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“He’s no king. You are.” Our relationship had soured as quickly as it had improved. He didn’t care about my marriage, just his insatiable blood lust.
Both of my brothers remained quiet, like my father would forget they were there if they were quiet enough.
He stared at me.
I stared back.
“It’s time to discuss our plans for the Ethereal,” Father said. “Unless you have another insignificant matter that’s more important.”
My closed knuckles propped under my chin. “I have no other matters, Father.”
“Good.” His hands came together in front of him, regarding me like my brothers weren’t in the room. “You’ve been in their lands, which means you know the way to infiltrate their forest. We’ll enter their lands, kill them all, and claim their territory for our own.”
“Why?” Cobra blurted. “Why would we want their lands?”
Father took a moment before he broke eye contact with me to look at my brothers. “It’s an ideal place for our kind, to live in a mild climate without sun exposure. It’s also closer to the kingdoms, the kingdoms that we’ll soon rule.”
A quiet shudder moved through the room. A shiver that tickled our spines.
“Tell me what you discovered in their lands.” When he spoke, it was with a forceful tone, tired of asking the same question he’d asked before.
Cobra shifted his gaze to me.
Viper stared down at the coffee table.
I gave a long pause before I answered. “When we arrived in their lands, we were greeted by Queen Clara, the new monarch of their realm. She granted us kindness and hospitality.”
My father didn’t blink once.
“They’re a peaceful race, living off the earth, not even eating the animals in their forest—”
“I don’t care about their dietary preferences, Kingsnake.” He straightened in the chair. “You wouldn’t have been there for several weeks without reason, and the fact that you refuse to be forthcoming tells me you have heavy news to relate. A king doesn’t procrastinate. He meets his challenges head on rather than avoiding them.”
I inhaled a slow breath, charred by my father’s roast. “The only reason we won that war was because Clara gave us the victory. She told us exactly where they would be and when they would be there.”
“And why did she do that?” Father asked, eyes still on me.
Cobra didn’t speak.
“In her letter, she said that we were right about all of our assumptions of her kind.”
I couldn’t read emotions the way Larisa could, but I could feel his anger now, feel it like burning coals in a fireplace.
“Disgusted by her father’s actions, as well as a few select members in his inner circle, she helped us because it was the right thing to do. She ended the war between our races and finally established peace. She’s a hero.”
My father was so angered by what I’d previously confirmed, he ignored everything else I said.
“When we arrived in their lands, the first thing she asked us to do was sign a peace treaty. After what she did for us, I felt she’d earned that. So, Cobra and I both signed—”
“You did what?” The room must have grown quiet, because he sounded louder without raising his voice.
“We had to,” Cobra said. “It was the only way she would share her people’s secrets with us.”
“Then she is no hero,” Father said. “She’s just as manipulative as her father was.”
Cobra straightened. “She only wanted to protect her people—”
“I’m assuming she’s another woman you’ve bedded.” Father turned to regard him. “Because you’re awfully defensive of someone who deserves no defense.”
