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She pursed her lips, eyes roving to the guards again, then to the steward.
Dimetreus held up a placating hand. “It’s all right, Aveline. My guards saw what happened, and I’m sure Master Arther knows about the incident too. You may speak with candor.”
Clenching her jaw, she inched slightly closer to her brother. “Is it true you attacked Prince Teryn in the Godskeep?”
He gave her a rueful nod.
“How, Dimi? Why?”
“It’s as everyone feared. My mind…I’m unwell, Aveline.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand. What happened?”
His expression turned haunted, eyes distant. “I sawhim, Aveline. The sorcerer. I heard him, but he wasn’t truly there. It seemed so real. Sounded so real…” He shook his head. “I pulled my dagger on the prince and nearly slit his throat. Thank the seven gods my guards were fast enough to stop me. That the prince managed to get through to me, snapping me out of my hallucination.”
Cora’s stomach turned. She couldn’t imagine her brother doing such a thing—
No, that wasn’t true. While she couldn’t imagine this version of Dimetreus acting so irrationally, she could imagine such a reaction from the man she met two months ago when he was being controlled by the sorcerer. The night Morkai had brought her to meet her brother in the dining hall, the king had been sweet and jovial one moment, then violent and suspicious the next. He’d called her sister, begged to see her dance, then ousted her as an impostor.
Had she been wrong to trust he could overcome the sorcerer’s abuse?
“You know what this means, right?” he asked, rousing her from her thoughts.
She met his eyes with a questioning glance.
“My council has officially deemed me unfit to rule. According to the terms of the alliance we agreed to, I must abdicate at once and pass my rule to you and your husband. The peace pact will require it.”
The blood drained from her face, making her knees go weak. “No. No, they can’t do this. They’re wrong—”
“They’re not.” His voice was so firm, Cora was forced to swallow her words. Stepping closer, he gathered Cora’s hands in his. “I can’t do this, Aveline. My mind is fraying. I’m in no state to rule this kingdom any longer. Not only that, but…” He shifted his jaw, then dropped his head, bringing his lips close to her ear. “My hallucination…it made me remember something. Something I’m not proud of.”
She couldn’t bring herself to utter a word, to do so much as breathe loudly.
“I let Morkai take my mind after Linette died. I gave him permission to use me, to warp my thoughts, in exchange for a promise that he could bring her back from the dead.”
She pulled back slightly to meet his eyes. A chill ran down her spine. “That’s not possible. He was already controlling you when she died. He made you believe that I…”
Her body went rigid. In learning to trust her brother again, she’d forgiven him for condemning her for his wife’s death. She’d told herself Morkai had made him believe she could have done such a thing.
What if she was wrong? What if that enraged reaction at having found her in the room with the dead queen…had been genuine?
She forced the question from her mind. No, she remembered the strange sheen over his eyes when he’d ordered her to the dungeon. He hadn’t been in his right mind back then, even before his wife’s demise.
“It’s just the guilt,” she said, her voice uneven. “You’re letting guilt get to you, brother.”
Still holding her hands, he gave them a squeeze. “I’m grateful for your faith in me, but even if you’re right, it doesn’t matter. I’ve proven myself unstable.”
Cora opened her mouth to argue but her brother spoke first.
“I’m tired, Aveline. So tired.”
Her brother’s sorrow slammed into her, destroying the last of her shields. She felt his exhaustion. His fear of his own mind. It was so potent, it made her breath catch.
“I thought I was a poor king because of a sorcerer, but the truth is, I am a shell of a man without Linette. Sometimes I wish I’d died on that battlefield. At least then I’d be with her now.”
A spike of betrayal pierced her heart. How could he say such a thing? Was their kingdom not important to him? And what abouther? Wasn’t Cora enough to make him cherish being alive? “Don’t talk like that.”
“You will be the king I cannot be. Marry the prince and take my crown. You will serve this kingdom better than I ever could.”
