Mother threw out a hand toward the ballroom. “And what would you call what just happened? Galen isdead!”
“She did not kill him!” I roared. “Blame the Fates, if you must. But Iknowshe wouldn’t hurt him. You’re putting an innocent woman behind bars.”
She let out a sigh. “You have always trusted so easily, my son. So freely.” With a shake of her head, she said, “You don’t know what those people are capable of.”
“Is this some sort of twisted revenge for what Father did to us? Because he left us for Veridia?” I ground out.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “This has nothing to do with that man. I’m making the most of the situation and salvaging what I can of our kingdom.”
When she turned away from me, my anger morphed to desperation. “Please,” I said, voice cracking. I reached for her hand, clinging for any scrap, any morsel of compassion in the woman I’d loved for so long. The woman who raised me. “I love her, Mother. Don’t do this.”
Her eyes held mine, and the wrinkles on her forehead smoothed. “You do, don’t you?” she breathed out, cocking her head to the side. “Just as you loved your Iris.” Her shoulders fell, and hope soared in my chest.
“That was always your downfall, Thorne. But you will not make it mine.”
She tore her arm away.
As her decision settled over us, I straightened my spine. Resolve coursed through me. This world had taken Iris away from me. It had taken my father, my freedom, my identity.
I would not let it takeher.
“Then I’ll get her myself,” I muttered, resting a hand on the pommel of my sword.
Mother’s eyes flicked to something behind me as shetsked. “I was afraid you might say that.” With a wave of her hand, two guards grabbed me by the arms. I tried to yank out of their hold, but their vise-like grip pinned me down.
“What are you doing?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“I love you, son, but as I said…I won’t let your heart get in my way.” She gave a swift nod.
Something slammed into the back of my head, and the world went black.
60
Clarissa
The last time I’d been in a dungeon, I was the one interrogating a Shifter on the other side of the bars. The cells in Veridia were nicer, I had to admit.
Staring at the dark, dank stone wall, I listened to thedrip drip dripof a leak in the ceiling above me. The sound echoed through the cell as a chill sank into my bones.
It was safe to say this dress was ruined. I’d been sitting on this dirty stone floor for hours, with only the Fates-knew-what-else seeping into the fabric. It smelled like musty piss, the staleness of the air making it difficult to draw a full breath.
The only light came from a couple of swinging lanterns placed along the wall on the opposite side of the bars. Every once in a while, I’d hear an occasional whistle or scuffle from some inmate deep within the dungeon, but other than that, I was left with my own thoughts.
A dangerous place to be.
Galen was dead. My family was in trouble, Azura was framing me, and there wasnothingI could do about it. Not when I was stuck in a foreign kingdom without my magic to protect me.
How could he have died? Our marriage was supposed to break the curse. That was what the Fates told his ancestor. That waswhat we’d based this entire alliance on. Had we done something wrong? Misunderstood the curse? Pissed off the Fates?
I groaned and held my face in my hands, then winced at the grime on my fingers. I had to figure out a way out of here. Mother, Rose, and Leo were just as defenseless as I was. Azura could be doinganythingto them right now, all because she had some vendetta against me. Against all Veridians, I supposed. It was far too easy to make an entire throne room full of guests turn on us with a few simple lies.
And Thorne…
I closed my eyes and rested my cheek against the cool stone. I couldn’t even think about him right now. I didn’t know what to believe—Azura was a manipulative liar, but how else could she have known the things I said about Galen that night? She was Thorne’s mother. It would make sense for his loyalty to be to her. She cared for him and Marigold, in some twisted way. If she had this grand plan to obtain power for her family, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’d been part of it.
I thought Iknewhim. After everything we’d been through, everything he’d said…
He was either as skilled of a liar as his dear mother, or she was playing all of us.
