“If I didn’t prove myself a hero, no one in Olderea would trust me. In fact,youdidn’t trust me,” I accused. “Before all of this I was a...a spoiled society girl. And a traitor. Everyonefearedme because I was cruel.”
He stared. “I know that. I was there.”
Heat rose in my cheeks. I didn’t think he was going to agree.
“But you’re not those things anymore,” Bennett said. “You’re different now.”
“Bennett, I carved into a girl’s hand with a needle and made her my servant. That’s not something that just...goes away!”
His expression did not change. “Did you enjoy it?”
“What?”
Bennett tilted his head. He looked almost as he did at our first tête-à-tête. I hardly knew how he could ask those things with such composure.
I took a breath. My hands were shaking. “No. I did notenjoyit. But I wasn’t so opposed to it as you may think.”
“But it sickens you now, doesn’t it?” His voice was so level. “Cissa, you are capable of change. Youhavechanged. Why isn’t that enough for you?”
I clenched my fists. “You only know that because I ran off and doused a fire.”
Bennett shook his head.
Frustration clawed at my throat. He wasn’t making any sense.
I spent my life appeasing whomever had power over me. I always knew what Mother wanted—ruthlessness and obedience. King Maximus and Olderea wanted a good crown princess. But Bennett? I never figured out what he expected from me.
“What do you want from me, Bennett? My obedience?” I stepped forward. “A silent figurehead? A good queen to help you rule?” Every word brought me closer. Close enough to see the stubble along his usually smooth skin. “Or do you want something else?”
My proximity seemed to break his calm. Bennett’s throat bobbed. His cravat was missing, exposing the inside of his collar. I recognized the lopsided stitches as my own. There was the faintest red stain along his jaw where I had kissed him last night, and the unmistakable emerald green of my hair ribbon poked out from his waistcoat pocket.
I stared, wondering when he started looking like he was mine.
“I want you to be safe. With me,” Bennett said, touching my cheek. The touch, though brief, sent a jolt through my skin. “You don’t know how scared I was in Vandil. When I thought I was going to lose you.”
I searched his eyes. “What are you saying?”
He swallowed, leaning closer and settling a hand on my waist. “Cissa, I think I’m—”
The door opened. Bennett withdrew at the king’s entrance, though not quickly enough.
King Maximus frowned mightily. I thought my face would burst into flames.
“Sit down, Narcissa. Bennett,” His Majesty said.
We sat. This time, Bennett took his seat next to mine. I tried to compose myself, though my heart was beating wildly from his unspoken words.
“I have spoken with Lord Frederick,” the king said. “Other than the word of those two guards, we have no solid evidence that the general is joining the rebels. We will have to surround the next meeting and detain Dominic Turner and the others.”
I blinked, his words washing over me like a bucket of icy water. Since when had our focus been on the general? Ambushing the rebel meeting didn’t seem wise when there was still so much we didn’t know. Who was this witch mistress and what was her secret plan? What was her purpose in supporting a cause that wanted nothing to do with her kind?
I swallowed. “Your Majesty, if I may interject?”
His stormy expression hadn’t disappeared, but King Maximus inclined his head. “Go on.”
“The person who held me hostage during the fire...she was a flax farmer who no longer had weavers source from her fields. I told her about the new regulations and the other rioters say she’s no longer attending the meetings.” I recalled the young man who balked at the mention of crime against the throne. “Many of them are too afraid to rebel. The sooner we reform these laws, the sooner the uprising will quell.”
King Maximus grunted. “Naturally. I will draft them as soon as General Turner is punished for treason. His son will confess his father’s crimes once we arrest him.”
