Page 32 of A Baron of Bonds
“Did you know what Heimlen had done?”
“This is not the way to begin this conversation.”
I shook my head in disbelief and spoke slowly, “You gave me to the man that killed thousands of your people. It is a simple question to answer. Did you know at the time of my departure from Hyrithia that he was the one who had created and spread the Black Fever?”
Her jaw clenched. “The Prince would have died.”
“Iwould have died.” I stepped forward, my hands shaking. “I wassecondsaway from dying that night in Felgren.”
“I was deceived by the misinformation of your death. I have been living with this guilt of sending you to a monster for the last seven years, and this is how you greet me? This is how you speak to me, knowing I have suffered greatly at my decision to save my son and send you away, hoping with every piece of a mother’s heart that you would survive under Heimlen’s rule?”
My lips trembled and my eyes welled with burning tears. “Yousent me to my death. My life as a sacrifice was Heimlen’s only intention for my power in Felgren.” I scoffed and pulled my sleeve under my nose. “And you would put to trial the man who saved me. You would condemn and judge the very person who stopped me just in time from destroying myself. The man I love and will bind my life to. You say you were deceived; I say we both were saved. Without Revich, I would not be here today before you with my memories returned and my head clear of its darkest spaces.”
“He lied. He claimed you were dead. If he was so noble and good, he would not have deceived your mother, your brother. Look at what has become of Philius. Look at what Revich’streason has left in its wake. Open your eyes, Karus. Your love for him is irrelevant to the damage he has caused.”
“You blame him for the state of your son?” My blood was heating, my anger showing itself, pricking my fingers in a green glow. “And what of the state of your daughter? Who do you blame for that? What punishment do you place upon yourself for giving me away to a man who was willing to murder?”
“I had no choice.”
I laughed, wiping my cheeks. “I see that, My Queen. I see that it was my life or his, and that was no choice at all.”
I took a deep breath, shaking my head. “Revichhad no choice. He knew that if he told you the truth, you would have fought with all you had to bring me back to Hyrithia. And then where would I be? What state would I have continued to be away from him?”
“He—”
“Hesavedme. He saved me from Heimlen, he saved me from myself, and he saved me from you.” I stepped closer and spat my next words. “You willceasethis trial, you will make amends with the Baron of Felgren, and you will tell the world of what he has done.”
“The trial will?—”
“The trial will not commence!” My voice echoed through the hall in a visible glow of emerald light. “You will meet with the leaders of Arcaynen and tell them you were mistaken. You will relate our story, and they will welcome Revich as the Baron of Felgren who is good, and powerful, and leads with the intention of making this isle a better place for all who live in it.”
She swallowed roughly and steadied her breath. “You have much changed. I see that you did not heed my lessons of self-sufficiency.”
“No, I did not, and I stand before you now, stronger because of it.”
She placed a hand on my cheek, a single tear sliding down her face. “I will think on your words. There is much you have yet to know.” She stepped away and quickly wiped the tear from her chin. “Now get some rest. Baron Revich sleeps next to your old room.”
Turning quickly, she grabbed her gold satin skirts and swept down the hall in dismissal.
I did not watch her go.
I had somewhere to be.
I slipped silently through the castle, turning corners and winding my way down stairs, not bothering to reminisce on my childhood home. My heart pounded through my chest at the thought of being alone with him, and I began to run, passing servants who lit the sconces and lit my way to the only future I would ever choose.
I rounded the corner of the guest room hall and saw his back. His head was bent, one hand in his pocket, the other at his neck as he paced before the bedchamber doors.
“Rev,” I whispered, breathless and on the brink of being the happiest woman alive at the sight of my lover waiting for me in the dark.
Nothing could compare.
He turned as I ran toward him, lifting me as our bodies collided, no words said or needed as our lips touched for the thousandth time.
And for the thousandth time, the world stood still. He in my arms, me in his and it was just us two. Just our souls living as one, living in the peace of knowing that this was right, that this was good, and needed, and the most powerful thing we could ever wield.
I didn’t want to dwell on what I’d just learned. I didn’t want to ruin the moment of happiness on his face with talk of how the mother who raised me knew she sent me to a monster.
So, in the true nature of myself, I said nothing.
