Page 91 of Enchanted Heir
“Goodnight, Father,” Krew provided.
Krew wasted no time getting us out of there and back to his wing. I promptly changed into my silk pajamas and crawled into bed. Krew was already there by the time I got there.
He turned to his side and propped his head up with his hand. “Thank you for playing nice tonight, Jorah. I was neither in the mood nor inclination to.”
I looked into his eyes, wondering how it was possible he had made it this long without trying to kill his father again. “You’re welcome.” I yawned, feeling tired from that morning’s training session, but remembered something and sat up slightly to look over my shoulder and out the veranda window. “And Krew?”
He reached for me and tucked me into his body, my back to his chest. “Yes, love?” he whispered into my hair.
“The rain and snow stopped while we were at dinner,” I told him. “The rain ran out.”
He inhaled into my hair. “It always does.”
CHAPTER23
“This is odd,” I told Krew.
He smirked. “You sleep with me every night, but sharing the carriage with me without Owen is odd to you?”
That pretty much summed it up. “Yes.”
He gave his head a shake.
There were two men riding on the back of the carriage. One Krew trusted, the other one of his father’s men. And then two in the front next to the carriage driver: one being Owen and again one of his father’s men. We had four Enchanted with us, and Krew, so we had more than enough magic on board.
“Are you excited?” he asked, turning to better look at me.
We were both dressed nicely, but not quite balls-at-the-castle nicely. I nodded. “Yes, but also nervous. Are things really so tense in Nerede?”
He gave his head a shake. “Yes but no. Ten years ago with the disease panic, things were also tensed. Nerede felt we abandoned them entirely. Then things calmed down a while when Wylan seemed to avoid the disease. I guess cutting off any and all travel to the other countries had its perks. Though my father would assume full credit for that.”
“So you think things will calm down again?”
He sighed. “No. I don’t think tensions will calm down until the Assemblages are over. Then possibly.”
“Sound barrier,” I demanded.
With a flick of his finger, he did what I asked, a small bubble of his navy magic reaching around just where we sat. I wasn’t sure even the guards outside the carriage would know.
“What?” he asked.
“When is your master plan supposed to happen?” I asked, rubbing my hands nervously on my navy lace gown.
Krew looked at the ceiling of the carriage and cocked his head. “Well, we were going to play nice and let the Assemblages play out. Hoping the king would abdicate to one of us, forcing him off the crown that way. He’d be a lot easier to get at and kill if he wasn’t the sitting king.”
“So even if he abdicates—”
“He will still die, yes.” Krew gave his head a shake. “I am not one to withhold chances, but my father has had numerous chances over the years. He will be a threat to whomever rules next as long as he is breathing. And even in the prison, he has connections. So the only way to give Wylan a fighting chance against his darkness is to end him.”
I found I didn’t disagree. He was right, I just didn’t like how right he was. How well he had thought out this plan of his.
“We should know more when the Assemblages are under four each. Father will let it be known which direction he is leaning toward, whether he is stepping down or not,” Krew explained.
I squinted at him. “But you don’t think he will step down, do you?”
His eyes drilled into mine. “No. No, I do not. He is too power hungry to let the crown go. He will rule until he dies. And since the Enchanted live longer, it could be a while.”
“How much longer do the Enchanted live anyway?” I only knew it was longer, but how much longer?
