“I don’t need your help with this.” He turns and dresses himself quickly.
Heat spreads over my cheeks and down the back of my neck at how quickly he dismisses me.
“We need to stay our course,” he says, finishing up the ties on his black shirt. “The plan has always been to find the Dyrsjel, then the Stones. Your involvement isn’t needed for either of those things. I can handle harvesting her magick on my own.”
“I am still your king,” I say, squaring my shoulders. I hate the words as soon as they leave my mouth. Galen has never been a subject to me. He’s my partner. The root of my heart. But his blatant dismissal lights a fire in my veins. Mostly because he knows how often I am already dismissed by others. I can handle it, the way people look at me. The whispers of inadequacy. But from him, it strikes deep, leaving me tending to a wound that has worked so long to heal.
His glacial eyes snap to mine. Then, his features soften and once more returns the man I love. “Of course, little bird.”
His nickname sends a shiver down my spine.
“My little bird, always trapped in a cage. Let me be the one to set you free.”
He crosses the room so that he stands just inches away. “All I’m saying is you haven’t always been fond of the part that comes next. Because her magick is so much more stubborn, we’ll have to break her walls?—”
“You mean hurt her.” I cross my arms across my chest. I’m tired of these games. The twist of tongue that’s intended to make me feel better about what we’re doing, as if I cannot handle the full truth.
Galen’s eyes shift again, narrowing, showing that other side of him I know lives just beneath the surface. “If it comes to that, then yes. We’ll hurt her if we need to. But it’s a small sacrifice for what we’ve been working toward.” He plants his hand around my forearm. “Her magick will give us the power to wield the Stones and after that, we’ll have no need for Enchantresses anymore. This will all be over. Justice will be paid and you, little bird, will be a very powerful man.” Leaning forward, he places a gentle kiss on my lips.
He says it in such a way that I always believe what we are doing is for the good of the people. Guilt washes over me for questioning his motives. I know he mourns the loss of his sister. Wishes to rectify her untimely death at the hands of an inexperienced Enchantress Healer, but how many innocent lives is worth the loss of one?
“And what will you have me do?” I wriggle free of his grip. “Simply let the Enchantresses go? They will never forgive us.”
“They won’t need to.” Galen cuts me short, making his point vividly clear.
They won’t need to forgive us because when we have control of the Stones, the Enchantresses will cease to exist.
“You’re talking about murdering…hundreds of people, Galen.” My stomach twists itself into a tight knot. It isn’t as though our hands have been clean all these years. We’ve killed many in the process of learning to harvest magick. And once their magick has been drained... But to line them up for execution… I shudder. “An entire population?—”
“You once told me your greatest wish was to rule without the shadow of your father looming over you.” Galen’s voice drops as he backs away, resting against the large post of my bed. “This grants you that, Ro. This will give you all the power Silas could never dream of having. Not just in Valebridge, but in the world.”
He pushes off the bed and takes a few strides toward me, closing the gap between us again.
He runs his hand down my face, before tucking it under my chin. “No one will ever doubt you again,” he whispers before leaning in and planting a kiss on my neck. “No one will hurt you or question you or belittle you.” His tongue glides over the soft skin of my throat before he kisses me deeply.
My stomach swirls and I fight with myself not to drag him to my bed right now.
His hands land on my hips, pulling me flush to his body. “You will have the advantage. You will have thepower.”
That single word is enough to snap me back to reality. I grasp his arms to keep them from running over my body, my fingers digging slightly into his muscled forearms.
“Does it give me all the power, my love?” I whisper, our breaths still intertwined and heavy. “Or does it giveyouall the power?”
Snarling he backs up again, running his hand down his face. “What is it about this Enchantress that has you so distressed?”He pulls at his hair, pacing the room. “I didn’t hear you fight for the countless others.”
He isn’t wrong. I’ve played the part of corrupt king so well; I’ve started to believe that is just who I am. But now, with how different Galen has become… How much more volatile and secretive… I run my hands down my jaw. Somehow simultaneously wishing for the heat of his touch to disappear from my skin and ignite me further.
“Maybe I’m just tired.” I shrug, moving to the settee to slip into my boots. I smooth the wrinkles from my shirt. Perhaps I should change it altogether before the commoners add disheveled to my list of inadequacies.
“Tired.” Galen laughs, his head tipping back. “Tired of what, Ro? Tired of a country that takes what we’re doing for granted?”
I pause, laces still pinned between my fingers.
Tired of a Kingdom thatresentsme.
Tired of hurting people.
Tired of lying to myself.
