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“You don’t say,” I said, the corners of my mouth rising.
Garath shrugged one shoulder. “It was a good spot.”
“Tell your mother the rest,” Ada said, joining us. She perched on the sofa nearby and adjusted the layers of her skirt, then folded her hands together on her lap.
I would never understand her preference for the long, cumbersome dresses favored by the ladies of the elite houses, but Ada called the dresses herarmor. I only ever swapped out my leather-reinforced tunics and leggings for dresses when ceremony required it, and even then, I did so grudgingly.
Liam flashed me a boastful smirk. “I found it all by myself. Ada didn’t help meat all.”
At that revelation, I was the one raising my eyebrows. I looked at Garath. “Could you feel him rooting around in your mind?”
Garath shook his head, then let out a muffled laugh. “Which is a little terrifying. I’ll have to strengthen my mental shields around the princeling.”
I beamed at my son. “Well done, Liam!” I said, standing and wrapping him up in a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you.” I squeezed him until he squirmed in my embrace, then let him go.
“I’ll take that,” Hills said, snatching the raven stone off the table and heading for the door. “I’ve got the perfect spot in mind,” she tossed over her shoulder. “You’ll never find it.” She grinned wolfishly, and then she pulled the door open and left the room, shutting the door firmly behind her.
“My clever boy,” I said, reaching out to smooth down Liam’s unruly curls. There was another smudge of flour on his neck beneath his ear. I wiped it away with my thumb before he could swat my hand. “Go with Ada and get cleaned up. I’ll meet you down in the courtyard for our morning rounds.”
It was good for him to see and assist the people who served the castle. It helped strengthen the bond between us all. Besides, I refused to raise a son who had been handed everything. Even if Liam would never rule the Corvo Kingdom—only a female could carry on the Corvo line—he would always have privilege and power. I would not let him abuse that power. He wouldneverend up like the man he believed to be his father.
Liam followed Ada toward the door but paused in the middle of the sitting room and turned back toward me. “Can we go for a ride around the grounds again—like yesterday?”
I had about a million things to do, especially with the threat of Alastor returning soon, visiting Mother chief among them. But when Liam turned those hope-filled green eyes on me, I couldn’t resist giving in, despite the tightness in my chest that appeared every time I thought about Liam venturing over the bridge that crossed the moat, even if only to explore the castle grounds beyond. This was an unkind world, more so for a boy believed to be the son of a man whom the masses feared only slightly more than they despised.
I glanced at Garath, hoping he was available. I really did want to go, but only if we had adequate protection. When I was on horseback, galloping across a meadow, or leaping a fallen tree, it was the only time I felt truly free. I could shift my training session with Hills to the evening. Sparring before bed usually led to unsettled nights for me, but I hadn’t had a restful night in so long that one more wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Garath dipped his chin, confirming he could make room in his schedule to join us.
“All right,” I said, forcing an easy laugh. “We’ll go for a ride after lunch.” I made a shooing motion. “Now go! Clean up!”
Nyx launched herself off the raven stand as Ada opened the door. She swooped across the room and careened through the doorway ahead of the pair.
My smile slipped as soon as the door latched, and the trembling set in. I turned my back to Garath, closed my eyes, and hugged my middle. If Alastor didn’t kill me, this anxiety would. One day, it would suffocate me.
Wood scratched against wood as Garath pushed his chair back. He stood, his footsteps marking his approach behind me, and rested a heavy hand on my shoulder. “You can’t keep this up forever, Del,” he said, keeping his voice hushed to ensure his words were private, even to anyone with Ability-enhanced hearing. “My offer still stands.”
I shook my head, then inhaled a deep breath, releasing it slowly through my nose. “We can’t kill Alastor,” I whispered. “Not yet.”
If I let Garath kill my husband, I would replace one demon with another, and King Eduart was far more calculating and ruthless than his son. He wouldn’t be interested in playing power games with me like Alastor so enjoyed. He would invade. He would slaughter. He would destroy.
Liam and I would have no choice but to run. To hide. And that was if we managed to escape Corvo City with our lives in the first place.
“You could go tohim,” Garath said. “Live a different life—your ownlife.”
His words reminded me of something Fin had said during that single, blissful night ten years ago when I had dared to dream of what it might have been like to run away. To be free for the first time in my life. If I closed my eyes, I could still hear the crackle of the bonfire, still feel the waves of warmth.
Fin’s voice whispered through my mind,“Don’t you deserve to have a life of your own? To choose your own path?”
“How?” I asked Garath, choking on something that was a cross between a laugh and a sob. There was nothing I wanted more than to run away, to take Liam and flee from the dangers and responsibilities that had plagued me my whole life, but it was impossible. “I don’t know where he is. I don’t even know if he’s still alive.”
With a heavy sigh, Garath pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me. He tucked his chin over the top of my head and held me, letting his strength seep into me while I collapsed under the mounting weight of my burdens. I could be weak now, with him.
To the rest of the world, I had to be strong. Hard. Cold.
I had to be the Corvo heir, just as Mother had taught me to be.
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