“A letter, my lady,” she said. “From Prince Nisien’s steward.”
I took it, trembling fingers cracking the seal. A flutter stirred in my chest as I read. It was gratitude and two summons, the kind of parchment that could change the shape of a life.
The first summons was to attend a noble dinner. Nisien’s hand promised that it would be an “intimate affair” with only a few of their most loyal bannermen. For Nisien and Emrys, attending such a dinner probably meant little. But to me, that meant hours of withstanding heavy scrutiny,knowing exactly how they felt about me, while pretending to be something I wasn’t.
The second summons was to attend open court the day after the dinner. I was so grateful I’d been honest with Catrin about my background because I didn’t know what an audience with the princes entailed until she explained it to me. Anyone from the kingdom could show up to the great hall and wait in line to have the princes hear their complaints. Nisien and Emrys would arbitrate disagreements and generally get a sense of what was going on in their kingdom from all ranks of society.
Gods, I hoped they didn’t expect me to sit with them on the dais again. But I feared it would happen because every time they were both there, Nisien immediately invited me to join them.
In open court, every word would be recorded. I’d always wanted a voice that mattered, but I wasn’t ready.
But maybe… Maybe I was becoming the kind of woman who still spoke anyway.
Chapter 25
Emrys
The wine between us was dark and strong, poured from a carafe so cold I had to protect my hands from the stinging burn with a pulse of magic. Nisien had dumped too much of his rare frosty temper into chilling the drink. He’d also thrown open his balcony doors when I arrived, claiming the cool night air might “calm me down.”
Ass.
Even without the curse stirring under my skin, I’d have been justified in my fury after what had befallen him and our men.
Outside, the late spring storm thundered against the castle walls, matching the mood I’d barely kept in check all day. Had I not been worried about his and the injured guardsman’s safety, I surely would’ve left the castle to find a more satisfying outlet for my vengeance.
Nisien leaned against the stone archway that led to the balcony, backlit by flickering torchlight, wine sloshing gently in his goblet. He gestured toward me with exaggerated irritation.
“We’re lucky Owain’s family is so damned understanding of tempers! You almost killed him, Emrys.Afteryou snubbed him on arrival. Catrin said you tried to skip out on dinner too? You almost embroiled us in what would surely turn into a two-frontwar, Emrys!”
“I stopped,” I said flatly, swirling my wine.
“Yes. Thanks to our visiting diplomat!” He stalked inside, coat flaring, shoes loud on the stone floor. “You were half a breath from collapsing the entire eastern alliance!”
“Isca,” I corrected before I could stop myself. Her name still felt strange in my mouth, like it was a word I hadn’t earned,wouldn’tearn the right to say.
The tincture she’d sent me yesterday had given me my first real night of sleep in over a decade. I’d woken disoriented, unsure of the day, the time, or even my own name for a few hazy heartbeats. Even today I could feel its lingering effects, allowing me to control my mood more than normal.
Was it wrong that I wanted to ask her for another?
It would bring her nearer. Too near.
Even for another blessed night of sleep, I wasn’t prepared to take that risk. The curse had purred through my blood when she touched me in the hall, when her hand had rubbed my back in the training yard. It was too content for me to trust that it wasn’t simply waiting to pounce.
I loathed the ambiguity. I couldn’t read its intention when it came to Isca. Was it malice, possession in the worst way, or something worse still?
“You’re enjoying this,” I muttered, trying to ignore Nisien’s questioning look at my correction of her name.
Nisien blinked. “What?”
“Being right. For once.”
He broke into a grin, stretching as he collapsed into the opposite chair. “Of course I am. But that doesn’t make the precarious position you put us in any less real.”
I leaned forward, elbows on knees. “And you leaving the castle to bless that marriage didn’t?”
“Ihadto,” he said simply. “Your arse was firmly on the throne while I was gone. That’s the great strength of our arrangement, Emrys. One of us is always here. The Assembly forgets that.”
“A lot of good I’d do as king,” I muttered, drinking deep. It burned on the way down.
