Page 92 of The Throne's Undoing

Terin turned to him. "You have traveled the seven kingdoms. You have stormed through fire after fire for her. Whether or not she accepts the soul bond, you were friends once, were you not?"

Graeson rubbed a hand across his face. "That hardly counts. We were both no more than children."

"She looked up to you when we were children, when Fynn and I wanted little to do with our annoying little sister. But you were always there, helping her up. You don't have to be more than that now. You can be herfriend."

Graeson arched a brow. "And if she doesn't want me to be her friend?"

Terin sighed, fatigue bringing down the corners of his mouth. "Now more than ever, she needs to be surrounded by people who care about her."

He tilted his head as he looked at Graeson, a flurry of emotions that passed too quickly for Graeson to parse.

"And perhaps you do, too," the prince added. "Because whatever is going on in your head, you need to talk to someone about it if you won't talk to Dani or me."

"Haveyoutried talking to Dani?" Graeson snapped.

While he hadn't seen her yet, he did not doubt that Dani was beyond pissed about Terin hiding his ability to speak to Fynn from her.

Terin narrowed his eyes at Graeson. "I see what you are trying to do, but changing the subject only hurts you in the end." When Graeson only stared blankly at him in response, Terin dug his fingers into his hair, pulling at the end of the strands. "I have tried, but she only wishes to yell right now. I cannot talk sense into her."

"Do you need to? Perhaps giving in to her request is what she needs the most right now."

"I do not know if that is true. She needs to move forward, not backward."

Graeson snorted. "Are you that daft, Terin? Fynn was her soul bond, but even more than that, she bears his child."

Terin's eyes widened, his face paling. "Has she...has she confirmed this?"

Graeson offered him a sad smile.

"Fuck," Terin whispered, the dire syllable ringing through the hall.

Graeson stepped forward and squeezed Terin's shoulder comfortingly before the prince walked away.

Once Terin's footsteps faded, Graeson looked down the hall. He could picture Kalisandre lying on the hard mattress almost perfectly. Her chestnut waves a mess and spread across her pillows. Her skin was pale, and her cheeks hollow.

Terin was right, of course. Kalisandre needed support right now.

But every time Graeson looked at her, he only saw his failure to protect her, time and time again.

While he knew Ellie and the queen had only acted in Kalisandre's best interest, Graeson had felt the world shift as they ripped apart her mind. He could only imagine the torment Kalisandre had experienced.

Still, he couldn't get himself to enter the room. Not now.

She needed time to heal. She didn't need him hovering over her and making things worse. And right now, that's what Graeson would do. Because as he felt the fragile invisible thread stretching from him to her, Graeson was barely holding himself together.

His bones vibrated beneath his flesh, his muscles strained, and his vision blurred.

Now, more than ever, he needed to keep a hold of himself and keep the beast contained. Because if he listened to the voice in his head for even a second, there was no going back.

Graeson, however, didn't know how much longer he could keep fighting himself.

Chapter 31

KALLIE

"She won't get up,Your Highness. We have tried encouraging her to walk around the room at least, but she refuses," one of the nurses, whom Kallie hadn't quite caught the name of, whispered a few yards away. "Well, in truth, she isn't even refusing because that would imply that she showed some sort of emotion or desire to dosomething. She will hardly even sit up unless we force her to."

Kallie's back was turned away from the healer and whomever she spoke to, but Kallie had no energy to turn around and identify them. They would make their presence known to her whether she wished to acknowledge them or not soon enough. That's how it always went, it seemed.

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