He nodded and leaned forward, elbows resting on the table. His voice was smooth, a littletoocasual to trust. “Catrin said Isca used magic on you when you attacked Owain. That true?”
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. I was thinking of the way it had felt when her hands were on my back, on my arm. The curse had silenced, soothed like a beast lulled by song.
He kept talking, even though my mind was still in a different place. “How do you think she’d respond if I asked her to use that magic publicly?”
My gaze snapped up. “What are you plotting, brother?”
He waved a hand. “Nothing vulgar. Calm your rage. She sent me a tincture of contentment. I slept like a babe for half a day. Emrys, it waspowerful. She’s done well so far without using her magic. But if an opportunity presents itself at court, I want her to demonstrate her strength. Show the people, show the Assembly she’s not just a pretty face.”
My goblet hit the table harder than intended.
I hated the way my chest wrenched at him calling her pretty. Hated that the monster stirred again, sharp claws scraping at the underside of my skin with ugly, irrational resentment.
She hadn’t just given the tincture to me.Of course not.
“She’s sweet,” Nisien went on, perfectly handsome face purposefully oblivious to my rising pique. “Makes me wish we could keep her in Darreth. Think the Assembly would object? I heard that Owain offered her sanctuary fromyou.”
Mine.
The thought came too fast, too strong. It was a roar under my skin, and this time I couldn’t choke back the thought.
I imagined slowly slicing that inhuman swine Owain from neck to navel and letting his contents spill out across the grass. The only reason I didn’t immediately ride to Larethia to make my thought reality was that I knew Owain had offered it to protect her.
And even now, my arse of a twin couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of another kingdom daring to offer refuge to one of our household’s women. Fromme.
As I stood, my chair scraped violently and toppled behind me.
Nisien flinched, finally looking up from his goblet. “Emrys?”
Not waiting for whatever foolish thing he was about to say next, I turned on my heel and strode out, magic sparking in my chest, looking for a release. I needed to destroy something replaceable before I hurt someone who wasn’t.
Behind me, Nisien’s voice followed, maddeningly amused. “Good night, Emrys! You know sheturned him down, right?”
By the cursed gods, were my feelingsthattransparent?
I didn’t respond. If I had, I might not have been able to stop myself from leveling the walls of the bloody castle.
Chapter 26
Isca
The library was blessedly quiet again save for the scratch of my quill against parchment. I was past due in writing my weekly correspondence to Chancellor Maeron. Normally, I preferred the familiar solitude of my chambers when I wrote my reports, but Catrin had decreed an all-out assault on the dust, driving half a battalion of servants into my room with brushes, mops, and new linens.
My protests had been ignored.
To Chancellor Maeron of the Mage’s Assembly in Caervorn,
I am pleased to report that progress has been made in ensuring the strength of Darreth’s alliance with Lare—
I stopped, biting my lip.Too formal. He’d recognize the evasion immediately.
I could almost feel Maeron’s last missive burning in the back of my mind:You have not provided sufficient detail regarding your second task. That is unacceptable.
He’d underlinedunacceptabletwice, as though my obedience hinged on the thickness of his ink.
He hadn’t asked about tariffs or what I’d learned from the people of this kingdom so far. He’d asked only whether I was spending time in one of the princes’ beds yet. The way he emphasized it made me think it was actuallymy primary purpose here, not helping them decide the succession. The one I’d carefully, consistently left out of every report since those first few.The gold pendant hanging around my neck had never felt heavier.
I set the quill down, rubbing ink-stained fingers against my brow. Did the Assembly have any interest in peace at all? I was more convinced than ever that all they wanted was a weapon birthed from my womb.
