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Karn’s jaw set hard. I supposed him liking me was over in that moment. “I believe he just needs a little more time to show them.”
“Show them what exactly?” Mrak asked.
I wouldn’t pretend to know the ins and outs of Kithonian politics, but it felt as though we’d had this conversation before. “We know he wants you to have a queen and the promise of an heir.”
Mrak’s fists clenched at his sides before resting them on top of the table. “My people need to know I’m here to rescue them. That I fought to get back to Kithonia forthem.”
I nodded. “They need empathy, not a queen.” Although I was more than ready to take on the role.
“Empathy won’t bring stability,” Karn argued. I didn’t see why he was bothering, unless… Unless he already had a queen in mind that wasn’t me. Someone ready to give Mrak an heir.
Another shadow demon.
My stomach sank as I looked at Mrak. He clearly hadn’t connected the dots yet and instead stood there, glancing down at a war map as though doing so would produce easy answers.
“It will build bridges,” Mrak argued. “The same I burned long ago. I have to win back their trust. Taking in one group of refugees won’t do it. But if I walk amongst them in places other than here, if Ihelpthem outside this palace, then we have a chance.”
Karn hesitated for a moment, but then nodded shallowly. “That is one path, yes.”
“You have someone for him,” I ventured slowly. “Don’t you?”
Mrak glanced between us before settling his deadly gaze on Karn. “Is this true?”
Karn steepled his hands before him. “She comes from a good family already inside the capital. A noblewoman people love—”
Mrak roared and slammed his clawed fists on the table. I couldn’t help but jump. “I will have no one but Aisling. I’ve made that clear. If you continue to have doubts about that, you can find another king to serve.”
At this, Karn stood and matched Mrak in anger, if not in height. “Aisling ismortal. A human. Your people will never stand for that, even if you make her into a shadow demon. Moreover, she is aweakness.”
Mrak lashed out and grasped Karn by the throat. Karn let him. “She is my queen.”
“His pact,” I agreed, then took a step toward Mrak. I rested a hand on his forearm. “And we work together. Set him down.”
“No,” Mrak growled. Shadows grew around him. They elongated and multiplied until dozens swarmed around Mrak’s body and helped him hold Karn in place—not that Karn was fighting this. “I will not have another, Karn. Is that clear?”
“Yes,” Karn said through gritted teeth. Shadows of his own had emerged, pulling from the dark corners of the room, but Karn kept his in check. “But that does not change the fact that Aislingisa weakness for you.”
Mrak glared at him before letting him go with a shove.
Karn held up his hands and continued quickly. “Sylas will kill more innocents, but these attacks here on Aisling, on Earth, they will continue, and they will grow increasingly more brutal. More personal. Innocents won’t just die, Mrak. They will suffer. And no one, not even Aisling, deserves to be caught in the crossfire between you and your brother.”
“I think we can all agree on that,” I said. It was probably the only thing Karn and I might agree on from here on out.
Karn kept his hands held between him and Mrak. “I only worry that despite your best intentions, your people will only see Aisling as nothing more than a fragile human from a world they do not know.”
“And me as cruel,” Mrak said, although he didn’t sound happy about it.
This problem only had one solution. One we’d already talked about so often before that it seemed ridiculous to deny it any further.
“Turn me into a shadow demon,” I said, my voice even despite the fear suddenly shooting through me. It was one thing to crave becoming like Mrak. To wonder what it might be like. To have Mrak think I could survive the transformation one day, only to worry I wouldn’t the next. “And once I’m like you, we can walk the streets of Kithonia’s capital together. Reassure your people together. Rule them together.”
Give them an heir together.
I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. To have a baby. But for now, I could at least help Mrak secure his rule in the only world that remotely felt like home anymore.
“Aisling,” Mrak warned. Karn did the same with his eyes, but he didn’t speak.
“And in the process,” I continued, “we can deal with Sylas and rescue Willa. We can save your people together just as you wanted. Getting back here to Kithonia is what made you make that pact with me in the first place.”
