Page 77 of Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

I swallowed, mouth dry. Okay, that was easy enough, I could manage this.

I stepped inside the castle, the smell of green apples wrapping around me as tightly as the fear wrapped around my spine.

It was grand. The walls covered in tapestries, lined with artifacts, a staircase before me. I felt so small standing in this room, out of place. I had never been around anything like this. Not even close.

“This way.”

I looked over to find the same knight who took my letter walk by me, heading for the stairs.

I counted each breath, each step feeling like I was making my way closer and closer to those crosses. And with each step a question formed in my mind.

If he had found out about Cole, about Trick, would I tell Raphael about them?

I would give up the High King in a second, but Cole? He had been good. Kind. Could I give one up without the other?

By the time we stopped in front of a pair of double doors, I was sweating and the carvings of the Priests, Sorell, Drake, and Reldron, brought me very little peace.

The street would remain safe. Cole andthe cottage would remain protected, my only prayer was that Mark wouldn’t see me on that cross and that eventually he would find that cottage and protect it like I had tried to.

The knight opened the door, taking one step in and bowing. “High King Raphael.”

I followed him, mirroring his motions, my lips pressed together. I felt a sort of peace wash over me knowing that this very well could be my last few minutes of freedom before they hung me up to die.

I had kissed Mark, told him I loved him. It was a sunny day, warmer than it should have been this close to winter. Maybe Cole would find Mark for me if he ever did return. Maybe he would show my brother what I had created.

Maybe the demons would like him as they had liked me.

It was a meeting room, or at least that’s what it looked like to me. There was a large table that could seat 12 set in the middle of the room under a giant skylight. The room was bathed in gold, the ground a mosaic of white and gold stones, painted to look like the Priests standing around the world, hands locked together. Like protectors.

I felt my shoulders relax, my thoughts slowing, stomach growling as it caught scent of the feast spread out before the High King.

Gods, I was starving.

Raphael chewed slowly, not an ounce of emotion in his studious gray eyes. He couldn’t have been more than 45, his salt and pepper hair absolutely pristine. He washandsome, but the stress lines across his features were clear.

He gave one nod towards the knight, dismissing him. “We are not to be bothered.

I refused to look back and watch him leave. They must not have thought I was any threat. Why would I be? A starving girl from the streets. All anyone had to do was hit me hard enough and that would be the end of that.

Raphael gestured to the seat in front of me as he set his fork down and politely dabbed his mouth.

That cloth napkin, I realized as I took my seat, looked thicker than the blankets I had at the house, and he was using it to wipe his mouth.

“Do you know why you’re here?” he finally asked, setting his napkin down in exchange for the wine.

I shook my head once, forcing myself into good posture. “No, your Highness.”

“Hmm. Well, I suppose there’s no easy way to go about this, so I won’t waste any time. You do understand that you and your brother have different fathers, don’t you?”

My brows furrowed, taken off-guard by the subject. “Um…y-yes, I know that.” Why start with that? What did this have to do with my thieving?

“Very good. Have you ever spoken to your mother about who your fathers are?”

I tried once. She beat me so badly I didn’t see Ket for an entire month. I hadn’t been able to walk, hadn’t been able to hardly breathe. It took a while for me to be able to leave the house again. “No,” I answered evenly.

“Okay,” hesaid watching me carefully. Several seconds passed. Seconds of tense silence. Seconds of staring. Not moving, not eating, just staring. Finally, he said, “I’m his father.”

The words didn’t register at first, and when they did, I laughed.Laughed. I laughed at the High King like the lunatic I was. “No you’re not.”

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