Page 46 of The Shattered Kingdom
It wasn’t ideal, but considering there were no plans for him to ever step into real power, my mother and the council didn’t spend much energy trying to repair the relationship. They focused on me instead.
Abby clears her throat. “Kie—”
I shake my head, stopping her. I already know where she’s going with this, and I don’t care to discuss my mother’s death right now. There are more important matters to focus on, and the royal family doesn’t mourn. The kingdom doesn’t stop moving, so neither can we.
It’s what my mother said to me after my father’s death, and it’s what she’d advise me to do now.
“I should brush up on foreign policy,” Mason says. “Given my ties with the shifters, that’s where the faeries will be aiming their jabs.”
I nod, in complete agreement.
Abby chews at her bottom lip. “Do I need to come to court?”
“Yes.” Mason and I speak in union, but it’s Mason who continues. “You’ll remain with us until we find Lillian and Callie.”
Abby’s presence will raise questions, specifically about Lillian and our lack of a wife or mate. We aren’t formally announcing Abby’s position, but we aren’t going out of our way to hide it like we were with Lillian. I hesitate to make any formalannouncements until things have settled.
Abby is weak, and if we confirm our tie to her, she’ll become a target. Mason and I were set to have a political marriage, and many will feel jilted when they discover we’ve chosen a human female. Abby doesn’t know how to lead a kingdom, and she doesn’t show much interest in learning.
She doesn’t even want to be here, for fuck’s sake. Just yesterday, she was asking me to take her home.
Mason gestures to the door. “Shall we?”
“Yes.” I shoot Abby a fleeting glance before exiting Mason’s room. “I’ve had study materials brought to my office.”
Mason takes a long moment to respond. “We shouldn’t be out.” He glances at Abby, concern written plainly across his features. “We can better protect Abby from our home.”
“We need to convey the impression of confidence. Abby is safe with us.”
I say the last bit for her benefit. The kingdom is on high alert, and there’s no way for Lillian or Callie to enter without us noticing. My mother wasn’t prepared, but we aren’t going to put ourselves, or Abby, in a similar position.
It’s a short walk to my office, and Abby is suspiciously quiet the entire way. What’s she thinking? Does she worry we can’t protect her? She walks between Mason and me, pointedly avoiding touching either of us, and storms ahead once we enter my office.
Abby helps herself to my desk chair while Mason and I stand at the long table in the corner of the room. It’s piled high with books, most of which are on foreign policy. We have a human mate and a shifter king. The faeries will be most concerned about how we intend to handle that.
A map of the shifter lands is laid out, and I brush it aside before reaching for the policy book our tutors forced us tomemorize when we were teenagers. Mason groans the same way he did back then, and he swipes the book from my hand before sinking into a chair.
Abby rips open my desk drawers, and I avoid looking over. She’s going to find the plastic tiara and peanut container, and I don’t care to see her angry expression when she does. I keep my focus on Mason instead.
“I don’t remember this book being quite so thick,” he says.
I hum. “That’s because you were given a modified version.”
His discussed the most critical topics, but my copy dove deep. As a prince, Mason was expected to learn more than most, and he probably has more knowledge than even our most involved nobles, but I was held to an even higher standard.
“The benefits of being king,” I say, cracking a smile. It’s almost genuine.
Chapter Seventeen
ABBY
THE BEDROOM DOOR creaks open, the noise just loud enough to pull me from the deepest edges of sleep. I’m still heavy, though, my body weighed down with exhaustion. Kie and Mason spent all day studying policies, traditions, and polite responses for court. I was excited to listen in at first, but the conversation quickly grew tedious.
Mason would say something ninety-five percent correct, and Kie would quickly intervene with alternatives. Then they’d bicker like an old married couple.
My sheets are pulled back, the movement further waking me. I already know who it is, and I bury my face into my pillow as I work up the strength to speak. I just want to be left alone.
“Go away.”
