Page 10 of House of Embers
“I know,” she said, softer. “Okay?”
“It’s too late,” he said after a moment. “I’ve already agreed. I will accept the consequences. That’s the price of war.”
Kerrigan nodded. The cost weighed on her as well, but she wouldn’t back down from what was needed. She was sure that she would have to do many things that she didn’t like before this was all over. And if this was what Fordham had to do, then so be it.
“Here we are,” Fordham said.
“This isn’t your chamber.”
“No, it’s not,” he said and then pushed the door open.
She shot him a suspicious look before stepping into the room. It was a large infirmary with rows of empty beds and a window that was currently open, revealing the bright moon and the Vert Mountains beyond. The place smelled sterile and clean. A pair of women huddled in a corner on the opposite side of the only occupied bed.
“Dad,” she said as she hurried across the room.
Kivrin Argon, first of the House of Cruse, the playboy prince of the Bryonican royal line, had always cut a formidable figure, and somehow he even managed it in a hospital bed. Kerrigan had spent so long hating him for leaving her on the steps of the House of Dragons, and now she wished she could get every one of those years back. He’d done it to save her, and after meeting Vulsan, her mother’s husband, she understood why. He would do anything to kill Kerrigan and keep her from claiming her right as the first heir of the Domaran Empire—not that she had any interest in that.
But it was her father’s fear of Vulsan and his enduring love for her mother, Keres, that had kept them apart. All that time, he had been suffering alone. He’d lost his spot in the Society, his potential dragon, and the love of his life all in one fell swoop when he’d been in the dragon tournament. And then when he’d found something worth fighting for, he’d had to give up both Keres and their daughter for her own safety. She’d felt justified being angry about her abandonment at the time, but she cringed thinking about her reaction now.
“Kerrigan,” Kivrin said with relief. “How did it go?”
“Fine. Fine. I mean they hate me, but what else is new?”
“They’ll learn,” Kivrin said.
“How are you feeling?”
He shrugged. “Just happy to be out of a cell.”
Kerrigan was still furious about how everything had gone down the night of the council election. Her mentor and mother figure Helly had been slaughtered by Bastian, Fordham had been mortally wounded, and Kerrigan had lost her magic, but her father had continued to suffer after the events of the arena. When he defended Kerrigan, he’d been paralyzed from the waist down. Then the assassin Isa had driven knives through his palms, staking him to the arena floor. After Kerrigan had disappeared, they’d healed him enough so he didn’t die and thrown him in a dirty cell to waste away as political leverage.
“I still can’t believe that Isa got you out,” Kerrigan said.
Kivrin’s gaze went far away. “Yes, my jailer and savior rolled into one.”
Isa was more than a mystery. Clover had claimed that she was on their side and had gotten Kivrin out of a cell to prove that, but Kerrigan would never believe it was anything more than an act. Isa was daughter to the Father, and Bastian would use her in any way he saw fit to get to Kerrigan and her friends. Considering a host of dragons had been waiting for them when Kerrigan returned, someone had leaked their location.
Kivrin reached for her hand, and his eyes lit up. “What is this?”
Kerrigan flushed. “Ah, well…”
Fordham cleared his throat behind her. “I asked her to be my wife.”
“Good,” Kivrin said smugly.
“You don’t seem surprised,” Kerrigan said.
Kivrin laughed, a choked sound. “He asked my blessing first.”
“You did?” Kerrigan asked, whipping around.
Fordham shrugged. “I thought I’d dosomethingproperly.”
Kerrigan snorted. “Typical.”
“I’m happy for you,” Kivrin said. “This is what you deserve.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. She squeezed his hand. “What did Amond say about your injuries?”
