“Yes,” I shot back, not wanting to be doubted further.
“Then, wouldn’t you like to share the news together? To celebrate this? The minute your boots hit Algarnd with you wearing that ring, they will spin the narrative for you. For him. I’m not urging you to hide anything. Just to delay the truth until you can properly celebrate.”
Twisting the band with my thumb, I sighed.
I hated to admit he was right about one thing—Haag Bringham would wag his tongue.
He was wrong about another. No celebration would come of this. Marriage was never something my parents, unlike most royals, sought for me.
They would try to persuade me not to risk the curse on our lineage. Bearing an heir would mean the end of my immortality; my actions could set the prophecy off course. They’d beg me to stay dedicated to my duties to the realms.
I was.
But this was my choice.
“I don’t think anyone will be happy with the news. He’s a good man,” I defended. “But I fear it won’t mean much to my parents. They’ll try to push us apart.”
Emmerick’s shoulders slackened. “It may seem that way—but maybe give them a chance to prove you wrong?”
My gaze narrowed between his eyes. The last thing I’d thought I’d be doing today was having a heart-to-heart with my new father-in-law.
A pang of guilt struck me. Dritan should be here. He should hear this advice too.
“Fine. We will tell them when we return as not to muddy up any of our meetings this week.” Reluctantly, I slipped the ring off and secured it within my belt bag. “But it is only because I see how itmaybe in Dritan’s best interest. But I have one condition...”
Emmerick snorted a laugh, as though that amused him. He mumbled, “The apple truly doesn’t fall far.”
I shrugged while pressing my lips in a line to avoid smiling. “We’ll share the news in Helos during your recrowning.”
He tapped his foot on the dark wood floor, contemplating. “I hate the pomp of parties, but fine. If that is what you wish.”
“My parents are less likely to lose their temper during a celebration in front of others.”
He assessed me with a knowing gleam in his eye. “It’s the boy who helped you unbind me, isn’t it?”
I stiffened at the thought of that night, when I’d so thoroughly broken Aunt El’s trust.And her heart.“Yes,” I answered, keeping my tone flat.
“Now, I’ll admit something to you,” Emmerick said as he extended his hand to allow me to Shadow us to the West Corridor. “I think he is my son.”
All the air left my lungs. He tracked the widening of my eyes and my parted lips that betrayed my emotions. I’d never been good at hiding them.
When I’d recomposed myself, I hesitated to take his hand.
“It seems like you already knew that,” he added.
I nodded. “It sounds like we both have important conversations to return to, doesn’t it?”
Dritan had long spoken of the memorandum that his mother had left him; he carried it everywhere. It’d told him to look for King Mattock—that Dritan was the heir to the North Corridor, that Emmerick was a kind man who would accept him.
Hating myself for it, I pressed through the wards of the North King’s thoughts. I needed to protect my husband’s heart in case she was wrong. So, I barreled through the barricades of his mind. The carcanet made it easy.
Heartbreak.The pain nearly made me hunch over.
The King warred with guilt.
Over not being there to see Dritan grow up.
Over the loss of the Fire-wielding enchantress we believed to be Dritan’s mother.
