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“I can’t do that, old friend,” my father rebukes, pushing himself off the floor and wiping the sweat off his brow with his sleeve.
“Friend? We are not friends anymore, Yusuf. Not when you come into my house and threaten me and mine.”
“I didn’t threaten you, Krystiyan. I merely stated a fact and gave you a choice to make. It’s not my fault that you don’t like the sound of either. Now, what will it be? Will you keep that sword on me or will you lay down your weapon and spare your son’s life. Your call.”
Krystiyan looks over at his son and drops his sword.
“You made the right decision,” my father states with a smile before kicking the sword across the room.
“I’ve done what you asked, now release my son,” King Krystiyan commands, balling his hands into two fists at his sides when one of my father’s men forces him to his knees, while another stands behind him, holding a sword to his back.
“Unfortunately, I can’t do that either, old friend,” my father says, walking over to the table to pick up a cup of wine. He drinks it all, as if parched from battling the eastern king.
My father was never a strong fighter.
He’s more of a politician than a king.
Which means his alliances can change as easily as the wind, depending on which side is more favorable to him.
And unfortunately for Levi’s father, he’s on the losing team.
My father then leans against the table, and crosses his arms over his chest, a disappointed scowl to his lips.
“You just couldn’t play along, could you? You just had to cross that mad fuck and pull your troops home. That was foolish, old friend. By bringing your soldiers home, you showed King Orville your hand. If your men weren’t out fighting his wars for him, then that could only mean one thing. You wanted them to fight your war instead.”
“He wanted my wife, Yusuf! What was I to do?!”
“Give her to him,” my father mocks with a nonchalant shrug. “Let him do whatever he wants with her and then bury her bones when it’s over and done with. You’re still a king in your prime, Krystiyan. You could marry another and start anew. And in a few years’ time, after your young new bride has given you more sons, Daryna will be an afterthought for you. You won’t even remember she ever existed.”
Krystiyan spits on the floor in my father’s direction.
“You’re just as bad as he is,” Levi’s father berates. “Would it have been so easy for you to give up Nahla to him?”
At the mention of my mother’s name, my father’s expression turns lethal.
“Nahla is dead! The bitch died on me and left me without a wife! Do you know what that means? That instead of her head, King Orville could have asked for mine!”
“But he didn’t. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here betraying me like this!” King Krystiyan shouts back just as menacingly.
“You’re right,” my father quips, more in control of his temper. “Our king did give me an option to keep my head, but it was my son, Teodoro, who wouldn’t hear of it.”
At the mention of my name, both men turn their attention to me. Worst of all, Levi does too.
Fuck.
I step farther inside the room and put on a smile since that’s what my father will expect from me. I need to find a way out of this fucking mess, but I can’t do that if the bastard thinks me disloyal.
“It’s true. King Orville’s proposition was unacceptable to me, and my lord, father and king, being the doting father that he is, granted my request to come up with a suitable alternative,” I begin to explain.
“Which I did,” my father cuts in for me. “I promised our northern sovereign that I would convince you to do the right thing and spare your life.”
“And if I refuse?” King Krystiyan asks, his nostrils flaring.
“Oh, our king gave me instructions for that too,” my father retorts. “I would think long and hard about what decision you make now, Krystiyan. For it may be your last.”
“Father,” Levi calls out, trying to get his father’s attention while still thrashing to break free from my father’s man’s hold. When I see that the fucker cut him a little, blood starting to drip down his collar, it takes inhuman effort to keep rooted to my spot.
Still, I have to do something.
