Page 140 of Enchanted Shadows
And as the ship shoved off to sea within a few hours, I felt rather annoyed this mission was needed at all. Not when far more promising things awaited my return.
I was playingfive-card draw with Amos and Artem beneath deck. I felt cards were a good front for getting to know people better. You had something to focus on and hold in your hands while you explored the way another’s mind worked. Their strategies.
And though Artem was only fifteen, he was destroying me. He thought I’d bet aggressively even when I didn’t have the cards to back it, and I didn’t know who he thought he was being so damn right about it.
“I sure wasn’t expecting to get beaten like this,” I told Artem as he pulled more of my chips in his direction.
“I’ve had lots of time to play lately with all the different guards,” he said with a laugh. “So I’m just more seasoned to it.”
He had a kindness and wit that reminded me so much of his sister. “I’m sorry you had to be locked away in Wylan. But I’m glad you were, that Calix didn’t find you.”
“He’s truly in jail? Both of them?”
“Last I knew Calix was on the way there,” I told the youngprince. “And hopefully they are being kept away from one another. I trust neither of them. And even less in proximity to one another.”
He let out a long sigh.
“I’m sorry for the family drama,” I admitted. “It can’t be easy being in your shoes.”
“I’ve always grown up knowing that Damek would rule. I was just the spare heir. Maybe even the spare of a spare. Seems a bit surreal returning and being told I will now rule. All of a sudden, I’m the chosen one.”
In all our trying to fix things, how many of us had even asked Artem what he wanted? “Do you want to be king?”
“Do I have a choice?” he asked quietly. “I know Damek cannot rule. I feel Zara would’ve been the best of all of us, but the people would give her more issues and trouble than she deserves because of her lineage.”
Amos shuffled the deck as both of us gave Artem the space to think.
“I do not feel prepared. I do not feel ready, but I know it is what my country needs.”
“You have time,” Amos told him gently. “It’s not as if you will be crowned king tomorrow.”
He leaned back and waited for the next round of cards, his glasses reflecting in the lantern light. “Is it true that you offered to annul your marriage to Kessara so that she could rule if she wanted to?”
“I did.” My eyes went to Amos briefly. “Though Kessara was most angry with me for it.”
“I thought you got married to save her from Calix anyway.”
He’d known all along what was happening. Kessara tried to keep him as informed as possible. Even when he was under lockdown. And I should be concerned about him telling the queen of Agria all of it, but at this point, it didn’t matter because our marriage was real in every sense of the word. “We did, but I dolove your sister. Somewhere along the way, it became real. Likely somewhere close to the beginning. From the day your sister called me out in training and told me to teach the women to punch, I knew she was different. Good different. It just took us both a moment to realize the depth of things.”
Artem smirked. “Regardless, it got her away from Calix. So thank you.”
I gave him a nod as I peeked at the cards Amos dealt me. Which were atrocious. “I do not wish to keep her from you either. But considering when we were leaving Agria we had to fight our way out of it, I don’t feel all that confident about her returning.”
“Not for a while anyway,” he agreed. Then he switched to ask which of the queen’s guards would be returning with me. Kessara had asked Amos to stay to make sure Artem was safe, but the queen refused to leave Kessara in Wylan without a guard or two of her own and was sending them back with me.
Within ten minutes, I knew which guard was more reasonable, and that the other tended to take everything legalistically. Artem might have been young, but he was as watchful as his sister, it seemed. Perceptive. It ran in the Zavatari blood.
“Artem?” I asked as our card game wound down an hour later.
“Yes?”
“If you ever need assistance from Wylan because of unrest within Agria, please don’t think it a weakness to ask for help. We want to maintain peace in the realm. Not shatter it over egos.”
He dipped his chin. “Noted.” He shot me a grin. “And should Zara be too much for you to handle, this team of women you are leading too much to handle...”
“You’ll help?” I finished for him.
“God no. I’m fifteen. The whole lot of them quite honestly terrify me. I was going to tell you you’re on your own.”
