That was all she needed to hear before she darted from the steward and hurried through the halls toward the keep. The rush of her blood pounded through her ears. She paid no heed to Master Arther’s pleading calls behind her, nor the sound of his feet as he shadowed her up the keep steps. She didn’t slow, didn’t stop, until she reached her brother’s closed doors. Two guards stood outside them, men she recognized as members of Dimetreus’ personal guard.
“Open the doors,” she said, tone filled with cold authority.
“The king is at rest, Highness,” one of the guards said, tone dry.
“Open the doors now.”
They held their positions. Master Arther caught up with her, cheeks flushed pink, gray hair in disarray. “Highness, please?—”
The doors began to open, drawing Cora’s attention back to them. But she didn’t have the guards to thank; they were opening from the other side. She nearly crumpled with relief at seeing her brother’s face. His expression was wan, skin pale, reminding her too much of how he’d looked when he’d been under Morkai’s control.
“Aveline,” he said, eyes turning down at the corners. “You must have heard.”
Cora glanced from her brother to the guards. The latter made no move to usher the king back inside his room or close the doors, which suggested he wasn’t being held prisoner. Then again, he didn’t invite her inside or cross the threshold into the hall.
She lowered her voice. “Can we speak in private?”
He gave her a solemn smile. “It’s better if we speak here.”
Her shoulders tensed. “What happened, Dimi?”
“What have you been told?”
She pursed her lips, eyes roving to the guards again, then to the steward.
Dimetreus held up a placating hand. “It’s all right, Aveline. My guards saw what happened, and I’m sure Master Arther knows about the incident too. You may speak with candor.”
Clenching her jaw, she inched slightly closer to her brother. “Is it true you attacked Prince Teryn in the Godskeep?”
He gave her a rueful nod.
“How, Dimi? Why?”
“It’s as everyone feared. My mind…I’m unwell, Aveline.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand. What happened?”
His expression turned haunted, eyes distant. “I sawhim, Aveline. The sorcerer. I heard him, but he wasn’t truly there. It seemed so real. Sounded so real…” He shook his head. “I pulled my dagger on the prince and nearly slit his throat. Thank the seven gods my guards were fast enough to stop me. That the prince managed to get through to me, snapping me out of my hallucination.”
Cora’s stomach turned. She couldn’t imagine her brother doing such a thing?—
No, that wasn’t true. While she couldn’t imagine this version of Dimetreus acting so irrationally, she could imagine such a reaction from the man she met two months ago when he was being controlled by the sorcerer. The night Morkai had brought her to meet her brother in the dining hall, the king had been sweet and jovial one moment, then violent and suspicious the next. He’d called her sister, begged to see her dance, then ousted her as an impostor.
Had she been wrong to trust he could overcome the sorcerer’s abuse?
“You know what this means, right?” he asked, rousing her from her thoughts.
She met his eyes with a questioning glance.
“My council has officially deemed me unfit to rule. According to the terms of the alliance we agreed to, I must abdicate at once and pass my rule to you and your husband. The peace pact will require it.”
The blood drained from her face, making her knees go weak. “No. No, they can’t do this. They’re wrong?—”
“They’re not.” His voice was so firm, Cora was forced to swallow her words. Stepping closer, he gathered Cora’s hands in his. “I can’t do this, Aveline. My mind is fraying. I’m in no state to rule this kingdom any longer. Not only that, but…” He shifted his jaw, then dropped his head, bringing his lips close to her ear. “My hallucination…it made me remember something. Something I’m not proud of.”
She couldn’t bring herself to utter a word, to do so much as breathe loudly.
“I let Morkai take my mind after Linette died. I gave him permission to use me, to warp my thoughts, in exchange for a promise that he could bring her back from the dead.”
