AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aika
King Einar’s carriage is spacious, though it won’t be enough room to save myself if the giant cat decides to make me its dinner.
It’s a chance I’m willing to take.
I had returned home in time to eavesdrop on most of their conversation, but it had only left me feeling more confused.
In a way, I was right when I accused him of coming to pretend to grieve, even if some of it didn’t sound entirely fake. But the story about the dragon... What could he possibly have to gain by telling Mother that?
Was it truly just to assuage his conscience? His guilt, because he was the one who drove her out there?
Fury burns through my veins for reasons I can’t entirely pin down, but I do know that for someone who has spent their entire life lying to people, I suddenly care a whole hell of a lot about the truth.
The front door to the estate slams shut, so I press myself into the darkness near the drawn curtains on the other side, hoping to at least avoid notice initially.
When the carriage door swings open, of course,of sands-blasted course,the cat gets in first. It growls, but Einar is right on its heels.
If I’m expecting to catch the king off guard, I am somewhat disappointed. His eyes widen when he notices me, and his hand goes out to soothe the cat, but he wordlessly clambers the rest of the way into the carriage.
Only when we’re sitting across the space from one another with the tiger-like creature in between and the carriage has started moving, does one of us decide to speak.
“Not going to let your tiger take a bite out of me, then?”
“Khijhana doesn’t appear to have any interest in eating you,” he responds in an even tone.
I can’t help the small, bitter laugh that escapes me, mingling with my anger.Khijhana.The cat was Zaina’s then. Or at least, she named it.
“She must not have liked it very much,” I say, mostly because I suspect he gave it to her.
He furrows his brow, and I expound.
“Khijhana. It means something like small, annoying thing.”
Rather than taking offense, the king lets out a surprised bark of laughter. “I guess she grew on her.”
Fury courses through me. How dare he take my sister, push her into death, lie about it, then try to share some kind of nostalgic moment with me.
The corner of his mouth tugs upward as he assesses me. “Aika, I presume?”
I narrow my eyes before nodding. “What gave it away?”
I can only imagine what Mother might have said to him about me, especially in comparison to my beautiful, accomplished... dead sister. I suck in a breath, trying to find the numbness I seek at times like these, times when the memories won’t stop.
“The rage did,” Einar says softly.
I look up at him sharply.
“She said once that you had an endless supply of passion, for everything you did. Passion, though, can so easily be translated to fury.”
“She said that?” The question pops out in spite of myself. I didn’t expect Zaina to have talked about me at all, least of all to him.
He nods, and I swallow back a wave of emotion.
“You talk about her fondly, for someone who knew her scarcely three months and branded her a whore for the world to see.”
“Would you rather I speak badly of her?” He sounds genuinely curious.
