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It saddened and sickened him, and he could see that same sick disgust twisting Julien’s face as he crumpled the paper and tossed it into the fireplace. The low coals of the fire flared to life as they caught the paper, burning it to ash within moments.
He could not imagine the pain Julien was facing, seeing his bride-to-be targeted like this. A physical attack would have been easier to handle. Then Julien could use his strength to defend her. But there would be nothing he could do about this emotional attack.
Edmund leaned forward, waiting until Julien met his gaze. “Whether the lawyers think we should sue or not, the family will stand by you and Vriska.”
“I know. And last night, I thought that would be enough.” Julien shook his head, then sighed and hung his head. “But now I see that it won’t. Vriska could bend over backwards to please them, and it wouldn’t be enough. And, yes, we appreciate that the family will stand by us, but enduring this disgusting discrimination will kill Vriska.”
Edmund opened his mouth, then slowly closed it. He honestly didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to just give a bland reassurance and dismiss Julien’s concerns. For they were very real, and Julien had every reason to be worried.
And it wasn’t something Edmund had faced. Jalissa was the perfect elven princess, navigating both the elven and Escarlish courts with ease. The only bad things the press had ever been able to say about her was that she seemed cold, she was too perfect, and she was an elf.
Julien heaved a deep breath. “I’ve come to the decision that Vriska and I need to pull back from royal duties in Escarland as much as possible. We’ll show up for full family events, of course. And we want to be there for anything involving Kostaria or the troll community forming in Aldon. But other than that, we can’t. I can’t. So I’m asking…” Julien’s voice cracked and trailed off, as if he was gathering his thoughts through the emotion choking him.
“You’re asking that I stop gallivanting all over the place and take one for the family.” Edmund let his mouth quirk, trying to lighten the mood a bit. “I owe you after all the times you covered for me over the past few years while I was doing my spy stuff.”
“Yes. Exactly.” Julien’s grin twitched in return, banishing some of the pain in his gaze. His grin faded after just a moment. “So…will you? I know it’s a lot to ask. I know you and Jalissa probably want to split your time between Escarland and Tarenhiel, and there’s always ambassador duties, and—”
“Yes, we’ll take over as much as we can.” Edmund’s own grin faded, and now he was the one looking away. “Yes, we’ll split our time between our kingdoms, but when we aren’t here, Essie might be willing to take on some duties. After this last mission, I was already planning to ask Averett that he never send us on a mission like that again if it can be helped. It just isn’t good for Jalissa and me.”
He was probably going to tell General Bloam that he needed to quit being a spy entirely. He didn’t like the person he became when he was a spy. Jalissa was right that spying made him go morally shady.
Julien held his gaze for a moment, then nodded as if he understood what Edmund wasn’t saying, if only a little bit. “Thank you. I know you and Jalissa don’t exactly like court functions.”
“But we’re good at them.” Edmund felt his mouth twist with something like a wry grimace. The court functions would be less fun when he and Jalissa were just attending as prince and princess without the hidden agenda of searching out spies or traitors or smugglers as they had been doing over the past six months. But he and Jalissa wouldn’t be emotionally wrecked by it the way Vriska would. “And it’s only for a decade or two until Bertie and Finn are grown. Once they are of age, and especially once they marry and have kids of their own, the rest of us will matter less. The farther all of us get pushed down the line of succession, the less the court will want us around.”
“I’m already counting down the years until then.” Julien gave a wry grimace of his own. “It will be nice when Vriska and I can concentrate on building the defenses of the alliance without the pressures of the court hanging over our heads.”
Edmund and Jalissa would likely never be entirely free of court life. While they would get pushed out of the Escarlish line of succession sooner rather than later, Jalissa would remain in the Tarenhieli line of succession for centuries yet, given how unprolific elves tended to be. Right now, with Melantha removed from succession due to being the queen of another kingdom, Jalissa was third in line after Ryfon and Brina.
But that was all right. Edmund and Jalissa could handle being a part of a royal court for centuries to come. Julien and Vriska could not.
Edmund sank against the back of his chair, exhaustion weighing down his limbs once again. He should not be this tired. Sure, he was recovering from being poisoned and nearly dying, but it was still frustrating. All he’d done was walk to breakfast and back, and then he’d napped for hours. After lunch, it had felt like a great feat to walk from his bedroom to the parlor.
Julien pushed to his feet. “I should let you rest. Thanks for being willing to take my place in court. It means a lot.”
“We’re family. We do what we have to do to help each other survive royal life.” Edmund gestured to him, but he let his head sink against the back of his seat. Once Julien left, he might close his eyes for a few minutes.
Just a few minutes.
Edmund didn’t hear Julien leave. He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew, Jalissa’s gentle fingers traced his cheek.
He tilted his head and kissed her fingers, blinking up at her.
She smiled. “You should be resting.”
“I was.” He reached for her, tugging her onto his lap. “Until you woke me up.”
She laughed, squirming until she found a more comfortable spot against him. “Somehow, I do not think you minded.”
“No, not in the least.” He cradled her against him. “How was your afternoon?”
“I am going to enjoy having Vriska for a sister. She is refreshingly blunt. She reminds me of Melantha, in a way.” Jalissa rested her head against Edmund’s shoulder.
“Well, your sister always was meant to be the queen of the trolls.” Edmund leaned his head against the chair once again. “Julien was here earlier. He asked if we could take over most of his royal duties from now on. I told him we would whenever we were in Escarland.”
Jalissa’s mouth twisted with a hint of a frown, but she nodded against him. “We were covering most of his duties anyway this past summer.”
“I’m going to ask Averett that he no longer send us out as ambassadors, except in the direst of circumstances. No more missions like the one we just came from.” Edmund forced himself to relax once he realized his arms had tightened around her.
