Page 53 of Fragile Oath

I wanted to fall to my knees and beg forgiveness nearly as much as I wanted to scream at his failure to protect me, his refusal to even try.

Instead, I squared my shoulders, greeting him with a deep nod in the Socairan fashion.

“Uncle,” I said respectfully.

He looked me up and down, disapproval evident in his dark gaze.

“Galina,” he responded.

Not niece. Notmy dear. Just Galina, cold and distant as the mountain town we hailed from.

He turned to the prince. “Thank you for escorting her, but I will speak with her privately now. This is a family matter.”

“Of course it is,” Oliver said congenially. “And in her time here, she has become family to us. So I’m sure you’ll understand why I wish to stay.”

Did he even realize that he was lying, that I wasn’t anything close to his family anymore? That Davin and I hadn’t spoken more than a handful of words since Alexei’s corpse hit the ground?

My uncle bristled, and I felt both disloyal and foolish for hesitating to assure Oliver that I was fine in this room, safe with the man who had half-raised me. But I couldn’t bring myself to argue.

“Very well,” Uncle Mikhail gritted out.

I settled onto the long cream-colored sofa across from him, bracing myself for whatever came next. Prince Oliver crossed the room to the liquor cart near the large bay window to pour us each a dram of whiskey. As soon as his back was turned, my uncle finally addressed me, speaking in our native Socairan dialect as a clear dismissal of the third party in the room.

“Do you even begin to understand the repercussions of your actions?”

Was he talking about my parents, his pride, Nils’ wrath? Either way, ever since Alexei’s threat, I had suspected the answer was no. I hadn’t fully comprehended the fallout, and I still wasn’t sure if I did.

“I don’t know,” I said, responding in the same language.

Though I meant no disrespect to Oliver, it would only incense my uncle more to deny him that. Besides, I had a suspicion that the prince could understand us just fine, if he was anything at all like his son.

Mikhail deflated a small amount at my honesty.

“You put your family in danger.” Was he concerned about that, when he had willingly handed them over? Had he been given no choice?

“They’re safe now,” I said before I could consider the implication.

He narrowed his eyes. My uncle was many things, but he was not stupid.

“How could you possibly know that?” he demanded.

I was spared from immediately answering by the prince’s return. He held out a glass of whiskey to Mikhail and pressed another into my hand. Though I didn’t care for most whiskeys, I sipped at it gratefully, using the burn in my throat to center my scattered emotions.

When I looked up, Mikhail was still studying me for the answer I was unwilling to provide. A muscle clenched in his jaw.

“I see,” he said. And the worst part was, I believed that he did see, that he had put together exactly where I had been and why I had returned with Davin.

He knew that Alexei had come for me. He must have suspected it had been a possibility to have come to the conclusion so quickly. My heartbeat raced in my chest.

“I suppose that answers the question of why you willingly left the place you were so desperate to escape to,” he said before raising his glass to his lips.

“I would not say willingly,” I bit out before I could stop myself.

His eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn’t read. The crackling of flames in the hearth punctuated the yawning silence for several heartbeats until he decided to speak again.

“Nonetheless, it is time for you to come home.”

“Home,” I echoed, the word as dissonant out loud as it had been in my head.

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