AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ren: It didn’t work, remember?
Mat: Because it was a ridiculously stupid plan. You’re such an idiot at times.
Ren: And you’re a reckless fool. You almost died after inciting that mob when your brother refused to hand you over to face theirjustice.
Mat: Then it was lucky I had a dashing prince willing to whisk me away to his palace and protect me from my people’s fucked up bigotry, right?
Ren: Hmm. Very lucky. As long as you’re talking about me and not Prince Kolya Panarin, who wanted to do something extremely similar, if I recall correctly.
Mat: Kolya is...(sighs)
Ren: Hopelessly obsessed with you?
Mat: He’s only-
Ren: A complete prick of a Mazekhstani prince who tried to steal what is mine? That’s you, by the way.
Mat: It’s just-
Ren: A murderous bastard who ignited black powder during the tournament we were hosting, killing dozens of people so that our attempts at achieving peace would be ruined…and to take me out so he could have you for himself?
Mat: I’m finding it difficult to argue.
Ren: Yeah. Because when you rejected him, Panarin got particularly nasty, torturing and trying to kill us both with the anti-healing magic of his Touch. I really should thank Valeri for saving us from him.
Mat:(waits patiently. Waits some more. And more, now quite impatiently)Well?
Ren: I said Ishouldthank him. Not that I’m going to. He didn’t manage to finish Panarin off, so he gets points deducted from his heroism for that.
Mat: As gracious as ever.
Ren: Meh. Velichkov deserves it for trying to denounce you as a prince of Temar and taking away your right to ever ascend to its throne.
Mat: Are you just inventing reasons not to like my brother because you’ve realised he’s – in your words –not terrible? Because you seem to have forgotten that the denouncement wasmyidea, Ren, to try and soothe my people’s anger at me and restore confidence in my family as their rulers. Besides, it never went ahead.
Ren: I’m not thanking Panarin for that, even if his explosions did distract them long enough for me to sneak you off to Máros while our peoples were still recovering from the chaos he caused.
Mat:(quietly)And busy building peace. Because we did that, Ren, you and me. And Val and Mila. We showed the continent that the north and south can co-exist without violence.
Ren: That was all you,mi sol. You believed in what we all thought impossible. And whatIthought impossible was Valeri fucking Velichkov voluntarily riding into Quareh’s capital city to attend my coronation.
Mat: Only you weren’t crowned, because one of your father’s former councillors, Navar, was so afraid of losing power that he accused you of being your mother’s bastard son without any claim to the Aratorre name or the throne. Then he tried to have you arrested.
Ren: Convenient how the next in line to the crown was my oldest sister’s husband, Zidhan Welzes, a misogynistic prick who matches Councillor Navar’s interests quite nicely, wasn’t it?
Mat: Very. Less convenient was how we were cornered trying to escape the palace and had to leave your guards behind.
Ren: Dios. I hope they’re....I hope they’re okay.
Mat: Please worry about yourself first, Ren.
Ren: I’m fine.
Mat: You’re not fine. You ended up with a fucking arrow in your shoulder, or have you forgotten?
Ren: Oh. Yeah. That...(in a faint voice)hurt.
Chapter One
