Page 9 of Steel Heart Iron Claws

And me?

Hell, I have more royal blood in my veins than her. But on paper? I’m a nobody.

“Poor little Wolfie.” Runa pouts in mock sympathy as she traces the quill feather down my sweat-soaked temple. “Iyre really did a number on you, didn’t she? And here I thought Lady Sabine was the one who ruined you.”

Sabine.

My eyes fall briefly closed.Somehow, it’s the first time I’ve heard it, yet as familiar as the grooves in my palm.

I jerk back from Runa’s feather-light touch. My eyes warn her off as I say, “What do you want, Lady Runa?”

“You can drop the honorifics with me, cousin. You’re not Rian’s lowly servant anymore.” She leans in as she whispers conspiratorially, “You’re the rightful king.”

Eyes snapping to the hallway to make sure we’re alone, I fight the urge to clamp a hand over her mouth to silence her.

Instead, I hiss, “Never speak that aloud again if you value your tongue.”

She taps the feather on the tip of my nose as she tuts. “Such a hot temper. Don’t worry yourself—only those of us in the family know your secret.”

“I wasn’t loyal to Rian because of his title.”

She snorts. “You weren’t loyal at all—not when it came to Lady Sabine.”

I lift my chin, narrowing my eyes as I calculate how many years in the dungeon I’d get for throwing a royal lady out the window.

At my silence, she slinks over to the window, gazing down at the ghost town below in mild interest. “Sabine Darrow seduced you. She used you. She drove a spike between you and Rian. And now she’s disappeared with the fae back to her father’s enemy lands.”

I scoff, “You think she went willingly with Iyre?”

“She’s a Volkish princess. A natural-born traitor. For all we know, King Rachillon sent her to Astagnon to drive a wedge between you and Rian because you two have the strongest claim to his rival throne.” She leans out the window and cups her hand theatrically around her ear. “Can’t your gifted ears hear what the townspeople are saying? They’re turning on her. They finally understand that she’s always been our enemy.”

Though I remember nothing about this mystery woman, a fierce instinct to protect her rises in me, and I grab Runa’s wrist off the windowsill.

“You didn’t know—” I pause. “Didn’t know?—”

Fuck!

Already, my mystery woman’s name is gone from my memory.

Sensing my inner turmoil, Runa spins the feather lazily in her hand, her eyes lowered to my bare chest. She licks her lips as her gaze slides to the mussed bed sheets.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” she asks.

I recoil, releasing her wrist like she’s a burning branch. By the gods, I’m hercousin.

Disgusted, I shove her away. Grabbing one of Rian’s black shirts, I slide it on and start to button it roughly, though it’s tight around my arms. “Get out.”

She drops the quill, letting it flutter to the rug, and grabs my shirt collar instead, stopping me from buttoning the upper half.

In a low whisper, she says breathily, “It’s my task to pack the Valvere jewels for the trip to Old Coros. Diamond pendants. Ruby earrings. Fae ear caps inset with turquoise. Do you know what else I found? A locket Rian commissioned when he was first betrothed to Lady Sabine. It has her likeness painted inside.”

I jolt like I’ve been bitten by a deathrattle snake. Narrowing my eyes into slits as fine as the quill’s point, I say, “What are you offering?”

“The locket, of course. It might be a poor substitute for a full memory of your so-called Fated Lover, but it’s the best you’re going to get. In exchange…” She perches her plump bottom on the desk’s edge, foisting her half-exposed breasts up, knowing that from my height, I can see damn near everything. “…I’ve always wanted to wear a queen’s crown.”

I might be a Valvere by blood, but I haven’t been schooled in political machinations as they have—so it takes me a second before realization smacks me across the face.

Her flirtation, her cunning smiles, her emphasis that I’m the true heir.

---