Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
I swallowed.
Mine was about shock.
I watched Timothee swallow.
His was fear.
Aleksei turned on Errol.
“The same will happen to you if you ever play in the royal pool again,” he warned. “And should Nata decide to move to the administration wing, and you see her, you will behave with the dignity of your title. Onward, you will respect the females who work for the throne. No. You will learn to respect females full stop. And if you do something outside the Palace walls that demands the negotiation of hush money again, the amount will be decided by me, and it will be deducted from your allowance. If you should continue to behave like an incorrigible, entitled brat, and this should go into arrears, your royal duties will be suspended.”
He looked between the two of them and kept going.
“This stops now. If you don’t learn from the consequences I’ve set forth, your royal privileges will be permanently revoked, and you’ll be stripped of your titles. You will be removed from the Palace, and although residences will be provided for you, they won’t be anywhere near what you’re used to, and you will be required to find employment in order to sustain yourselves.”
Everyone was silent.
The silence was heavy.
Timothee stupidly decided to break it.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” he demanded hotly.
“You know who I am, Tim,” Aleksei retorted unemotionally. “I’m claiming my right. I should have done it the moment I heard your latest villainy. Fortunately, the negotiations with this female are still happening, so I can intervene and try to do the impossible, everything I can to make it even a modicum of right by her.”
“The Night God’s choice, the chosen son,” Timothee sneered, jerking his head toward his mother to indicate whose chosen son Aleksei was. “Do you not get what a headfuck it is to slink along in your shadow?”
“No, I don’t,” Aleksei returned. “Because I’m me, and you’re you. I’d ask you to consider for a moment what it feels like to be in my shoes—”
“So tough, I’m sure,” Timothee scorned. “I’d so hate to be you. The fiercest dragon. The best marks at school. Females throwing themselves at your feet.” He jabbed a finger my way. “Destiny dumps a female with great tits and a perfect ass in your lap…ulk!”
Suddenly, the room was a flurry of motion as everybody moved because Aleksei had taken his brother by the throat and was lifting him to the tips of his toes by it.
“Son,” Queen Calisa was at his side, and her word was a plea.
“Drahko,” I was at his other side, my hand on his arm, my voice soft, but my word was also a plea.
“You speak of the True Bride,” Aleksei whispered sinisterly.
Oh gods.
I hadn’t heard that term in ages because there hadn’t been one in ages.
But the True Bride was me.
“And your brother’s mate,” he bit off. “She will have respect, or you will regret your actions until your dying…fucking…breath. Am I perfectly clear?”
Timothee was choking, but also nodding.
Aleksei flung him into the chair.
I latched onto his arm, and he allowed me to pull him away two steps, but that was all he allowed.
“Am I clear about the rest of it?” he asked Timothee.
“Fuck you,” Timothee spat, rubbing his neck.
“Is that a no?” Aleksei asked dangerously.
“No. I’m clear. Because I have no choice. Right?”
“Correct,” Aleksei said. He turned to Errol. “Now you. Have I made myself clear?”
Errol turned to his father and whined, “Dad.”
King Fillion was staring at his eldest son.
“Dad!” Errol called sharply.
Slowly, the king turned to Errol. “You wound me, every time you lay your weakness at my feet.”
Uh…
Whoa!
That was unexpected.
Errol’s pretty face went ashen.
“I despair, but you don’t see it, what you do to me. You don’t care. But you are my son, what am I to do?” the king asked.
“Dad,” Errol said quietly.
“This family does not abide in this Palace because of the fortune of hereditary blood. It is because, from the first True Heir, we vowed to protect the people of Night’s Fall, and the two of you,”—he looked to Timothee—“not only fail miserably in holding this promise sacred, you actively and repeatedly seek to break it. Is this my penance for showing you softness? Is this my penance for showing you love?”
Aleece made a sad noise, the emotion that was squeezing my heart.
Neither of the younger princes replied, nor did they meet their father’s eyes.
“I’ve spent years, desolate, wondering where I’ve gone wrong,” the king stated. “I was so proud of you in your youth. My fine four. So beautiful. But then you two took everything I gave and twisted it into something unsavory. Was it me, in the guilt I still carried at feeling my own siblings’ envy of my status, that acted mistakenly because I wanted you to feel special? To feel heard? To feel seen?”