“What? But who...” I trailed off, realizing I knew who must’ve enacted the ban. “Why would my father do that?”
“To make us suffer,” Penn said. “Politics can be nasty, Lilypad. The other courts knew if they traded with us, it would earn them the wrath of Elwen, and you know how desperate the courts are to keep peace at all costs.”
Of course. No one wanted to earn the wrath of the Seven Spirits like the Old World had. No one wanted to risk getting our magic taken away, or worse, the Seven Spirits visiting and obliterating us from the continent.
“Is that what you would have done?” Penn asked, but his tone wasn’t judgmental or condescending. He asked the question in a way that made me think he actually cared about my answer.
“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “I don’t have all the information my father had.”
I looked down at my hands. It hurt that my father had lied to me. I understood why he might lie to our people, but to me? I was his daughter, the future queen of the earth court. I wished he were here so I could confront him, ask him why he kept all these secrets from me. Then again, our arguments over how he ruled never led to common ground. They just divided us further.
“Whatever is going on in your head, stop it, Lilypad.” Penn’s voice was soft.
“What are you talking about?”
“I can see that little crinkle, the one you get in your forehead when you’re overthinking something.”
“I don’t overthink,” I said.
He just raised a brow in that infuriating way that he did.
“Sometimes I overthink,” I admitted. “You don’t understand, Penn.”
“Why?” His voice was fierce, a rare defensiveness in his tone. “Why wouldn’t I understand?”
I threw out my arms. “Because it’s true.” I paused. “My father and I had a lot of disagreements over how he ruled, yes. But outside of politics, I have good memories of him. He could beabsorbed with his work, locked away in his office for hours at a time. But when he was just my father and not a king? We had fun together. He loved me, and I loved him, despite our differences. He would take me on strolls through the markets, he’d make me laugh by doing silly things like trying to juggle apples. He’d take me on adventures, and we’d talk about life in general, about gossip in the castle, the drama between the servants.” A soft laugh escaped my lips. “It’s hard having these conflicting memories of him, having these secrets about him come out, because at the end of the day, I still love him, even if I didn’t like him sometimes. But I do want to be better, to ensure nothing like the Great War ever happens again.”
Penn stayed silent, his gaze resting on my face as he listened. “And you don’t think you can do that?” he finally asked.
“How could I?” Penn flinched at my raised voice. “Sorry.” I looked around, but we were isolated, the nearest town miles back. “I’ve resorted to stealing. To working with the most infamous thief on the continent. And it does make me wonder if I’ll ever be the leader I want to be. If I’m willing to compromise on my morals to get what I want, then do I even deserve to be queen?”
“You do,” Penn said. “I just wish you could see what I see.”
“And what’s that?” I asked.
Penn just smirked. “Well, you’re not ready to hear that.”
I snorted. Another one of his little games. “So you stole a few items, and what? You became the king of thieves?”
Penn laughed and shook his head. “No, that took years, Lilypad. I started going on more missions, going further, stealing more items of value and bringing them back to Mosswood Forest. My people were thriving and that gave me a purpose, a drive. Soon enough, I began to earn a reputation, and I worried I’d be recognized. So the academy was born. I found other orphans like myself, ones who were lost or not on thegreatest path, and I brought them into my academy to train.” He spread out his hands. “The rest is history.”
I thought about what Shadow had told me, about how Penn had saved them all. She’d never elaborated on that. They must have all had sordid pasts and hard lives.
“That was brave of you,” I said finally.
An amused look crossed Penn’s face. “Brave? Surely you’re not calling a thief like myself brave.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’re right. I take it back.”
“Too late for that. I already heard the words, straight from your mouth.”
“You’re about to hear a few more words from my mouth if you don’t drop it.” I glared at him, regretting ever giving him a compliment. This man was insufferable.
“I can think of a lot of things I’d like to see that mouth do,” Penn said, voice low.
I smiled sweetly, playing his game. “Come close and you’ll see exactly what I’m capable of.”
“That sounds tempting.”
