Page 12 of Blood of Two Crowns

“Well then, by all means, oh great and mighty King, why don’t you try and see if all the money you’ve just stolen will heal them from a lifetime of?—

“Shut you’re fucking mouths.Grating on my last fucking nerve, and I have a godsdamned migraine,” Zurie called out from inside the dungeon. Her voice was unusually raspy, as though raw from screaming and crying.

I pushed open the door fully to find she’d remained just where I’d left her, sprawled out on the dungeon floor. Only now…

Mother of fuck, is she dying?

Zurie managed to roll red eyes that she strained to recover from the back of her head. Her voice was little more than a croak.“Aetra.”

Realization washed over me. Of course, she would experience withdrawals after half a fucking lifetime on the stuff.

Thalia stepped forward to gain a closer look, something like actual concern twisting her features.“Oh, Zurie…”

Zurie’s face hardened into a spiteful glare. “Why would you even bother in pretending to care?”

Thalia frowned, holding Zurie’s gaze for too long to be meaningless before silently turning and striding away.

I gave Zurie a pitying shake of my head. Her eyes squeezed shut as if swallowing back pain before she managed to speak again. “You’ve come to make your vow?”

I couldn’t help but huff a sardonic laugh. “I’ve come for you to introduce me to my father.”

“As soon as you vow what we’ve agreed upon, plus a supply of aetra.”

“Truly, your delusion knows no bounds.”

Her doll-like features slackened with numbness. “I prefer the termoptimism,Your Majesty.”

Her retortnearlymade me laugh. “Get up.”

She pursed her lips, haughty despite being covered in blood and filth anddying. “And why exactly would I do this without your vow?”

“Because, for some reason, you chose to give me away the moment you gave birth to me.”

Her expression faltered at my words. “Only if you give me aetra. You don’t have to give me anything else. Just the aetra.”

Fucking hells. This female was willing to sacrifice everything just for aetra. I squatted down beside her, studying her features… Our similarities. Something like compassion twisted in my chest as I took in her desperate state, softening mywords, infusing a calm in my voice that I didn’t feel. Based on tone alone, one would think I was murmuring platitudes and reassurances to her.

“I am going to raze and burn the fields of aetra on every Kahlohani Island. I’m going to ban it across Atratus. You will nevertouch aetra again.”

Silence stretched between us as she held my gaze and took in the truth of my words. Resignation settled on her expression.

“I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“… The dungeon?”

“Here as in… Alive. In this realm.”

“So because you can’t have aetra anymore, you’d rather die and go to a hell realm?”

She gave a bitter laugh. “Darling, thisishell.”

I glanced around the dungeon. As far as dungeons went, it wasn’t all that bad. I’d experienced far worse. For one, there weren’t even any rats. I fuckinghatedrats, thanks to the handful of prisons I’d spent time in.

Andshe hadn’t even been tortured yet.

“If you think withdrawals from aetra and a little solitude in a dungeon are the worst form of suffering imaginable, then you’ve led a very privileged life.”

Zurie rolled over, giving me her back. “Oh, I’m well aware. If you think this is my first time in this dungeon, you’d also be wrong.”

---