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I gaped at him, my mind working double time to try and follow what he was trying to explain. It was made all the harder because he kept using flat, nondescript wording, almost like it was something he’d been taught to say…a technical truth.
“So…she created the afflicted,” I clarified. “Or more afflicted, I suppose, by sending prisoners to Aftermath to be fed on by the Wilde magic, and then she sent your army after them to destroy the very monsters that she herself created.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“How can you sit there simply explaining that as if it’s not mass murder.”
“Itismass murder,” he snapped, the anger I’d come to know from him finally seeping back into his tone. “But that is precisely my point. Some of the burdens of royalty are so horrific that there is no simple answer. There is no right choice, and one must choose which might save more people or have the better outcome in the long run, knowing that one might be wrong, or even if they are right, thousands will still die.”
I sat in stunned silence.
He was right—I would give him that much.
That was, in fact, one of the most horrific, painful, and violent things I’d ever had the misfortune to know.
“But Queen Celia was a seer,” I argued. “She had to know which the best choice was.”
“She likely did, and so she chose to kill thousands to save millions, knowing it would start a rebellion that led to her family losing their throne for the first time in seven thousand years. Knowing her grandson would abandon the family and her favorite son, my father, would die in battle. Knowing her second son would go madder than he already was and ultimately be beaten to death with his own crown by some human servant.” He gave me a pointed look. “And likely, there’s more. She likely knew more outcomes that we can’t even conceive of yet.”
I swallowed thickly. I understood what he was saying, but I still couldn’t stomach it. “I could never do that—send people to die. I wouldn’t.”
“That’s what queens do. Do you still think it sounds so simple and wonderful?”
Now I saw the trap he’d walked me into, but I refused to concede. “I still wouldn’t do it. I’d think of something else or…take care of it alone.”
He laughed. Laughing because there was no possible way in his mind that I could ever take on anything of that magnitude on my own—and maybe he was right…right now…but hypothetically? If it were a matter of the lives of millions?
“Stop,” I hissed, balling my hands into fists. “There is no humor in this.”
He shook his head. “I’m laughing because you are not the first I’ve heard say something to that effect, but I cannot say that I recommend you try it.”
A tiny voice screeched a greeting, and Scion and I both jumped, and I whirled around to see a huge pile of fabric teetering toward us on tiny legs. I rushed forward to help and lifted what had to be several pounds of clothing off the top, slamming them down on the counter. My eyes widened. Thankfully, the colors were not quite so garish as I’d feared, but there were still more garments here than I could recall ever seeing in one place. Tunics, dresses, trousers, shoes, all in shades of pinks, reds, and purples. There were leather trousers, velvet coats, silk gowns, and—my cheeks heated—quite a few sheer lace ribbons peeking out from between everything else that could only belong to some truly scandalous underthings.
I reached out and picked up a dark wine-purple coat with a corseted back and oversized hood, running one thumb over a heavy silver button. I was not precisely sure what I would have liked to wear if given the choice, but this might be close.
Turning my back slightly so as not to offend the tailor, I widened my eyes at Scion. “This is lovely, but surely, I cannot be expected to try all of it? We will be here all afternoon.”
He looked slightly bemused. “No, of course not.”
My shoulders slumped in relief.
“We’re taking all of it.”
“I think I must have misheard you,” I blurted out. But I hadn’t misheard him; it was only that it seemed entirely impossible. So extravagant that I was almost suspicious. “I can’t take all this.”
Scion waved me off, ignoring my alarm. “You wanted clothing. Is this not sufficient?”
I laughed. “Sufficient? You cannot pretend not to know what this is worth. What do you expect in exchange?”
His eyes narrowed slightly, and now he turned his back toward the tailor as well so she could not even read our lips as we spoke. Of course, she probably had no idea what we were saying, but that hardly seemed to matter.
“Just take the clothing, rebel. If you want to pay me a favor in return, you can refrain from arguing about it. I’d buy you all the clothes in the city for a single fucking day’s reprieve from this.”
I reeled back, surprised by the sudden aggression in his voice. Then, somehow, I heard myself agree. “Alright.”
He let out a sigh of what could only be relief and looked over his shoulder at me as he moved toward the tailor to discuss the cost. “Think of it as education.”
“In what?” I asked, despite myself. My heart had sped up, and my breathing sounded slightly uneven.
