I nodded. ‘Why his mother?’
‘Men like Isaac aren't concerned with status. He was a great candidate for the position since I knew he wouldn’t be inappropriate with you. You wouldn’t believe how many socialites would love to marry into our family.’
She laughed under her breath. ‘Still, I can’t believe he told you that. It’s not like I actively hunted his mother down either. She comes to my library every once in a while to seek some book.’
I nodded, my thoughts wandering. ‘He said she was a massive royalist and pestered him into training me.’
Miriam recoiled slightly. ‘Isn’t he just lovely?’
Did I sense a tinge of hostility? ‘Do you two have a history?’
‘No.’ A strained look crossed her features. ‘His mother taught at my academy, and when my nightmare powers first manifested, I materialised half of the kids’ deepest fears. She had to get him to save the day. The man couldn’t stand me, but I was a little bratty back then. Still, he recommended the best guides on ways to control my magic. They helped.’
‘You? Bratty?’ Wait… ‘Does he have nightmare powers too?’
Miriam’s brow pinched. ‘Yeah, he’s vicious. Don’t get on his badside.’
The textured invite slipped from my hands. ‘You’re telling me that after I told him he was an emotionally unstable dick?’
‘You did what?’ She folded over. ‘I never took you for a shit-starter. How did he take it?’
Now his reactions made sense. Getting told off probably wasn’t something he was used to. ‘He was flabbergasted.’
‘Oh, I bet. Nobody ever speaks to him that way,’ she said, still chuckling.
Who the hell did they set me up with? ‘Why? Who is he?’
‘He’s a combat professor at the War College in Waena.’
‘Doesn’t ring a bell,’ I admitted, catching a small pile that was about to fall off the bed.
Miriam smiled at my efforts. ‘It’s one of our smaller isles. Besides, you need some seriously deadly powers to even be considered there. Alec didn’t make the cut.’
Whoa. ‘They refused the lord’s son?’
‘They viewed him as a pampered heir unfit to fight.’ Something vicious settled in her gaze. ‘He appealed, but it got him nowhere. That’s why he looked elsewhere to study and met your king in the process.’
‘And father couldn’t pull strings?’ My eyes widened. ‘My mother would lose it if anyone refused admittance to one of her daughters. Out of principle, of course.’
Miriam pushed the invites aside.
‘He’s been trying to step away from the idea of the ruler being almighty,’ she said, clearing her throat. ‘Did you know he was crownedkingwhen he first took over?’
‘No, I didn’t know that. With everything that’s been happening, I haven’t had time to read about anything: the powers, the history, the mate bonds. I need to explore all of it, but I’m so busy…’
‘It’s okay, I didn’t mean to shame you.’ She patted my shoulder. ‘He doesn’t like to brag. He changed his title tolordbecause it evokes more trust and fewer connotations of control.’
That was a side of our sire I had not yet met.
‘Did you ever apply to that War College?’ I asked.
Stiffening, she looked reluctant to share. ‘No, but they reached out to me offering a place anyway.’
So nightmare powers outranked necromancy.
‘Did you go?’
‘No.’ Miriam shook her head. ‘I would never do that to Alec.’
