t a nice grin.“No, it didn’t.But I think Artanya believed Mykata would step in for her.The captain might have lived in her older sister’s shadow, but she’s a hell of a champion.”
“So is Vori.Although she thinks she’s some kind of monster when she fights.She calls it going berserk.”
“Part of that is her legacy.Part of it is her father’s programming.Goblins must stay in absolute control to retain the higher functions of logic and compassion.Otherwise, the rage peels away the layers of civility, and they’re only left with the beasts within.”
“But that’s not who she is,” he argued.“Not with what she has done for me.For you.For this realm.In the final moment of the challenge, she was fierce, but not heartless.No matter what Artanya had done, what she had threatened to do, Vori showed her mercy.”
“Something that must have taken an immense amount of willpower.From the time she could toddle, she was forced to train to the limits of her strength.The mad king wanted to invoke a battle frenzy so she would kill without remorse, so she’d become a true beast.”
A beast.And Perry had mocked her with his “Beauty and the Beast” comparison.If anything, he was the beast.She’d overcome the most extreme of challenges.He hadn’t been able to do the same when he’d been put to the test.“She’s amazing.”
