Page 44 of A Wrecking of Salt and Fire

“Not here,” he heard Ajax yell over the crowd.

Ember tried to break his grip, but the commander would not let go.

Kohl quickly stepped out of the courtyard, going back to the study where they met last night, his father surprisingly nowhere to be seen since Nexos disappeared.

“How dare you!” Ember screamed as she burrowed through the door.

She stalked right up to him, shoving him back. It would have been cute to see a young woman, barely reaching his shoulders, try to push him over had pure hatred not laced her words.

“What would Katrin think! You couldn’t even protect her and now you mean to steal her throne!” Ember spit on Kohl. His gut reacted as he flashed the back of his hand across her face. She stepped back, clutching her palm to a now red cheek. Ajax’s brows narrowed as he reached for the hilt of his sword.

“I would think very carefully about what you do next, Kohl,” Ajax growled through clenched teeth.

Kohl flashed his eyes between the two of them. Betrayal was written all over their faces. He had not wanted this to happen. Kohl dragged his palm down his face, sighing as he sunk into the chair nearby.

“I’m sorry, Ember. I’m so, so sorry. For all of this. I saw him and I thought it was Nik and I just acted. I wanted to protect you, protect what is your sister’s.” His voice cracked as he spoke.

“Protect what is Katrin’s? No one had called the Wrecking, Kohl. No one but you. It never occurred to you that this is what Nexos wanted? For us to look weak and indecisive even between allies? You didn’t think at all.” For a younger woman not trained in politics, she was making a very good point.

“But if they had declared, he would have killed you.”

“You don’t know that—”

“I know Nik! And my father warned me this could happen. His spies heard they might try to usurp us,” Kohl cut her off. His hands were shaking now. Where was his father? He needed him here to explain why Kohl would even float the idea, why it had been no question when Nexos arrived that he would protect them all at all costs.

“That was not your decision, Kohl. It was Ember’s and hers alone. And now look at the situation—two allies competing for something that wasn’t even theirs in the first place.” He had never seen Ajax this furious. Kohl didn’t understand, Ajax should have wanted him to enact before Ember had to face some insolent male from another isle.

Ember continued pacing around the room. Kohl was used to Katrin being this hot-headed and fueled, but Ember had always been the light-hearted younger sister. Showing a flair for the dramatics, yes—but only when it came to choosing which dress to buy or ball to attend. The way her brows quashed together and her hand clenched he could have sworn it was as if part of her sister flowed through her in that moment. The fury of their father, not the lightness of their mother’s power.

“You must yield. That’s the only way to come back from this. I understand why you did it. You thought you were protecting me from Nik, or from Dimitris, or whoever King Nikolaos had thought to throw against us. But that isn’t happening now. Now it is you and me, and what Katrin would want is for her people to be ruled by her family, not one of the other isles. Especially not one influenced so much by the Viper, father or not.” She stopped pacing and looked Kohl head to toe before giving a vicious smile and exiting back to the courtyard, Ajax following closely.

Kohl sunk farther into the chair, his head throbbing. What had he gotten himself into?

When Kohl returned to the courtyard just before the peak of the day, the center had been outlined in a ring—their sparring grounds. His father stood nearest the archway by his chambers, speaking with one of his guards.

Kohl pushed through the people of the isles—those who would watch him battle his future sister-in-law—to get to the man who started this mess in the first place.

“Where have you been!” Kohl said through clenched teeth.

His father’s eyebrows arched up, those ebony eyes flickering with amusement.

“I went to alert my guards that Nexos may try to strike again. King Nikolaos can move a fair distance in his shadows, but he can’t make it off this isle. And I doubt the only reason he was here was to introduce his youngest son.”

Kohl’s nostrils flared. As savvy as King Athanas was in battle he was a gods-damned pain in his ass. “You told me to do whatever was necessary and now look what a mess I’m in, Father! Ember is furious, I know Katrin would be if she were here.”

His father cut him off. “But she is not here. And do you really think your future bride would want to return knowing her younger sister was named queen? Had stolen the title that was rightfully hers? Or, would she rather you—the man who was always supposed to rule by her side—take up that position so that when we do rescue her, she is able to resume her rightful place?” King Athanas showed off that toothy smile, causing even a shudder down Kohl’s spine.

His father did have a point. If—when—he rescued Katrin, this would be the easiest way for her to become queen. Just as she would have had him rule equally beside her, he would have Katrin.

“You really think this is what she would want, Father?” Kohl faced King Athanas again, needing that final bit of validation before he entered the ring, his mind too cloudy to think straight.

“What Katrin wants is the best for Alentus, my boy. A man who was raised to become king is much better suited to lead this land to peace and prosperity over a young girl, who up until a few weeks ago skirted her own responsibilities to this court. Ember is kind and she is beautiful, but she is not ready—nor may ever be ready—to be a queen.”

The words were harsh, but Kohl knew they were true. Today Ember may be dressed like a ruler, but she was never raised to be one. She did not understand the inner workings of appeasing allies, or monitoring trade routes, certainly not the financial undertakings of the throne.

If he yielded to her, not only would he appear weak in front of the other isles, and his father, but he would be putting the people of Alentus in danger of war. He could not—would not—do that to Katrin’s people. Their people.

“Then I will not yield.”

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