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“Yes, yes, I suppose you do.” He shrugs. “But don’t forget who delivers you your new toys every autumn. I’ve only been collecting them over the year, working with the guards and investigators to make sure I bring you the right criminals,” he adds sarcastically.

“Of course,” I reply, not certain how much help my father would be considering he can barely stand for most of the day. When he downs his whisky and gestures for Ploppy to pour him another glass, I glare at him. “Must you?”

There was a time when Father used to drink only with his family. We’d go out together. Travel. All four of us. His wife too, before she… died.

“Have Lux get our revenge on that foul king and then I’ll consider it.” He downs his drink before tossing the empty glass to his whore. “I’ve waited long enough to hurt that man in the same way he hurt us. I was hoping he’d one day take a wife that I could seduce and kill myself, but since the bastard never married, a daughter will have to do.”

My fists clench behind my back. “Lux and I will take her to King Sol ourselves in spring. She will play her part and you will have your revenge.”

I’m not sure if Lux has spoken to Eden yet about the real reason he had me bully her when she first arrived here. Yes, he fell in love with her and wanted to be sure she would love him back… but there’s more to it than that.

A fact I know her father is now very aware of, considering the number of spies and assassins I’ve had to kill over the past few months.

Well, I killed most of them. A lucky few were paid handsomely to report back to their king that his sweet daughter was being tortured by both Lux and I every night, and that if he sent any more men here to try to steal her back, we’d start sending Eden’s fingers back with their bodies.

Not that we’d ever hurt our Eden, but thankfully he stopped sending men after that. Last I heard, Sol’s been offering Lux women in exchange for his daughter. Women. That king could offer an entire golden whorehouse and it still wouldn’t come close to Eden’s worth.

Then again, based on how she looks at my brother, I’m not sure she’d want to go back even if we tried to send her home.

Leaning against the door, I sigh. “You’ve been angry for over two decades, Father. Will you even know how to feel happy again once this is all over?”

He scowls. “Knowing that man is in pain will be worth the wait.”

“But he’s already in pain,” I argue. “He believes Eden is being tortured⁠—”

“He won’t believe it properly until he sees it,” he snarls. “If you insist on not murdering the brat, he needs to see you both being cruel to her with his own eyes. Like how I had to see poor Lissa’s body.” His voice cracks. “After he’d had his way with her.”

I bite down on my response. Father knows his wife had a consensual affair with King Sol. That she chose to hide the pregnancy from us until it was too late. That she gave birth on her own, left Lux’s half-sister in a bundle of cloth at Sol’s palace, and then rode back while still bleeding. All our healers said if she’d had proper care, she would’ve lived. Easily. This was her choice.

Father doesn’t see it that way, though. I don’t think he ever will.

At least he’s too much of a drunk to ever do anything about it himself.

Lux on the other hand… Lissa was his mother, after all.

“Be sure to let Nem know about the foxglove poisoning swiftly. If you wait, it may be too late for the Daysons’ boy.” I reach for the door handle.

“I’ll depart today, before the snow gets too thick.” He clicks his fingers at his whores. “Be sure to write to me about the situation with Lux’s mate. I appreciate he won’t let anyone touch her, but I expect him to still use her appropriately to see his plan through.”

I chuckle quietly. This ‘plan’ was born from a drunken conversation between Lux and Father last Winterfeast. In all honesty, I thought he’d forgotten all about it until Sol sent a portrait of his daughters to pretty much every eligible suitor in the realm along with an invitation to a ball.

When Lux saw Eden in the portrait, he couldn’t stop staring at her. He told me then and there that she would be his. But after Father found out, that drunken conversation was brought up again, and they spent the next week planning how they would torture the princess to hurt her father.

Had I not watched my brother in secret while he spoke with Eden at her sister’s ball, I never would’ve let her come here.

It was the way he looked at her as she ran off to help her sister… I knew after that he’d never torture Eden. It’d kill him to leave any more than a love bite on her skin. It’d kill me too.

He’s been going along with Father’s plan because, deep down, I know he wants revenge too. Then again, this past month I seriously doubt he’s been thinking about his mother at all.

“You should visit the palace in the spring.” Father drags himself out of bed. “Perhaps we can find a pretty thing for you to court too.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I say. “Goodbye, Father.” Twisting the door handle, I leave his room.

Five years ago, I would’ve felt sad to see him go, but at this point our relationship feels more transactional. All he cares about is that I interrogate and torture enough prisoners to fund his lavish lifestyle, even though I’m certain that Nem would never let us anywhere near poverty.

I think part of my father likes waltzing around the faerie palace knowing that people fear him because of his two monstrous sons. I can still remember the way his face lit up when he discovered Lux with his first victim, despite who that victim was, and how he brightened even more when I showed him I had strong magic too.

At least it’s been put to good use. And really, I don’t mind killing. Dare I say, I actually quite enjoy the way their skin bubbles and burns⁠—