AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hmm,” I mumbled. “Rather uncomfortable, just as she said. I will leave it to my future wife to sit in. She has more tolerance for the horseshit that comes with it than I do. Maybe I’ll just kill for her when she tells me to.” I gave a pointed look at my father.
“But—” Yutrik muttered, but King Louis stepped in front of him to cut him off.
“Such comforting news to hear of the upcoming wedding and funeral,” King Louis announced. “Thank you for gathering us to keep us informed of the most important events, Rune. I would love to attend both, but I’m afraid my kingdom needs me.”
His green eyes found mine. There was something about him that alarmed me deeply. I didn’t like how easily he’d accepted the wedding and funeral. No. This man wasn’t done yet. But he was too smart to sacrifice himself on a lost battle if he was still hoping to win the war.
King Louis and his daughter both started walking toward the open double doors.
“Your Majesty, wait,” Gunther hollered after him, begging. The next to leave was His Holiness.
“I expect you to be gone within the hour,” His Holiness said, following behind King Louis.
“But, but, My Divine, wait!” Gunther wept after him. One by one, the men in the chairs rose and left until only my father and Yutrik remained.
“This is not over yet,” he said as he marched off. Yutrik was stumbling after him like a court jester, almost tripping over his own feet.
The moment they were gone, I rose from the throne. I had no wish whatsoever to ever sit in it. What all these men saw in it besides a burden was beyond me.
“Well played, My King,” Wimfred said to me. My head jerked to face him.
King.
“I don’t want to be a king,” I said with a frown.
Wimfred nodded. “That’s why you’ll be good at it. And with time,” he said, “she will see you for who you truly are.”
Then, he too, turned and left.
Deep in thought, I walked over to one of the large windows and stared out onto the courtyard. Servants were rushing around, preparing for the departure of some of the guests—mostly my father’s loyal knights, the few of them, and the noble families from the West, I assumed. They would follow after their king like dogs in heat. Soon, I too would have to leave north, to meet with my men and to help bring stability to the regions now that the war would be over.
But first, I would have to declare the rebels innocent, something I was planning on doing right after the wedding. Mina would also expect me to openly renounce my father and declare him the killer of hers.
With time, she will see you for who you truly are.Wimfred’s voice echoed in my head. I thought of her pretty smile, and the way her soft body felt in my arms when I carried her back to the castle.
Her child changed nothing for me. This woman had bewitched me with a magic that made me feel again—and for that I would be in her debt for all eternity.
Which made the knowledge that she would hate me soon unbearable, for I had kept my own secret from her.
With time, she will see you for who you truly are.
“May the gods be damned!” I punched my fist into the stone wall next to the window.
As things stood right now, nobody would get what they wanted. Mina wouldn’t get the revenge that kept her alive nor the love that might make up for it.
And I...I would never get the woman who had brought me back to life like the sun the flowers in spring.
But at least I could keep her from becoming the Queen of Ashes and help her keep her kingdom and child. Maybe that in itself would be enough to prevent the Night Queen from ever emerging again. The love of a child had not prevented my own mother from breaking, but Mina was strong—the strongest person I’d ever met.
And maybe one day she would understand that I was not the monster the world thought me to be—despite what I had to do next.
