Page 139 of Enchanted Throne


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I swallowed, trying to focus on those words. Trying not to let the weight of my combined sorrow and defeat take me to the ground.

“Is it possible the king just absorbed your mother’s magic or something?” Owen asked. “We’ve tried the dagger, the ring, and the sword.”

Krew clenched his jaw. “But not the crown itself. The thing only he would touch.”

“Or it could be the necklace, or a chain or something,” Owen added. “Something he wears under his tailcoat that we cannot see.”

While they bickered about what object it could be, I questioned whether we were right at all. Had we been right to jump to the conclusion that the king had the queen’s magic? We’d never even seen it be used. What if the king was just that strong? And there was no easy way to weaken him?

“So,” I offered, interrupting their ongoing debate on the object. “You mean to tell me that we had this grand plan to steal the sword from the king. We somehow pulled it all off and got it, and then we lost Theodore to that plan. And Theodore died for nothing?”

Owen shook his head at me. “No. Don’t you go there. Theodore died for nothing either way. He was innocent the entire time. The king is and has always been responsible for his death.”

Krew reached over and wiped a tear from my face.

“That may be,” I bit out angrily, “but it doesn’t change the fact that instead of being a few days from killing the king, we are entirely back to square one.”

CHAPTER39

“Cards, or are we not in a card playing mood?”

Molly and Renna stayed an extra day, all things considered. I had been in too much of a retrospective mood to do much the day before, but knowing they were due to leave this afternoon to go back to their homes in Savaryn after the wedding, if I wanted to see them at all, I had to do it now. We went to our old card playing room as they were staying in that wing of the castle, so it just seemed easier. They, of course, had heard about what had happened in the ballroom. The whispers about what happened had spread throughout the castle and had likely already swept through Savaryn and Rallis too.

“I am not sure.” I tucked my legs under me in one of the chairs by the fireplace I had already lit. Jo handed me over a steaming cup of tea. “Thank you.”

“No problem, Your Grace.”

I groaned. “Not you too, Jo!”

“You do quite literally have a crown on your head,” she argued. She looked at my sound barrier at the door before adding, “And are more deserving of it than some who wear them.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well when it is just the four of us, you can call me just Jorah.”

“So cards then, Just Jorah?” Molly chirped.

I shook my head. “Not yet. I need for someone to tell me some juicy Savaryn gossip or something. Anything.”

“Jorah,” Renna said gently. “We can definitely distract you with that in a moment, but I feel the need to say this first.” She paused. “You can’t change what happened no matter how many times you think it over. It happened. It was awful and it happened. And it wasn’t your fault.”

I closed my eyes. “It feels a little like it was.” I opened my eyes and blinked rapidly. “Day one after being officially crowned and I failed the people. And not just any people. Nerede.Mypeople.”

Molly let out a long sigh. “I can’t believe the sword wasn’t it.”

My shoulders gave a weak shrug. “I really thought it was.” I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath, seeing for what had to be the thousandth time the fake sword being rammed into Theodore’s body. “And there was just so much blood.”

“I think,” Molly began gently as she brought her own teacup back down, “that for the deepest hurts of life, time itself is the only ointment. What you had to see? Being forced to carry on living and breathing like nothing happened in its wake?” she paused. “There is no remedy for the horrors of both of those things.”

“I’m not sure time will really help either,” I admitted.

Molly smirked. “But it will. Because you will remember how to laugh. You will remember the people in your life you have to love. You will remember that there is still good to be found and had. You will let go of the horror and cling to the good if only to fill your lungs completely for a few moments. To remember what it’s like to breathe deeply.”

A tear rolled down my cheek at her beautiful words. “I killed a man. I threw him at a wall and his neck snapped when he fell. I should feel shame. I should feel guilt. All I feel is terror. Terror at whatever will be the king’s next game. My mother is going home for a few months just to get her away from the king.” I paused, my chin quivering with what I needed to admit next. “And I am absolutely horrified the king will take Krew with him when he finally rids us of his presence.”

“Oh honey,” Renna whispered.

“I watched Theodore die. Brutally. I need to be there to help Krew because we are stronger together.” I gasped a breath. “And I don’t want to watch Krew die too. I—”

Love?Krew asked down the bond.