Page 112 of Fragile Oath

For the first time, it felt like I was talking to the real Gracie. Not the simpering lady of the court, but the brilliant, deadly woman behind the mask of the Viper.

I risked a tiny sip of my tea, determined to keep her talking, to stall her any way I could. “So, I am a complication. Is that how you always justify your choices?”

She sighed, reaching for her cup, taking longer than usual to examine the light-brown hue of the tea. I held my breath, my heartbeat thundering in my ears until she finally took another delicate sip.

“Sacrifices have to be made,” she said, pulling the cup away from her lips. “My father complains endlessly about the state of things, then he can’t do what needs to be done.”

“But you can,” I said.

She nodded, somewhat placated. Still my lungs caught fire with every shallow breath I forced myself to take.

“And so can you,” she said. “That’s why I really did like you.”

“That’s why you were going to let me live.” I slowly put together the pieces, the way the Viper had tried to kill me when I first arrived, then was willing to settle for my return to Socair.

“Among other reasons,” she added. “I nearly realized too late that if you had died, Davin wouldn’t have moved on.”

All she had heard was that Davin had returned from Socair with a last-minute bride just in the nick of time. She hadn’t known about our history, or that there was anything real between us. Storms,Ihad barely known back then.

I thought about all of the pain in Davin’s eyes, the shattered expression he wore when he caught up to me and Alexei, and crimson spotted my vision.

“But if I left willingly, Davin would have turned to you.” It took everything I had to keep the venom from my tone, and apparently, I didn’t do a good enough job.

“You’re the one who objected to bloodshed.” She said it like she was explaining something to a child. “I would think you would approve of my plan.”

Her plan of forcing Davin into a corner with the murder accusation, she meant. What was it Fiona had said? Everyone knew Davin marrying Gracie would be the easiest solution.

And without me, he would have done it for his family and for his people. I took another miniscule sip of my tea, hoping she would follow suit. She did.

“So all of this was just to marry Davin?” I asked.

Her gaze bored into mine. “You of all people should know what it’s like to be without power. Without a voice. To be overlooked.”

She trailed off, her brown eyes growing haunted. Then, a grim smile tilted the corners of her lips as she looked my way once more.

“You know, my brothers had it easy,” she said. “They left home as soon as they could, and my father spent his time in Chridhe doting on the princesses, happy to leave me to take care ofher.”

Did she mean her mother? She went on before I could ask.

“And when I finally did come to court, well, we both know who he spent his timedotingon then.”

“But if you married into the royal family, you wouldn’t have to worry about being on the outside,” I guessed.

She scoffed, her fingers dancing along the handle of the knife.

“No. If I married into Davin’s family, I could have become Queen.”

I furrowed my brow, and she sighed. “Do you know how many people believe the throne rightfully belongs to Prince Oliver?”

And therefore, Davin. But if she had succeeded in destabilizing his family instead of pushing him to marry her, Laird MacBay would have become King. It wasn’t hard to guess how long that would have lasted before she took care of him, and her brothers, too.

She won either way.

Gracie picked up the knife then, her expression hardening like she had read the horror playing out in my mind. My pulse picked up speed, galloping in my chest like a herd of wild horses.

“You have to know that Davin won’t forgive you for this,” I told her, still trying to stall for whatever hope there was of getting out of this.

She shrugged, as if this were an unexpected, unfortunate situation we had found ourselves in, and there was nothing she could do about it now.

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