I shook my head, pressing the dagger farther into his skin.Drawing blood.He was lying.Josef would never harm or hurt someone in such a violent way.
I turned my attention to Queen Cadaren, her eyes looking anywhere but at me.
“It isn’t true,” I said.“And you will tell me why you told such an abominable lie to your husband.”
I shoved the king away, marching over to the queen to point it at her throat instead.To seek out the violent deception within her.“Tell me why you lied or I swear I will bleed you to death one drop at a time.”
Fear flared in her eyes, her body trembling.She glanced at her husband, at the chancellor, as if needing someone to save her from the consequences of her actions.
“Tell me,” I said.
I recalled everything I knew about the queen but came up short.I had done limited research on her.She’d been little more than a monarch.A face in a family photo.She’d never held any importance to me.
She pursed her lips, defiance in the action.The king’s words echoed in my head, clashing with everything I had believed the past five years.
“Tell me!”I pressed the dagger farther into her skin but she resisted, a whimper escaping her lips as she cried.I didn’t have time for this.
The dagger cut a line of blood and she screamed something unintelligible.
“Speak clearly,” I barked.
She sputtered, “He didn’t force me!”
Silence descended.
The dagger trembled in my grasp.
“Cadaren?”King Zaricor’s voice was tentative.
She lifted her chin, trying to escape the pressure, and let out another whimper when the steel cut into her throat again.
“Cadaren?”His voice grew harder this time.
“Why would you make up such a lie about my brother?”I asked.
Fury overshadowed her face, her words coming out in a snarl.“Because he refused me.I lured him to my chambers, but he wouldn’t stay with me.He didn’t want me.No one had ever rejected me before.No one had ever turned away aqueen.So I made sure he regretted it.I had his sister brought to my room, and when she came in, I took her to the balcony.I made sure he was watching from the other side of the garden—and I pushed her over the edge.”
My heart caught in my throat.
I stepped away from the queen, not believing what I was hearing, my mind reeling.
Five years.
Five years I had trained.
Five years I had believed a lie.
Five years I had sought vengeance against the wrong person.
My mother, father, sister, brother, every citizen of our kingdom, everychild, had been destroyed because of one woman’s pride.
My body shook.With shock.With rage.
“Cadaren?”The king’s voice cut through my thoughts.
Everyone stared at her, unsure how to proceed.
“Why did you lie?”the king asked.“Why did you tell me he—”
