I shake my head. “Eleven years ago, you were satisfied with me marrying a human aristocrat’s daughter.”
“That was before I knew I wanted to retire so soon.” Her posture tenses slightly. “And that was before that whole debacle with your first social season.”
“You never encouraged me to correct my mistakes myself. Instead, you took matters into your own hands.”
“I knew you were embarrassed. I wanted to allow you to hide if that’s what you wanted.”
“The future king shouldn’t hide from his duties or his mistakes.”
She gives me a sad smile. “Franco, I accept you for who you are. I know you don’t thrive on attention the way I do. I know you have a softer heart.”
“If I am to be king, the people should accept me for who I am too.”
“And a royal marriage will make that so much easier.”
“Maybe I don’t want to do things easy this time. Maybe I want to do the work for once. Maybe I want to take the time to get to know the humans, and in turn let them know me. Let them know the beauty of the unseelie.”
She gives a light laugh. “That’s all very sunny and idealistic of you, but we don’t need more glittering ideals. We need to demonstrate your standing. Otherwise—”
“Otherwise, what? I’ll be challenged to the throne? The humans will start another rebellion? If I’m going to withstand the duties of king, I should be able to handle that kind of conflict as I am. I shouldn’t need to rely on false pretenses.”
“A royal marriage isn’t a false pretense.”
I take a step closer, my shadows writhing with anger. “Nyxia, you don’t understand. I don’t want to marry a princess.”
“You don’t have to marry a princess. You can marry a prince, a prince’s daughter, a royal cousin—”
“Nyxia,” I say through my teeth.
“What?” she says, all innocence.
“If you trust me to be your heir, to become king, then you need to trust me to find my own way. If it all goes up in flames, so be it. If I can’t keep hold of the crown with my own efforts, then I don’t deserve it.”
Her expression darkens. “I can’t risk it going up in flames. We worked too hard for the Lunar Court for too long. Isn’t it already bad enough that we have a seelie king where once I ruled alone?”
I close my eyes and release a sigh. “Sister, you need to decide whether you’re truly ready to let go.”
“What do you mean?”
“You say you want to retire and give Lorelei the simple life she craves. You say you want to follow your heart and experience what love brings. And yet you desire to maintain a stranglehold on a throne you’re leaving behind.”
“That throne has been in our bloodline for thousands of years.”
I give Nyxia a pointed look. “If you’re so certain our bloodline is integral to the successful rule of Lunar, then you should be able to trust me to become king in my own right, not yours.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does, Nyx. Let me do it my way or not at all.”
She purses her lips, and I can feel her resistance, her love for her mate warring with her need for control. Then her energy softens. “Fine,” she says, “do it your way, but do not say I didn’t warn you.”
I stare back at her, disbelieving I’ve won an argument with her for once. “Do you mean it?”
“Yes, Franco, I mean it. Now, shouldn’t you get back to the ball?”
I glance from her to the dome, still bright and bustling with light, music, and dancing. “No,” I say, and the word sends a buzz of relief through me. “There’s something I need to do first.”
42
