“You describe much of the east, I’m afraid. Led by Kettling, who is about to marry into the throne.” His molars grind. “The mortals would revolt in droves.”
“They’re ingesting poison to kill their keepers. They’re already revolting in droves, and they’re willing to die for their freedom.”
“It would be worse. There would be outright war.”
“Maybe not … at least not at first, and not in places like Bellcross, with lords like Rengard.” The Islorian impressed me, even if he doesn’t trust me. I wish I’d had more time to get to know him.
“Few and far between. Telor is honorable as well, but I do not have the same friendship to lean on where he is concerned.” Zander sighs. “I wish these seers’ prophecy would give us the answers we need most.” He smooths his palm over mine, matching our fingers against each other. “I wish they could help us choose the right course of action.”
“By the right course of action, you mean, should you and I do it on the altar under the full Hudem moon?”
He grunts at my crassness, but his expression remains somber. “Gesine said the seers have seen the door opened in the age of the casters. Given all that has transpired with this place, we have to assume she is right and it is inevitable, one way or another.”
“Maybe she is. She always seems to be. So we would be rid of this blood curse.” One positive.
“At what cost? Malachi as king and the Nulling’s beasts flooding these lands? How would we fight against them and a hundred hags and grifs outside Ulysede’s gates?”
“There has to be a way. He was defeated once, right?” Both Malachi and Aoife, masquerading as king and queen. “How?”
“I can tell you how it did not happen, which is with all our lands and people so terribly fractured as they are today. Ybaris, Islor, and Mordain would have to work together.” He scoffs as if the very idea is laughable.
“They did it once.” When King Ailill tried to release the nymphs the last time at Malachi’s behest and tore the veil into the Nulling. Wendeline said it took them fifty years to rid this world of the worst beasts and seal the tear.
“We did not have Neilina at Ybaris’s helm, scheming so vindictively. Islor was not being ripped apart from within. I can’t decide which is worse—the treacherous lords or the poison. I hazard it does not matter. I fear there are no alliances left to be made.”
“That’s not true.” I curl into him, wanting to feel the warmth of his body against mine.
“What is true anymore? That we are alone. You and I, and fifteen legionaries and this palace with untold power we cannot wield without causing dreadful harm.” He sighs heavily. “Atticus does not have the head for politics. He does not realize how precarious his situation is, how claiming the throne from me in such a public display has fractured the strength of it. For the first time since Rhionn, our enemies have seen it taken.”
“Maybe you need to tell him that.” We’ve heard nothing from Atticus beyond the letter we intercepted and what Rengard described. No communication between the two brother-kings.
Zander’s chuckle is low and humorless. “He is a stubborn and pompous fool, too busy enjoying that crown he’s coveted for so long to listen to anyone with wisdom.”
I’ve seen only glimpses of the brothers’ relationship, but anyone could read the power struggle that existed despite Atticus’s carefree persona. Still, their connection seems deep. “Why didn’t you have him executed when you found out he slept with Princess Romeria?” It’s become easier to speak about the Ybarisan who once occupied this body as if she was some other being.
“Because he is still my brother.” He pauses. “Why? Do you wish I had?”
“I don’t know.” What would the weight of executing his own brother feel like on his shoulders? I sigh. “But at least then he couldn’t have stolen your crown from you.”
“No, but someone else would have likely tried by now. Besides, I know firsthand how persuasive and enticing the princess was. I can’t fault Atticus for that betrayal.” He rolls onto his side again to capture my lips with his. “Though she wasn’t as enticing as this version.”
“Are you talking about other women while in bed with me again? What did I say about that before?”
His lips curl. “That you would make me pay for it.”
“Right … right … But how?” I pull away from his lips and roll onto my back, arching my body in a deep, dramatic stretch, the night air grazing the peaks of my breasts.