Page 60 of Married By Treachery

“Let us hope she ends our curse once and for all,” King Issachar said. Edom’s head turned, and he glanced sideways at her while King Issachar closed his eyes.

“May the Fates give to you of heaven’s due and earth’s glory—an abundance of love and all the color absent from this world,” King Issachar began. Where his voice had been quiet before, now it echoed with his power. Weaving promises into the continuum of time and space, across planes of possibility, and Raquel’s entire body suddenly felt bathed in the sun’s brilliant warmth, as if his words were knitting her into the tapestry of his new future.

“May this kingdom serve you,” King Issachar continued, “and her people bow because of your just mercy, and may you lord over your kith and kin, and the sons of your kith bow before you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”

With every word, that warmth bloomed hotter, brighter, until Raquel’s entire being felt aflame.

This was the blessing Jake had spoken of. The one he’d needed so that the title of heir would pass on to him.

So thathecould fulfill the curse.

And now he was too late, wherever he was. Edom had secured it from their father.

Her blood was his now.

Prince Edom reached out and placed his hand over his father’s. “Thank you, Father. I will fulfill my duty to this kingdom.” He turned his head and looked straight at Raquel, and his black eyes glittered. “And to mybelovedbride.”

Raquel stilled, gazing at him in confusion, but then the door burst open, and an enraged Prince Edom barreled through.

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“What have you done?” this new Prince Edom roared. His eyes were wild, and one of them looked as though it was beginning to bruise.

The first Prince Edom, the one who had accepted King Issachar’s blessing, stood suddenly, shoulders back and chest puffed out with victory. King Issachar looked utterly bewildered, glancing between the two Edoms, who were both spitting images of each other. But now that Raquel observed them together in the same room, she began to notice subtle differences. The variations that went beyond the physical, like the shining amusement in the eyes of the Edom beside her, and the subtle twist of his lips that looked very much likeJake.

Raquel didn’t know how it was possible. She’d thought he needed his mother to mend the coat, but here he was, glamoured to look exactly like the real Prince Edom. Suddenly King Issachar’s prior questions made sense. Edom had never made it to his father. Jake had intercepted him—somehow—momentarily disposed of him, and then come to Raquel’s cell, glamoured as his brother.

Jake had stolen Edom’s blessing and birthright after all.

“Well, well, well, how nice of you to join us,” drawled the Edom beside her in Jake’s smooth voice.

That was also why “Edom” had sounded different when he’d come to take her from her cell, Raquel realized. Because it had beenJaketrying his best to match Edom’s tone. He hadn’t needed to do that when he’d come to Harran because those with him were already loyal to him.

And Prince Edom’s face twisted with rage. “Tell me you did not bless him, Father!”

King Issachar’s expression faltered, broken with understanding, and he sagged back upon his pillow as if the weight of this truth were too heavy to bear. “I did, my son, and he has received it. The binding is done.”

Prince Edom—the real Prince Edom—stopped before them, looking caught between the desire to murder his brother and beg his father. “But surely you still have blessing left for me?”

“What else can I say?” King Issachar said with exasperation. “I made him lord over you and all your kith and kin, and I have exalted him with heaven’s due and all the earth’s glory.” The king gazed upon his eldest, those milky eyes set with despair. “What else is left for you but to labor far away from your new master and future king?”

The real Prince Edom seethed, shoulders heaving, and his hands curled into fists at his sides as he glared at his brother.

There was a knock on the door.

All four of them glanced over as a guard burst through.

“Your Grace, Your Majesty…” He bowed quickly. “I am sorry to intrude, but there is—” His words trailed as he lifted his head and finally ingested the scene and the two Prince Edoms. The sight struck him mute, but a distant explosion brought him back.

It brought everyone back.

The only one who did not seem alarmed by the sound or shudder currently rolling through the floor was the Edom Imposter.

Jake.

He caught Raquel’s gaze and winked as his father and the real Prince Edom both startled.

“What is happening?” King Issachar demanded, trying to shove himself to a seated position.

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