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“You wanted a choice.I’m offering one.Choose.”
There was only one answer, but it stuck in her throat.“I…”
Clio frowned.“Why do you hesitate?”
“I don’t want to become my father.”
“Then don’t.”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
“Uncomplicate it.”The queen broke the words down into dagger-sharp vowels and iron-hard consonants.“Do you want Kradnovtl to survive?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want a chance to undo some of your father’s actions?”
To reverse the horrid history of the mad king?“Of course.”
“Do you want to see your mother again?”
“Yes.”More than anything.
“Then your choice is simple.Get out of your own way.Take your crown.Make royal goblin babies.Fulfill your destiny.”
Had fear been Vori’s problem all along?Could she fix this realm without becoming another mad royal?The weight of the amethysts against her wrist pulled her down.
Could she leave her life in the human realm?Say good-bye to her adopted family?Her mother had risked so much more for only a promised future.
To save a realm and see her mom again?Vori could step up and do the same.
Perry might agree to stay here with her as queen’s consort.If he could get over seeing her rage out.His need for power might be enough to overlook her enormous anger management issues.Or maybe his overthink-everything self could help her stay in control.
For once, her head and her heart agreed.Yes.“I’ll do it.”
“Excellent.Contact me after the coronation.”Clio waved a hand.
The mirror flashed and reflected nothing more than Vori’s face.The room seemed brighter and not just from the glow of the stones.Clio had managed to keep her mother alive.Maybe they could find a way to wake her.
“Vori?”Perry called from outside the door.Gone was the arrogant know-it-all-and-seen-even-more tone.He sounded lost and uncertain.An echo of how she felt around him.
They’d had the amazing kiss, the possibility of a real relationship.But all that had come crashing down with Artanya’s plots.Vori winced.
Blaming a murdered woman—no matter how conniving she’d been—wouldn’t bring anything good to what she wanted with Perry.She had no idea what to say.
Hi, honey, please don’t hold my berserker tendencies that led to the whole “bashing someone’s head into stone” against me, okay?
Standing here wouldn’t solve anything.She opened the door.
“What’s wrong?”He locked that searching gaze on her face, glancing past her into the room.“I thought I heard someone in here talking with you.Did they upset you?”He pulled her close, and she took comfort in the touch as much as the way he looked like he would protect her, like he’d take on anyone who might’ve hurt her.“Or was it being in your mother’s room?”
“Both?”Her senses were running on overload from so many emotions tangled in a sticky web.
He let his hand linger on her skin for a far too brief moment and then stepped away to resume that cold distance he’d maintained all day.It was the same as if he’d built an imaginary wall between them, his “court face” slamming into place to hide his true feelings.
She wouldn’t let him hide behind the mask.“Why did you come here?”She didn’t hide the bite in her tone, the accusation.
“To this room or to Kradnovtl?”
