The king gestured with a hand so aggressively I feared the crown might fall right off his head. “She was never going to be killed and you know it. So come off it!”
“So you admit you had a role in this?” Krew’s voice went quiet but lethal.
The king cocked his head. “Like I believe for even half a second the two of you didn’t have a role in my sword going missing tonight.”
Keir’s magic was now matching Krew’s. “At least our plots don’t ruin lives and get people killed.”
The king pursed his lips. “I cannot decide if I am more proud of the two of you for this stunt or more annoyed.”
My head snapped back. He was proud of them? For conspiring against him? And being somewhat successful for it. Shouldn’t he be absolutely fuming right now?
Keir glared at his father. “What can I say, we learned from the best.”
Nara stood next to me as if she wished to speak with me. How did she not see by now the lunatic she was sharing a bed with? How many more of these nightmares did she need to see before she believed it?
“I’m sorry,” she whispered quietly.
I spun to pin her with a glare. “For the shards of glass or for being the reason my husband was put in gauntlets. Please specify which thing, Nara.”
“I—” she looked to the king, who was now watching us, before her eyes briefly met mine again. “Both, I suppose.”
My magic flared with all the emotions of the night, plus being able to feel Krew’s, and I didn’t bother to push it beneath my skin as I promised, “I once considered you a dear friend, Nara, but if you do anything, and I meananything, from this moment on that causes either of the princes harm again, I don’t care who’s bed you frequent, you will deal withme.”
I almost felt bad when tears filled her eyes. Knowing the king, she probably had to come clean about the ring or else she would’ve been hurt herself. I knew that logically. But it didn’t change the fact that I was still angry over it. She looked at the king while clutching her stomach as if wishing for him to say something. To defend her.
He gave her the barest of shrugs. “A good princess protects her prince.” He turned back to his sons. “We will wait here while they search every damn person that remains on the grounds of Kavan Keep.”
“It is our wedding night,” Krew seethed. I knew he was trying to get us out of there.
“Oh save it,” the king groaned. “We all know this marriage has been more than consummated.”
I felt my cheeks heat at his rather rude word choice.
Krew lunged for his father again, but Keir again pushed him back.
“Furthermore,” the king added calmly while looking from Krew to me, “the two of you can speak telepathically.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
I was still so frustrated with the night’s events, that without thinking it through, I blurted out, “Is there a problem with that?”
“I—” the king shook his head. “No. Other than I was not informed.”
“It is notyourconcern,” Krew snapped. “And if you wanted to know you could’ve simply asked rather than send shards of glass at her.”
The king glared at him. “No one was going to kill her. They wouldn’t dare when she is the Enchanted responsible for healing the forest and soul bound to an heir of Wylan.”
It was Keir who fired back with, “Just a casual maiming then?”
“Enough!” the king yelled. “Let us get back to waiting for the sword. The only real loss of the night.”
The minutes crawled by. I sat in the chair closest to the fire in my white gown, watching the flames and trying to send Krew happy thoughts and observations about the night to calm him down.
It wasn’t working. His anger was still rolling off him in waves and it didn’t take being bonded to him to feel it.
An hour later, one of the king’s guards rushed in, the doors opening abruptly. He hurried over to the king and whispered to him for what felt like minutes before spinning on his heel and hurrying back out.
The king waited a solid minute before he said a word to any of us. Likely just to torture us.
