Page 57 of Ties of Death

“Just as soon as your health allows, darling,” Tolomon promised. His lips curled up again on one side. “Until then, I’m here for you. I’ll take care of you.”

Take care of me like he had in my nightmares?

No—that was a stretch, even for Tolomon’s cruelty. I tried to manage another smile to flatter him, but my eyelids were drooping closed.

He stood. “I’ll let you sleep in peace.” He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. A moment later, the door thudded shut.

The silence of the room washed over me, and I drifted, letting it wrap around me like a blanket. I had so desperately wanted to go home. To see Daenn.Mother. Sigrid.

Time and again, fate conspired to keep me away. Maybe I needed to accept that my place really was here. My loyalties lay here, with my husband, as little as I cared for him.

For tonight, I let myself grieve and rage against this horrible sickness that had stolen my chance to see all that I loved again.

I drifted to sleep with tears wetting my pillow.

33

A Foregone Conclusion

Irefuse to leave Daenn’s side.

He stirs occasionally, almost like he’s waking. He hasn’t yetactuallywoken up, but I will be here if he does.

Sigrid brings me food, and Eskil often keeps me company. Slowly, he fills me in on the years I spent away, giving me details about Daenn’s reign I surmised but Daenn didn’t fully disclose himself. The picture he paints is of a good man struggling to bear the weight of his kingdom when many are against him, whether from fear, resentment, or indifferent awe.

It makes my heart ache even more than it already was.

Advisors come to me, too. I recognize all of them, though many were not the king’s direct advisors when I was a child. Evidence of Daenn’s tale of his magic striking down those close to him, I suppose.

They’ve decided that given that I’m Daenn’s wife, and the people are hailing me as a hero, I am fit to make the decisions they would normally bring to Daenn.

I don’t appreciate their vote of confidence. Or maybe it’s the inanity of the questions they see fit to present to me that I don’t appreciate. All I want to do is watch Daenn and be ready to leap up at a moment’s notice if he needs me.

All I want is my husband to wake.

Let him handle the inanity.

But I can’t have that, so I don my lowland noblewoman mask and I do my best to direct them how I think Daenn would.

Their flattery of my every comment wears thin quickly. It’s all “we are so blessed to have you here, Your Majesty” and “your wisdom is only matched by your beauty, Your Majesty.” I want to scream at them to keep their ridiculous opinions to themselves. Especially when their opinions veer in Daenn’s direction. They act like his death is a foregone conclusion.

I’m at the end of a long morning of tolerating these antics when one of the advisors, Lord Beck, clears his throat. “We have a… most delicate matter to discuss with you, Your Majesty.”

The way he avoids meeting my eyes immediately raises my guard. “Delicate how?”

“Ah, well. Securing the throne is of the utmost importance, of course.”

The other advisors present nod. They’re also avoiding my gaze.

“And an integral part of that is the, ahem, line of succession.”

Dawning shame rises in me, and I shoot a horrified glance at Eskil. His lips press together, like he’s trying not to laugh.

“You want to know if I’m with child,” I say, too mortified to dance delicately around the subject like they’re trying to do.

Lord Beck’s ears turn pink and he nods. “Given your past… Well, such a confirmation would put us all at ease about the future of our clan.”

This is the most humiliating conversation of my life. This isn’t something I want to discuss at all, much less with them.It was bad enough when Viggo pointed out my defectiveness to the clan, but this…

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