Page 15 of Betrayed By Dragons

"I won't dignify that with a reply."

I may not see Rafe as a traitor anymore, but I'm in my current arrangement with him for Ember and Ember alone.

"You were to extract concessions from the infidels. To show them for the lying aggressors that they are."

"But they're not," I insist, and I instantly know I've said the wrong thing, but I'm all twisted around. None of this makes sense.

My father has always been severe. He's had high expectations for me, but he was reasonable.

This new version of him... It's cold and cruel.

He leans in, his voice melted stone and smoke. "They. Are. The. Enemy."

It feels as if I'm seeing him and hearing him for the first time.

"You don't just think peace is impossible." Cold realization slips down my spine. "You don't want it." I swallow, and my throat is raw. "You never wanted me to succeed."

"I wanted," he thunders, looming over me, his dragon hissing in my ears, "you to humiliate our enemies and return home to lead our troops. I wanted you to be my heir. My legacy. I wanted a marriage that would solidify our dynasty, and instead I got..."

For the first time he falters, but it doesn't matter.

I hear him loud and clear.

"Me."

The disappointment and the pain threaten to bring me to my knees. Somewhere deep inside, there's a childhood version of me who imagines he'll tell me I'm wrong.

But that child is crushed beneath his feet.

"Exactly."

I take a step back at last, reeling.

A smile curls his lips, and the sadism takes my breath away. His posture relaxes, as if he can rest easy now that he's set his only son in his place. He smooths the lapels of his jacket. Turning toward the door, he tells me, "Leave Bedrock alone. There will be no further investigation, am I understood?"

He waits through my silence.

I glare at him and flex my jaw. "I understand you."

"You're dismissed from all further negotiations with the Fire Kingdom as well." He narrows his eyes. "Now get out of my sight."

He spares me actually having to get kicked out of his office by exiting it himself. A thousand protests rise to my tongue, and I want to shout them at him.

How dare he.

I'm his son. I'm the heir to the throne, a diplomat. I've trained and worked and sacrificed, and now...

I move to follow him, but before I can cross the threshold of the study, two guards put themselves in my way.

"Move," I growl.

They exchange a glance.

Fuck this. I shove past them, but it's too late. My father has disappeared, and I need to follow him. I need to speak my mind and tell him he's made a mistake.

But he doesn't want to know.

My ears ring, and for a moment, the room spins. He cast me out, and I know full well it's not forever. I'm his heir, and the law is clear.

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