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“How is your whore mother, by the way? Last time I forced myself on her, she seemed a little off in the head. Women, I suppose.”
My grip tightened against the handle of my sword. But then the image of Mina’s lifeless body in my arms when she had collapsed at the gate flashed in front of me. She had laid there on the cold courtyard ground after Alrick had ridden off. Never had I been so scared in my life. For a moment, I thought she might have died of a broken heart. I had carried her back, feeling helpless, fearing the worst.
If I acted on my desire to kill him, it wouldn’t be my father or any of the other power-hungry pigs who landed the last blow—it would be me.
I had to practically tear my fingers from the handle of my sword.
I straightened, then grinned. The expression on my worthless father’s face was almost as satisfying as if I’d run him through.
“If you are quite done with your childish games, make way. There are men I need to talk to.”
Without another second to waste, I strode past my father and opened both doors to the throne hall.
What I found was King Louis, his daughter Gabrielle, Yutrik, and Gunther standing in front of the mighty Rhine Kingdom’s throne as if it was theirs already.
To the left and right of the throne were several golden chairs, eight or so on each side, occupied with men I didn’t know. Only the tiny one in the white-golden silk gown was familiar—His Holiness.
I watched my father join King Louis and Yutrik in silence. Gabrielle was dressed in a beautiful purple silk dress. Her makeup and hair were immaculate, and her green eyes sparkled at me confidently.
“Let us waste no time,” my father said, throwing me a hateful glare before he faced the men on the chairs. “We wanted to thank you all for joining us at this sad event to discuss a terrible tragedy.”
“Terrible indeed,” King Louis said, shaking his head elegantly. “It seems much worse than we even thought, considering the queen is now too unwell to even attend in person.”
The men mumbled their agreement.
“Sad indeed,” I agreed. All heads turned my way. I took a step forward, scratching my chin calmly for everyone to see. “The loss of her father has hurt the queen to an extent only those of us who’ve experienced such loss could understand.”
“Men would process this hurt differently. With grace and sound mind,” that little prick Gunther chipped in quickly. “The mind of a man is strong like a rock. Not soft like a rotten egg. Just look at how our great king is still being robbed of his final peace.”
The men continued to mumble.
I turned to face Gunther. “I am confused,” I said to him. The mumbles stopped. “Do men not mourn the death of a father and mighty king?” I asked him.
Gunther’s brows shot together. “Of course they do. That’s why we are here. To take a look at how the holy body of our king has been treated and to discuss our queen’s sound decision-making. Or lack thereof.”
I frowned. “Excuse me, Your Grace, but please understand I’m not from here. So I personally don’t find it too concerning what the queen has done. In fact, it’s quite a normal custom in the North.”
Gunther laughed. “To rob your dead of their final rest?”
I twisted my face into a puzzled expression. “What? I was referring to burying the Rhine King next to his beloved wife instead of the mighty monument in the Dome,” I clarified.
People exchanged confused looks.
“Bury him?” Wimfred asked.
“Of course. Did you think she would keep him in the cellar?” I gave a mocking laugh. “The issues was the location of the funeral. But I told the queen it would bring great comfort to the people if they could visit the king in the Dome as is custom. So she agreed to that.”
“What,” my simple brother dared to speak, “what are you talking about? The king is rotting away in the cellar—ouch!” He yelped when my father smacked him right across his face.
“Excuse my son, it’s the shock of the loss of such a great king that makes him so disrespectful.”
I briefly grinned at my father, then grew serious again. “The great Rhine King has already been prepared for his journey to the Dome as we speak. Given that there was a delay in the journey to bring him here and the question as to where he would be buried, the queen thought it better to delay no further. His body will be received at the Dome this very afternoon. A large funeral in his honor will be held this weekend.”
The room had turned as silent as a graveyard.
“On a happier note, the queen and I will marry right after that in a quiet ceremony without music or dancing. She feels as if the attention should stay on her great father and his funeral. How selfless and considerate she is.”
With that said, I strode past the crowd and up to the throne. Head held up high, I inspected the damn thing. It was hard, cold, and quite ugly to be honest. I sat down on it.
