“We can pass the law if you so wish, brother,” she said in flawless English.She sounded tired.Disappointed.“I will still not ring your doorbell.With you hiding things from me, I had to either waste time interrogating you or catch you unprepared to find out the truth.”She glanced my way, and I quickly lowered my gaze again.“Now I know that power-hungry vixen was not lying.”
“You know what Katsia is like, and yet you sent her here,” Karim said sternly.“Her invasion of my privacy yesterday was with your permission, was it not?”
I peeked just in time to see the Queen shrug.“I simply allowed her to do as she saw fit in order to seduce you.I grew tired of waiting for you to realize that no suitable female could be found in time for our needs.Her aristocratic heritage makes her a perfect candidate for braid linkage.And she’s fertile.”
As perplexed as I was by how peacefully the conversation was progressing in light of the circumstances, I didn’t miss the look that passed across the Queen’s face at the mention of fertility.That was how I instantly knew she wanted, but couldn’t have, children.
If that was true and the elves’ monarchy was hereditary, Karim and his children would be next in line.With elves being a discriminating lot, I couldn’t imagine a half-human being accepted as king, but Karim’s children might stand a chance if born by a pure-blooded aristocrat.
My heart squeezed at the realization of what that meant.If things had seemed impossible between us before, now they were outrightdoomed.
Karim sighed.“I told you it wouldn’t work, sister.”
The Queen shrugged again.“I had to try nevertheless.I had to hope I was wrong about you.”She threw another look my way, and I barely averted my gaze in time.“Alas, things are just as I suspected all along.You’ve been lying to meandyourself this whole time.”
“I’ve never lied to you.My eyes had never sought a human until yesterday.”He hesitated before adding, “I didn’t know I was fighting a losing battle until this morning.”
There was no hiding the surprise on my face when Karim looked at me just then.He’d been into me and fighting his attraction since the very beginning?Deidre had been right.
A bitter smile flashed across the Queen’s face.“No, brother, that’s the lie you tell yourself.You’ve been affected by the curse ever since coming of age.Do you honestly believe it was Katsia’s moss skills that made you lose interest in heranddiscouraged you from dragging anyone else to your moss for years?No.Her only fault isthat she isn’t human.”
Karim tensed up, but the Queen calmly went on.“It’s all right.I understand why you didn’t want to admit this to yourself.It would mean accepting you’re as weak as our father.I desperately wanted to believe otherwise, but there is no denying it now.”
His hands curled into fists at his sides, his face a hard mask.
She laughed bitterly.“You want us to duel over the undeniable?It’s not physical weakness that I’m talking about.You have bested me–and so many of our warriors during sparring sessions–more times than I care to remember.It’s yourwillthat is weak.You want to proveme wrong?”
This time when she looked at me, her gaze held.I could feel it, even staring at the ground as I was.I didn’t want to look meek, but I also didn’t want to worsen the situation by acting arrogant in front of the Queen.
“Let me execute the human and Deidre for interacting on your moss.We’ll say it was without your permission and in your absence.That will somewhat clear your image.It will also make Katsia willing to overlook your questionable behavior and agree to a braid linkage.”
I looked up in fear.Would Karim cave in–
He moved like lightning.In an instant, he was in the Queen’s face, their eyes locked, their bodies almost brushing.The tension in the room skyrocketed without a single blow having been exchanged.
I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but who knew?Unlike Deidre, the Queen did not back down from the eye challenge.She stood her ground and stared right back at her half-brother.
“After the ceremony,” she continued daringly, “you will have as many moss interactions with Katsia as necessary to produce an heir to our throne.When you place your firstborn in my arms, then and only then will I admit I’ve been wrong about you.I’ll beg for your forgiveness for calling you weak.I’ll say you’ve made our father proud and honored the oath we gave to him on his deathmoss.”
“Our oathisbeing honored,” Karim said with a steely tone.“We rule together and will continue to do so, Mesia.Heir or no heir, in this war-torn world the Kingdom could perish at any moment.”
“An heir is needed regardless of–”
“I rule beside you,” he cut her off, “and I say Jasmine stays exactly where she is, if she so wishes.Let our subjects talk.Since they don’t know you and I make ruling decisions together, my ruined image cannot affect our joint rule.Your law-abiding reputation will not be tarnished either: the law does not allow you to execute your brother.And it is I who ordered Deidre to share my moss with a human for my pleasure.
“Neither Deidre nor Jasmine can be punished for following my orders.If Katsia didn’t see me present at the time, it was because I was taking a bath before joining the two of them.”
The Queen shook her head in exasperation and finally stepped back, acknowledging defeat in the dominance display.Still, she didn’t quit the eye challenge.“Your image will be ruined.If something happens to me, the crown will fall to you, but our people will not follow you with a human sharing your moss.”
To my surprise, Karim looked away, conceding the eye challenge to his half-sister.“They wouldn’t follow me now either, were my orders not disguised as yours.”
“So you would leave the Kingdom to be torn apart by squabbles over the crown?All because you can’t resist a human?”
Karim’s eyes narrowed.“If the Kingdom can’t adapt to the changing times and accept that humans can be worthy allies and being half-human does not equal weakness, perhaps it deserves to be torn apart.”
The Queen raised a delicate brow at him.“And if our subjects do adapt and accept you as King?Will you be ready to step out of the convenient shadows?Or will you choose to neglect your duty to focus solely on your human, following entirely in our father’s footsteps?”
“I will always serve the Kingdom, sister.”Karim’s tone turnedicy.“I spent half the night and today in the library considering the consequences of giving in.Either way, resisting is impossible.”
