“I really could not,”I replied.
“Svana.”
“Elías.”
He spoke quietly. “It was a different time. You were just achild.”
“I was neverjusta child, Ser. If any lesson was learned that day, that was it. I’ve only ever been the Princess destined to be the Queen.” I didn’t let him respond, asking, “Is there something else? You seem troubled beyond thoughts of virtue. Was my performance at the quorum so bad?”
Elías gave me a tight, dismissive nod. “There’s nothing, Princess.”
Chapter 7
Five Years Ago
The King stood just beyond my bedroom door. He loosed a heavy sigh, only speaking to order Ser Elías.
“She won’t eat. She won’t sleep. She won’t speak,” he said.
The Lord Commander shifted, filling the hallway with his armor’s noise.
“All over astablebuck,”Father spat.
“The boy was her friend,” Elías said in my defense.
“She’ll make more.”
“Perhaps,” he said. “Still, it would go a long way if you would say something to her.”
“Say what?” the King asked.
“...Apologize, Your Majesty.”
“An apology, Elías?” he checked. “What would I apologize for? For saving her virtue or preserving her reputation?”
“For hurting her friend,” Eli returned.
“Please.”I heard my father’s tongue click. “Miss Hellveig is the best governess this empire has seen. I hired her to provide Svana with the tools necessary to reign when I fall, which, in case you haven’t noticed, might be sooner than we wish, or have you forgotten we are at war?”
“Howcould I forget?” Elías asked. “Do I not bend to your every will? Did I not just deploy another hundred men for you?”
“I have a strategy to plan, Ser. Take care of this, will you?”
“What canIdo? Your daughter needs you,”he said.
“I have battles to win—soldiers to pay. Widows to thank. All of that takes precedence over silly feelings and empty apologies. Does that make sense to you?”
“Nikolai,” Elías urged.
“Handle it.”
“Handle it,” he echoed. “While you ignore her? A lot of good ignoring silly feelings has done for us in the past.”
“How dare you,” Father said.
“Am I wrong?” the other asked. “What would Eliza say?”
“Don’t act as though you knew better than I did,” he said. “And do watch your tongue. I will not give you another chance. Tell Svana to eat. Find a way tomakeher; I don’t care. Regardless of her feelings for the boy, she is the heir to this Crown, and there will be no other. If she gets worse, I will take it out on you. If she dies, I will ruin you. That, I absolutely promise. Are we clear?”
