Page 28 of The Endless War

She barked out a laugh. “You are most definitely Coralyn’s protégé—she always did love keeping secrets for the sake of it.” Rising on her toes, Amelie frowned at his throat. “Already closed itself, so we’ll leave it alone. Turn around.”

Exposing his back rarely ended well, but there was no helping it, so Keris turned.

“What befell Coralyn?” Amelie asked, hands cool against his back as she assessed the wound. “Our spies have been otherwise focused, but I asked for them to watch for her.”

Keris’s jaw tightened, and it had nothing to do with the pain of his injury. He debated what to say, the part of him that would never forgive his aunt for what she had done to Zarrah demanding a voice, but he shoved it away. “My father was supposed to die during Aren’s rescue. When that didn’t happen, someone needed to take the fall. Should’ve been me, but Coralyn beat me to it and confessed to having orchestrated the whole affair. My father intended to allow Serin to ply his trade on her for more details, but Coralyn was never one to let him have his way. Drank two bottles of his finest and then silenced herself.”

“And they say Maridrina has no queens.” Amelie immediately segued with, “This needs to be stitched. Do you want something to bite down on?”

Keris shook his head, taking a seat on the bench she gestured to. He allowed his mind to drift down into itself, barely feeling the bite of needle and thread as he relived the memories the conversation had brought to the surface. Of Coralyn in the hole beneath the palace, face bruised and gown covered with dirt as she said,I resolved to kill Zarrah. Aided her quest for vengeance for her mother’s death.

God help him, but he’d hated Coralyn in that moment. Hated how she’d justified her villainy with her desire to protect him. To protect their family. The hypocrisy of his fury was not lost on Keris now, for he’d done the same to protect Zarrah, only to earn her hatred. A vicious circle of behavior where the ends always justified the means, yet he couldn’t step clear of it. Couldn’t accept the consequences that would come with being anything other than a villain.

You are your father’s son. A Veliant to the core.

He tensed, hating that he’d spent his whole life running from something that couldn’t be escaped.

“Nearly done,” Amelie muttered. “That woman is too quick to violence for her own good.”

One of his eyebrows rose. “Not a supporter of Queen Lara’s reign, I take it?”

She spat, a glob of spittle striking the smooth tiles of the floor, only for her to immediately curse and toss a cloth over the mess she’d made. “This blasted place grinds my nerves. Give me a good dirt floor, I say.”

Possessed of a significant dislike for filth, Keris disagreed but said nothing as he waited for a response to his question.

“You a forgiving man, boy?”

He shook his head.

“Likewise,” she muttered. “Not a forgiving bone in my body, especially for those who hurt me and mine.”

“Like I did.”

He couldn’t see her face, but he felt her frown as her hands paused in their motions. “It’s different,” she finally said. “You attacked from the outside, whereas she struck from within. It leaves a deeper wound, and while I will accept Lara and respect her for what she has done to atone, I will never forgive her.”

“Is the rest of Ithicana like-minded?”

“Some,” she answered. “And some see her as the one true queen and fall to their knees in her presence, believing her chosen by the guardians of Ithicana. Perhaps even by God himself.”

Keris grimaced, having little tolerance for fanaticism.

“But most are so consumed with rebuilding their lives, with surviving, that they do not think of her at all.”

Reviled. Worshipped. Or forgotten. A rush of pity filled him that Lara, after all she’d done, was faced with a lifetime of such treatment, and on its heels came anger. “You don’t deserve her.”

He started to rise, wanting no more part of this conversation, stitches be damned, but quick as a viper, the cursed old woman caught him by the hair and jerked. As his ass smacked back down on the bench, she said, “Aren shares your views. He wanted to abdicate and take her away, but Lara refused. For better or worse, she has chosen this life, so keep your smart mouth to yourself and let me finish. Ithicana will suffer Maridrina’s wrath the same whether you die from a festered wound or from Aren tossing you to the sharks.”

“My point stands,” he said between his teeth as she jabbed the needle into his flesh. “And …” He silenced the threat rising to his tongue because it was an empty one. “And while I enjoy hairpulling in certain circumstances, you have my assurance that those circumstances are not forthcoming.”

Amelie cackled and slapped a hand against her thigh. “Must be in the blood. Your grandfather loved having his hair pulled when—”

“There are some things I don’t need to know.” Though he’d been aware that this woman had once infiltrated the harem as one of his grandfather’s wives, Keris still hadn’t been ready for such a visceral reminder.

“If it helps, when I was your age, I looked exactly like Ahnna but with bigger tits.” She chuckled, fastening a bandage around him. “Smelly old bastard was putty in my hands.”

It did not help.

“On that delightful note, thank you for your assistance.” Rising to his feet, Keris pulled on his shirt and coat, wanting the security of the leather despite the oppressive heat. “Where can I find him?”

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