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“I did what had to be done. Now you need to finish it,” he hisses.
Someday a choice will come and you’ll know what to do.
Zyla’s prophecy. War or peace. Giving up my father to save my mate. Righting a wrong. It’s an easy decision.
“No.”
“No?” My father’s face turns red. “No? I should’ve known you weren’t strong enough, not like me. If you won’t start this war, I will.”
“You’re right,” I say before he can say anything to the monsters behind us.
“I told you I was,” he snaps.
I shake my head. “Not about that. What we’re doing here is wrong, but you were right that I’m not like you. I won’t let your lies ruin the kingdom I’m about to inherit.” I turn to face the armada, ignoring his angry spluttering. Daisy told me to tell the truth about what happened. I don’t know what sort of deal she struck, but I trust my mate. “My father wants you to fight,” I shout loud enough to overpower anything my father might say. “But what he won’t tell you is that all of this, every horrible curse that’s come upon our land is his fault.”
“Lies! Don’t listen to him, his mate has gotten in his head.”
“No. My mate has only encouraged me to do what I should have done that day you killed the furies’ beloved pets. My father,” I glance at the vampires, “is responsible. He was building a second home and was clearing the area.”
“Don’t let him fool you! My son was there too! He’s not so innocent.”
I glare at the monster I call father. “Yes, and when I realized what you’d done, I told you that we should go to the furies and offer whatever we could to make things right.”
“Like they’d accept an apology and let it go,” my father hisses. “Conflict was inevitable.”
“Maybe so, but I’m certain the nature of the conflict wouldn’t have lost so many lives.” I face the monsters again. “Do you remember what he told you when the first flood destroyed the village in the east? He said he didn’t know why the gods would curse us. And then with the illness that killed dozens of monsters in the west, he lied again. Refusing to take accountability for what he’d done. He sat there and told each and every one of you he didn’t know why these things were happening. He lied to you then and he’s lying to you now, all to save himself.”
“I did what a king has to do! You think you’re fit to rule? You don’t have what it takes to make the hard decisions and do what’s best for our kingdom.”
“Sending out our own monsters to meet certain death is what’s best for them? Lying to your people and your family is what’s best for the kingdom?”
He storms toward me and gets in my face, staring me down. I scowl right back at him.
“Everything you say is the life of a king and I’ve prepared you for this from the day you were born.”
And that he has. He spent so much time grooming me to rule and not enough being a father. I remember the snap of a staff on my back if I cried or said I was tired. I remember the way he’d push me until I’d collapse on the ground, defeated by exhaustion. I remember the way he’d mutter in disgust at how my ten-year-old body couldn’t keep up with his.
“Your future queen has made a bargain.” The vampire standing next to Daisy cuts through the tension, reminding me of the choice I have to make.
Stepping away from my father, I find Daisy’s gaze. I don’t know how she did it. She nods in encouragement and shoves some of her sunshine toward me, her way of providing reassurance.
“The furies want the king, and in exchange, the vampires agree to make peace.”
“That’s never going to happen,” my father says with a laugh.
My eyebrows hit my hairline. “That’sallyou want?” I ask the creature at her side.
“Orcus.” A growled warning from the king, but I ignore him.
The vampire defers to Daisy. She smiles and nods. He dips his head and looks at my father. “Hand over your king and we will make peace.”
“My people will never hand me over!
“Orlena?” I can’t make the decision without her input.
“Do you remember Doren?”
I nod. Doren was a minotaur and one of our favorite soldiers as children. He used to bring us toys and he’d play with us when he wasn’t on duty. He had no family of his own, but to us, he was like an uncle. He was one of the first monsters to die as a result of the floods.
