He wore a sly grin. “Why do you think I didn’t want to be king? If it was easy to rule a kingdom, everyone would do it.”
“Yes, thank you. Remind me to think up some gruesome punishment for you regarding that.”
“You left me to rot in prison, dear sister. Haven’t I been punished enough?”
I clenched my teeth.
“Now I get to enjoy the parties and the drinking and the women and the food, all without taking any responsibility. So, if the people get restless and want to decapitate the monarch, I am completely safe and sound.”
“If I couldn’t trust that you don’t want me dead, you’d still be in that prison cell.” I rolled my eyes at him. He wasn’t exactly the ally of my choosing, but I needed anything I could get at this point.
“Of course I don’t want you dead. That means no more drinking or women. My face is too pretty to be decapitated.”
I wasn’t going to dignify that with a response.
“So, what, I invite Cai over for tea and politely ask if he wants to marry me?”
“Of course not,” Lance scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Cai is never going to come here now. You must go to Norrandale.”
“And who will rule in my place while I’m gone?” I took a sip of the tea. There wasn’t any sugar in it, and I wasn’t sure if Lance somehow knew that I didn’t have sugar in my tea or if he’d just forgotten to put any in. I was going for the latter of the two.
“I wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on things for a few days.”
I had to fight to keep from spitting the tea back into the cup.
“You’re not serious? You want me to leave you in charge. After you’ve just, once again, reminded me why you should not rule?” The fool wasn’t making any sense.
“Ruling as regent for a short period and as king for the rest of my life aren’t exactly the same thing. Call it a family favour.”
“Don’t push me, Lance. Even if I did go over there and...” I hesitated, “propose... who’s to say Cai’s even going to say yes?” I couldn’t imagine looking like a bigger idiot than if he rejected me.
“He can’t exactly say no. He’d already agreed to marry you.”
“What?” I said, a little too loud, and my teacup clattered in the saucer.
“Cai signed a marriage contract back at Woodsbrook. He agreed to marry the eldest daughter of King Magnus. His signature is on the paper. He can’t take it back now.”
“But surely you gave him a falsified document to sign?” I gently put the teacup down on the table.
“No,” he responded nonchalantly.
“But you knew that was me and not Eloisa. Why the hell would you let him sign it?”
“For a day such as this when it could be necessary to help us.” Us? There was that word again. I was starting to regret every life decision I’d made up until this point.
“Lance, you have to stop blackmailing people.”
He took a small flask out of his coat pocket and poured the liquor into his tea. “And you need to learn that sometimes to be a monarch you have to make difficult choices.”
“Well, what if I don’t want to make difficult choices?” I threw my hands up in the air.
“Then abdicate. Run away. But you’ll never be able to blame the problems of this kingdom on anyone else. Not when you had a chance to fix it.”
I hated the fact that he was right. Hated that for most of my life I’d complained about the way this kingdom was ruled and now I actually had a chance to make a difference.
“What about Eloisa?” She was next in line for the throne after me. And if I hadn’t been born a few minutes earlier, it would have been her sitting here today.
“Well, no one’s found her yet, right?” He took another sip of his tea as if he was pondering his next words carefully. “And to be completely honest, I think you’re much better suited for this role than our sister.”
