Page 76 of Winter's Fate

“I apologize for my sister’s actions,” she said. “I was unaware of her… loyalties.”

Loyalties to themages. Making deals with them, feeding their hunger to return. Answering it with a wretched hunger of her own. Callum wanted to curse their names, but it suddenly felt like he’d only be calling them. Taunting them.

He was going to need to find some new expletives.

Hawk actually laughed. “There is no need to apologize, Princess Laena. I certainly hope I am not to be held accountable for the actions of those who call me family. And I should not hold you accountable for the actions of yours.”

Callum didn’t know if he was meant to be included among that number. Hawk’s gaze didn’t flicker toward him. He might have been speaking of Thaddeus, or even Emilia. He and Callum had never been brothers by blood, after all.

And yet, he might have met with Laena alone.

“Nevertheless,” Laena said. “I am bound to offer my apologies. And my service.”

Aglye would be lucky to have it. Would Silerith join them in unseating Katrina from her stolen throne? Would the Ruthless King emerge from his hermitage to stand against the rise of themages? Or would the country remain neutral, even rise against them, as the mages staged their return?

Hawk tilted his head, regarding her with open concern. And no small amount of curiosity, Callum thought. As if he planned to catalog every move she made, every response she gave. “I hope you are much recovered from your illness.”

If the change in subject surprised her, she gave no indication. “Indeed, Your Majesty.”

“I’m given to understand,” he said slowly, “that you are willing to overlook certain knowledge you now have about me.”

Laena met his gaze, unflinching. “I do not see any reason to overlook it. I suggest we might choose to embrace it.”

Callum nodded, as if the statement had been a test. One that Laena had passed.

“A noble suggestion, Princess. I hope it is not too much to hope that our people will also choose to embrace the power.”

“If introduced to it carefully, and by stages, I see no reason to think otherwise,” she replied.

Callum had the sense, as he had at the magepool, that there was something happening below the surface of the conversation. Some hidden meaning he could not quite grasp. Some part of him screamed that he did not want to, that he should stay in ignorance as long as he could.

That would do nothing to help Laena, or anyone else.

He stepped forward. “We need…” He cleared his throat. “I hope, Your Majesty, that we may find a way to help Etra.”

Hawk studied Callum for a long moment. And then he rose, closing the space between them in two long strides to stand before Laena. He offered her his hands.

She accepted them. Callum’s gaze fell on their joined hands. A show of friendship. A show of support.

“We do need to help Etra,” Hawk agreed, directing his response to Laena even though the statement had beenCallum’s. “As we need to help all the Vales. Which is why I would like to ask for your hand in marriage. Officially.”

The room tilted. There was no way he could have heard that correctly.

“That’s ridiculous.” The words left his mouth before he even knew he’d thought them.

When Laena turned to face him, he could see her response in her eyes, and the answer to why she’d been so quiet during the walk over here.

“It’s not that ridiculous,” she said.

It felt like the floor was dropping out from beneath his feet, like everything he’d hoped for was being ripped away. She didn’t want this. Shecouldn’t.

“I suppose Katrina wouldn’t have had it in mind, not truly,” Hawk said. “But I did. I believe she baited me. Perhaps I would have seen it, if I was not so intent on finding a wife before everyone learned of my magic.”

Callum shook his head. His thoughts felt thick, his mind foggy as he fought to contemplate what this meant. What this could possibly mean.

“The king with forbidden magic marries the disgraced princess who can’t complain,” Laena said. “Do I have that right, Your Majesty?”

She was asking Hawk, but she was looking at Callum. He knew what it meant for her to be forced to say it out loud. Someone less bold would have avoided the truth, would have let Hawk tell her a pretty lie without protesting. But not Laena. Never Laena.

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