Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
They were at war. Death was a necessary aspect of that. They weren’t going to walk away from this unscathed. But that didn’t mean he had to kill his own people in the process.
“Ford,” she muttered.
He pushed away from the table to knock twice at the door. It swung open to reveal his chief attendant, Adelaide. “How may I assist you, Your Majesty?”
“Begin preparations for a coronation.”
Adelaide was too well trained to balk at that request. She tipped her chin. “As you wish.”
“Send invites to the entire populace, and let it be known that an official kathiria e sendera will be in effect for any who wish to challenge my right as ruler.”
To this, she just blinked. “Of course.”
Then she backed out of the room and hurried away. Oh, to be a fly on the wall to hear what she really thought of all this.
“It is done,” Fordham said, like a new collar wrapped around his neck. He held his hand out to Kerrigan. “We have our final audience for the evening.”
Chapter Four
The Patient
“Are we going to talk about this, or are you planning to make all the decisions from now on?” Kerrigan asked as they headed out of the war chamber.
“Kings have to make decisions.”
“We make decisions together,” she argued. “That is how we work. We’re better together. Don’t forget that. If you don’t want to do this denouncement thing, then don’t do it.”
“It is a part of the official coronation.”
“Then let’s get married,” she suggested instead.
His smile made her toes curl in her slippers. “So eager?”
“Maybe,” she said as her cheeks heated.
“I would marry you today if you would have me. I’d have married you already. None of the pomp and frills matter to me. Just that you are mine.”
She wiggled her fingers, showing off the bright diamond. “For someone who doesn’t care about pomp, you gave me an awfully big ring.”
“I simply care that everyone knows that you’re mine.”
“Subtle,” she said with a laugh.
“Anyway, I don’t want to force a wedding under duress.”
“This isn’t duress.”
“It would be. Can you imagine us getting married in my home where the people hate half-Fae?”
Kerrigan sighed. “No.”
He kissed her knuckles. “I couldn’t do that to you. I want you to have your dream wedding.”
“I don’t have a dream wedding, just a dream groom, and I already have that. The rest we can figure out.”
“But on our own terms,” he argued, “not theirs.”
“Yes, but I don’t want the alternative to hurt you.”
“I’m fine.”
Kerrigan grasped his arm. “You’re not fine. Neither of us are. Not after what we went through. I know what Iris did…”
Fordham hissed through his teeth at the name of his enslaver. The woman who had put a collar around his neck and harnessed his magic for herself.
“I know,” she said, softer. “Okay?”
“It’s too late,” he said after a moment. “I’ve already agreed. I will accept the consequences. That’s the price of war.”
Kerrigan nodded. The cost weighed on her as well, but she wouldn’t back down from what was needed. She was sure that she would have to do many things that she didn’t like before this was all over. And if this was what Fordham had to do, then so be it.
“Here we are,” Fordham said.
“This isn’t your chamber.”
“No, it’s not,” he said and then pushed the door open.
She shot him a suspicious look before stepping into the room. It was a large infirmary with rows of empty beds and a window that was currently open, revealing the bright moon and the Vert Mountains beyond. The place smelled sterile and clean. A pair of women huddled in a corner on the opposite side of the only occupied bed.
“Dad,” she said as she hurried across the room.
Kivrin Argon, first of the House of Cruse, the playboy prince of the Bryonican royal line, had always cut a formidable figure, and somehow he even managed it in a hospital bed. Kerrigan had spent so long hating him for leaving her on the steps of the House of Dragons, and now she wished she could get every one of those years back. He’d done it to save her, and after meeting Vulsan, her mother’s husband, she understood why. He would do anything to kill Kerrigan and keep her from claiming her right as the first heir of the Domaran Empire—not that she had any interest in that.
But it was her father’s fear of Vulsan and his enduring love for her mother, Keres, that had kept them apart. All that time, he had been suffering alone. He’d lost his spot in the Society, his potential dragon, and the love of his life all in one fell swoop when he’d been in the dragon tournament. And then when he’d found something worth fighting for, he’d had to give up both Keres and their daughter for her own safety. She’d felt justified being angry about her abandonment at the time, but she cringed thinking about her reaction now.