I didn’t flinch. After what we’d seen, the mercilessness in his tone didn’t bother me. If anything, it was a relief. “Every single one.”
“Yes.” The word scraped up his throat. His fingers dug into my hips, though not harshly.
What needed to be done wouldn’t leave either of us unscathed.
“Loyalty is brittle in Evergorne. We’ll strengthen it. By blood, if necessary.” His grip on me tightened, and his eyes blazed with something harder, darker.
“And your mother?” I almost hated to ask, because I already knew a storm was tangled up in the question.
Lore’s hands stilled before he leaned his head back again, his thick lashes lowering over his predatory gaze. “That… I need to think about.”
To anyone else, his tone might’ve sounded indifferent, but I heard the anger and betrayal beneath it. I braced my palms on his shoulders again and leaned forward until his gaze latched onto mine.
“You don’t have to decide what to do with her now, but if you want to talk?—”
“No.” I felt no malice in the word. He cradled my face with one hand. “Not yet.”
This was his mother’s sorrow to bear, though even the strongest betrayal couldn’t sever a bond like theirs without leaving scars.
I stroked his face, coaxing his eyes to find mine again. “I’m sorry.” I let the quiet between us speak louder than words.
“You shouldn’t have to be.” His hand skated up to rest against one side of my neck. His thumb brushed the sensitive skin beneath my jaw, and though his eyes stayed on me, his thoughts were clearly elsewhere. The war raging inside him overrode every other thought.
“She believed she betrayed your father.” The words left me bitter. I had no sweetness left to coat them. “By spreading those rumors and despite the bloodswearing, she’s ensured that insecurity will spread through the court and beyond.”
“I am my father’s son,” Lore said.
“Of course you are. But she believes…” I hesitated, careful with how I shaped this truth so it wouldn’t shatter him any further. “She believes it enough to use it against you.”
“How unfortunate for them all. The court will learn that I will not break beneath her delusions.” If he hadn’t been king in truth before, he was now. Whatever doubts Erisandra had sown, he had no intention of letting them bloom into power for her or any of her co-conspirators.
Still, the damn curse haunted us both.
His brow furrowed. “I don’t care who questions it. I will burn my lineage into their memories if I have to.” His fingers slid around to my nape, and he pulled me forward until his wordsbrushed across my lips. “Let them whisper. It won’t matter when they’re dead.”
I swallowed against the force in his voice, realizing, not for the first time, what I had chosen to love in this man. Merrick’s even-headed care lurked beneath the promise, but Lorant’s edge gleamed sharp across the top. Together, they balanced.
I couldn’t stop myself from falling into him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I rose to press my forehead against his. His warm breath curled over my cheek, and the protective haze around him wrapped us in something viscerally pure.
“I love you,” I said.
“Wildfire.” The crack in his voice splintered me further. “My wife.”
There was no tension in our kiss, only promises left to fulfill.
Nothing about this would come easily.
But the fate of Evergorne could rip itself apart around me before I let this man, whole and fully mine, slip through my grasp.
41
Reyla
Our hands linked, we left the throne room and took the stairs to our floor, stopping at my door.
“I’m with you from now on,” I said firmly.
He traced his fingers down my cheek. “You are. I thought you might like to collect a few things and Farris.”
