This is real.
He wants me. And maybe it’s just a game. Maybe it’s all part of a plan or a scheme, but he put a crown on my head in front of the entire city. And he knew exactly what that would mean to them.
I feel two-hundred thousand eyes on me. I feel their pride and admiration.
I feel the weight of their expectations.
And I’m certain there’s no way for our plan to work, even if Adria tries to go ahead without me.
How could we possibly get these people on our side now? I saved Ronan. Me, a member of House Verran. Me, the daughter of the rebels, the traitors that plunged Selara into a five-year war we’d barely begun to recover from. Me, the sister of the woman who surrendered.
And I’d chosen to save his life when I could have let him die.
All Adria can see is what revenge against Ronan will feel like. But what happens after? Even if we can conquer Faros and take the rest of Selara before they can mount a response, what then? How do we rule over these people after that kind of betrayal?
These people who love me.
What was it that Hilaria said? “They’ll see you as their queen?”
I never wanted to be queen. But when Ronan holds my hand up in the air and they raise their voices in exultation, I can see it.
At Ronan’s side, I can see it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Quinn joins us for the carriage ride back, her anger so palpable it practically smolders.
“Fuckingbitch,” she says. “Sorry, Sylvie.”
“No, do go on,” I say.
She laughs and then clutches her jaw where Adria punched her.
“You know I could heal that,” says Ronan. When I look across the carriage at him, he isn’t looking at Quinn anymore. He’s looking at me. Our eyes meet, and he looks away quickly out the carriage window, half a smile on his lips.
Gods, it feels good to see him smile like that.
“Not a chance,” says Quinn, and it takes me a minute to remember what we were talking about. “I want them all to see what a lunatic she is. I can’t believe you two grew up in the same house.”
“My parents didn’t really raise me,” I say without thinking.
“I guess they wouldn’t have had the time,” says Queen Claudia.
Shit. I brought up my parents, also known as the traitors that they all nearly died fighting against. “I was raised by ourGuardian, Larus Adama, primarily,” I say, hoping to smooth over the conversation.
“That makes sense. We love Larus. Or Typhon does, at least. I mean, hereallyloves Larus,” says Quinn.
This comes as a shock to me. Typhon asked about him, but I thought it was due to his suspicions about what we’re doing, not romantic interest. And maybe it was, and Quinn is just reading what she wants to in it.
“He’s been pining ever since you lot arrived. Probably long before it, even. There’s been alotof pining going on around here.” Quinn looks pointedly at Ronan, who glares at her.
He’s been pining for me.
“Quinn,” he says in warning.
I can’t help but smile. I copy Ronan’s move and look out the window to avoid making eye contact with him, but I’m certain he can feel my reaction.
“Everyone could stand to be a bit more forward is all I’m saying. Believe it or not, it’s possible to see something you want and just go for it.”
