AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Casting one backward glance at the palace where Lara’s father slept, Aren melted into the night.
28
Lara
“Whiskey,”Lara muttered at the barkeep, easing onto a stool back atThe Songbird,water dripping from her clothing to pool on the floor beneath her.
The barkeep eyed her with amusement. “Can you pay, boy?”
“No,” she snapped. “I intend to drink it and then run out the back.”
The amusement in his eyes fled, and he leaned over the bar. “Listen, you little—”
“Darling, can you bring up some more wine from the cellar?” Marisol appeared from nowhere. “I’ll handle this.”
Shrugging, the barkeep strode toward an open door behind the bar. Once he was gone, Marisol pulled a bottle from beneath the bar and poured a generous measure into a glass, which she pushed in front of Lara. “I don’t know how they do things in Harendell, but I’m not in the habit of getting children drunk in my establishment.”
Lara gave her a cold stare, drained the glass, then pushed it back in front of the other woman. Then she reached into her pocket and retrieved a gold Harendellian coin and slammed it on the bar. “Make an exception.”
One eyebrow rose. “You are a charmer, aren’t you, Your Majesty.”
“Do you bestow titles on all your patrons?”
“Only on women with eyes of Veliant blue who travel in the company of Ithicanian spies.”
There seemed little point in trying to dissuade her. “Either pour and talk at the same time, or shut up. I’m in no mood.” No mood for anything but to silence the questions that spun wild through her thoughts as she tried to come to terms with a world that seemed turned upside down. And certainly in no mood to make small talk with Aren’s former lover.
Marisol poured, then set the bottle down next to the glass. “I saw you when you passed through Vencia on your way to Ithicana.” She rested her elbows on the polished wood. “The curtain was pulled back in the carriage, and I caught just a glimpse. You looked like you were going to war, not to be married.”
Larahadbeen going to war. Or so she’d thought at the time.
“The king ordered the streets cleared. No one was allowed out of their homes until you’d boarded the ship. For your protection, they said.”
It had nothing to do with her protection. It was one last step to ensure that Lara boarded the ship convinced Maridrina was in the direst of straits and that Ithicana was to blame. One last piece of deception.
“Then they loaded you onto the ship, and you were gone. Off to Ithicana and off, unbeknownst to me at the time, to steal away my favorite lover.”
Lara gave her a sweet smile. “Given you hadn’t seen him in over a year, I’m not sure you had much claim to him at that point. If ever.”
“You are quite the little bitch, aren’t you?”
Lara plucked the glass Marisol was polishing from her hands, filled it, waited for the other woman to raise it, then clinked hers against it. “Cheers to that.”
Swallowing the liquid in one mouthful, Marisol set aside the glass. “We expected things to change. For your father to ease his filthy taxes or at least to use the money for something better than his ceaseless war with Valcotta.”
“But nothing changed.”
Marisol shook her head. “If anything, it’s only gotten worse.”
“Makes one wonder why I bothered going.” Except Lara knew exactly why she’d gone to Ithicana. To save her sisters. To save her kingdom. To save herself. In this precise moment, she half wondered if she’d damned them all.
“Not your choice, I suppose.” Marisol’s eyes drifted over Lara’s shoulder, taking in the comings and goings of the common room. “What I do know is that you married the best man I’ve ever had a privilege to meet, so perhaps instead of drowning your sorrows, you ought to consider a better use of your time.” She inclined her head. “Either way, I hope you enjoy your evening, Your Majesty.”
“Good night,” Lara muttered, refilling her glass. SheknewAren was a good man. Her instincts, which she should’ve trusted, had been screaming it at her for longer than she’d cared to admit, but she’d ignored them in favor of what she’d beentold.She’d been duped. Manipulated. Played.
She’d gone to the palace to kill her father.
Her plan had been to use the codes she’d been given to gain access, then wait for them to bring her to her father—and kill him. With her bare hands, if she needed to. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t been trained to do it. They’d kill her afterward, but his death would be worth it. Worth that moment when her father realized that she, his prized weapon, had turned on him instead.
