Just chatting with the girls,I told him.Discussing Theodore and the other night.
Just let me know if you need me.
“I cannot see another innocent person killed because of the king’s actions,” I finished. “And as much as I feel through our bond, Krew’s emotions and even pain, I won’t just have to see him go...”
“Oh gods, you’ll feel it too,” Jo gasped, eyes wide as she looked at Renna.
“I never thought of that,” Molly added.
“Or worse than feeling his pain,” I paused to fight off a shiver, “feeling his void.”
“But that is all based off the assumption that Krew will have to die in order to accomplish this,” Renna reminded me. “He has you strengthening him. His brother’s help as well. Owen’s. The Six. If he fought him one-on-one, sure. But he is no longer alone in this endeavor. And hasn’t been for quite some time.”
“I know, but it was just something he had resigned himself to when we first started having real feelings for one another. And knowing that, knowing his resolve and how determined he is to see his father off the throne, it’s become my greatest fear.” I paused. “I guess my fear of his father’s reign never ending and my fear of losing Krew battle one another daily for my greatest fear, but you get the idea.”
Molly shook her head vehemently. “No. I am not buying it. Krew is just too stubborn to die.”
My eyes went wide. After her rather eloquent speech earlier, she followed that up with a rather blunt statement.
She tilted her head unapologetically. “That is not to say I think it is fair you have to carry this responsibility upon your shoulders. The princes should not have to conspire how to kill their own father. Though I am still rather mad at one such prince, Wylan could not have a better future in each of them.”
I looked in the direction of the window where I knew the forest was. “But every day that horrible man stays on that throne, Wylan grows weaker.” He might not have poisoned Wylan, but he hadn’t needed to. He was the poison.
Renna propped her feet up on Jo’s leg as she sat down on the couch next to her. “Do we have a plan for when this will happen? I suppose conveniently harboring The Six and myself in the castle just before it goes down would be too obvious?”
I sighed. “Nothing has been decided. Owen and Emric wanted to become bonded to Krew so that all of our magic could combine, but the sage who married us urged them against it. He said that more than two bondings per person has been believed to weaken the potency of the bonded magic as more of them are added. So we are back to square one, trying to decide if it is better to seek out the object again, whatever it may be, and give Keir more time to figure out his Assemblage responsibilities, or if we just disregard the object entirely and make a move before the king knows the extent of our bonded magic.”
Molly wrinkled her nose. “Well I like neither of those plans.”
“I concur,” I laughed.
“Why can’t he just die of natural causes already?” Molly snapped. “He’s had a long and selfish life.”
Renna snorted. “As if it would be that easy. But if the object is not retrieved, we just need more hands on deck for when it happens.”
And it was that thought which had me thinking. I had killed a man. I hadn’tmeantto, but I hadwantedto. And as I grappled with the ramifications of all that, there was one person who kept popping into my thoughts and had all morning.
I stayed for another hour, drinking tea and chatting with the other women. We spoke about Nara for a while and then just talked about the wedding and what it was like returning to the castle. I was not in the best of moods and I knew it. I had wanted to see them, but also didn’t want to ruin their day, so I excused myself after a while.
In the hallway with Owen, I stilled before we left to the darker hallway and put up a sound barrier.
“I’d like you to take me to see someone, please,” I said quietly.
He looked over his shoulder. “Your mother?”
I shook my head. “No. Not my mother.”
Owen glared at me. “I am not delivering you to the king for a murder attempt without at least some more backup. Though we are pretty impressive, if I do say so myself, it’s going to take more than just you and me.”
My lips tugged into a smile. “Also not it.”
“Well, are you going to tell me?”
“Are you going to let me?”
“Fine.”
“Easton,” I said, hating the cadence of his name on my lips. “I would like to see Easton.”
