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“No one can take away your title, Morgan. Not even your father. I’ve never believed it was possible.”
“Yes, well, you’re years too late. That history has already been written.”
I stared at him, suddenly not seeing a future emperor, a prince, or even a liar or an enemy.
Instead, I saw a young husband. A father.
I saw a man overcome with grief for his slaughtered family.
I saw a woman lying in a bed with a newborn babe nestled in her arms, cowering from a man who looked like Draven but who had hate-filled eyes and envy in his heart.
“Tell me why you killed your brother.”
Draven frowned. “You already know.”
“Tell me why you killed your brother,” I said simply. “The truth this time. And maybe I’ll stay.”
He studied my face. “Rychel told you. She told you last night, didn’t she?”
I didn’t answer.
“Well, then you already know everything.” Draven sighed. “But evidently that’s not enough. You want me to, what? Say it all again so you can see if I’m lying?”
“You had a wife, Draven.” My voice was very soft. “You had a child.”
“A daughter. I had a daughter.”
“One day old.” I shook my head. “I can’t even imagine the pain.”
“No,” he snapped, his green eyes suddenly blazing to life. “You can’t.”
I swallowed hard. “You could have told me before. If you trusted me with anything at all in your life that was true. But you don’t.”
His lips thinned. “Oh, I trust you. I just never wantedthatfrom you.”
“What?”
“Your pity, Morgan. Your sympathy. It was better if you looked at me and saw... nothing.”
“A void? A shadow?” I guessed. “That’s not trust, Draven. A blank page isn’t trust.”
“I trust you with my life.” He said the words so bluntly that I flinched. “Do you trust me with yours?”
I bit my lip. “I should. You’ve saved it enough times. You think I don’t know that? I’m aware.”
“But all this,” Draven said bitterly. “Bringing you here. Giving you this stupid title. Forcing you to be false...”
“I’m not good at it,” I said simply. “Not like you are.”
“I’m not as good at it as you might think,” he said shortly, looking out at the lake. “Tell you, you said? Tell you and you’ll stay? Fine. Nodori was my closest friend. I grew up thinking of her as a sister. I’d never cared for her in a romantic way–as a wife. But my father didn’t care. He saw a matching set of women for his sons. Two girls from a powerful family. Tabar was interested in Lyrastra then, so they fit. Lyrastra... Well, I think she thought she actually loved Tabar back then. I’ve always pitied her for that.”
He clasped his hands, leaning over the railing, as a gondola slowly drifted past.
“Nodori was Lyrastra’s opposite. Soft, gentle. Some might say weak. I tried to make her happy, even though I certainly was not. I like to think I fooled her. Some days, I’m not so sure. I hope she died...” He paused and I saw his jaw clench tightly. “I hope she died believing she had made me happy. She had brought our child into the world. She deserved so much more than she got from it.”
He looked down at his hands. I looked at them, too. Golden bronze. Strong. Firm. Reliable hands. The hands of a killer. The hands of a husband.
Had he ever even held his living baby? Had he looked into her eyes just once before she died?
