I’d judged him, instead–and now I’d never hear the faint leather squeak, that started to appear around the eighth year, walking through Aquila’s streets.
I swallowed thickly, hoping Dax hadn’t noticed I’d frozen by his side. If he did, he remained mercifully silent.
I forced myself to keep reading. We had to climb a mountain of information. I couldn’t let anything trip me along the way.
More expenses poured from the page, small and large. Seedlings in the spring, the charge for repainting the church columns, a house loan–
I bent over the paper, eyes widening as I read the name.
Bia Marino.
A distant cousin whose useless parents had excelled at nothing but debauchery and occasional gaudiness. Perhaps that was why Bia and Clara had become such good friends. Easier to face misery when you had someone who understood, and those two had been almost inseparable since we’d been teenagers.
Unlike her parents, Bia had turned out smart. Hardworking. Ambitious. I’d heard she’d given the Serpent advisor, Varen, a tongue-lashing during negotiations. A woman after my own heart.
She’d been in charge of the guest ledger at the wedding. I hadn’t realized that would be the last time I’d see her raven hair.
I gripped the parchment tighter. “Have you heard anything about Bia?”
Dax stopped writing. “Nothing since the wedding.”
The energy in the room instantly shifted.
Another fallen Protectorate member.
Another death to mourn.
Another soul to avenge.
“Why?” Dax speared the silence.
“I just saw her name.” I shook my head and sighed. “I didn’t know she bought a house.”
And only two years ago. She’d barely had time to enjoy it. So many hopes, so many lives, carelessly destroyed by someone who didn’t even have the decency and courage to claim the chaos and murders.
“I don’t remember Bia or Clara saying anything about a new house,” Dax said.
I tilted my head to the side. “Maybe she got it for her parents. It wasn’t like anyone in their right mind would lend those two money.”
“Doesn’t matter now, does it?” Dax muttered. “Everything is messed up. Aquila under Silas’ rule, you and Evie bound to marry the enemy–”
“All of us have to do that.” No matter how far away Dax ran or how deep he hid.
Dax waved me off. “You and Evie are different.”
I frowned. “Different how?”
“She’s the former heir to the Protectorate throne, you’re the current one,” he said.
No, I’m not, I wanted to roar.
Even hidden, the crown’s weight pulsed against my undeserving shoulders.
I knew it was wrong to let Dax keep hoping, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth. Not yet.
I’d feared his pity and disappointment when the crown’s indifference had only been a fear. Now it was a reality and I couldn’t face it.
“Lost Daughter, First Daughter, those are titles the Clan Council bothers with,” he went on, oblivious to the turmoil within me. “Clara, Dara, and I aren’t that important in the grand scheme of things.”
