Page 48 of Queen of Ashes and Scars
Arielle meets his gaze head on. “I’m to be crowned queen, Peter. I’m the rightful heir.”
“You are. I see that now.”
“Then we don’t disagree. I’m glad.” She gives me the signal that means she thinks he’s saying the truth, and I relax my stance a smidge. Damn…if Peter is not lying, then my brother and his lover… I swallow hard.
Peter risks a glance in my direction. “What now?”
“Leo, let Adele in, please,” Arielle says with her lips curled down.
Sebastian grits his teeth together, his agitation palpable.
I think, on some level, we’d all hoped it’d be Peter.
Chapter24
Throne of Shadows
ARIELLE
The lights of the chapels’ chandelier flicker in the breeze as Leo opens the thick doors to retrieve our next guest. Peter Chastain wraps a hand over the ornate back support of the pew and bites his bottom lip. I follow his every move, still unsure about him. His thoughts are like sand, slipping through my fingers as I try desperately to make sense of his inner musings. He did plan to overthrow me before, and he’s livid that Sebastian defied him, but his keen mind is quickly going through the pros and cons of each scenario, calculating his odds to remain in power.
“90% of regents destabilize reigns, and 23% are murdered in the first year, but too many men have the princess’ ear already. And Sebastian will do everything in his power to humiliate me…”he thinks.
I leave him to his statistics and concentrate on Adele. She walks into the room, holding her pregnant belly, and I watch her father’s reaction.
“Poor sweetheart, they could have let her be. It’s not like she has any political insight, and she’s so close to labor.”
I press my lips together. Unless Peter knows I can read his conscious thoughts, he’s not scheming with his daughter to murder me, that’s for sure.
“Adele, welcome,” I say quickly, knowing I let the silence run a little long.
Her gaze flies from her father’s pout to each of my men. “What’s going on, Ari? Why did you wake us up at this hour? Is there trouble?” She walks up the aisle but stops a few paces before she reaches her father near the front row.
“Yes. A band of mercenaries has been following me for weeks, ever since my Nightfall. We thought they were assassins sent by the Zhaos, but new information implies they’ve been hired from within this court.”
The bloody tears in her red eyes are gone, and her face slowly wrinkles into a desperate scowl. “Will it never end? First Ludovic, then Victor, then you…” she chokes up and hides her disgruntled face in her palms.
“When you’re dead, I will finally be free to rule this court as I see fit.”
The last part catches me by surprise, and my mouth opens on a silent gasp.
By Nyx…it makes sense.
Why would she be crying? Why would she mourn her husband when she was so clearly not in love with him? She’s just faking it. When we summoned her, she genuinely looked like she’d been crying her eyes out for hours…
My eyes fly to Alec, my brain still trying to put the puzzle together as I warn him.“It’s her.”
But before my royal guard can even acknowledge my revelation, the air blurs, and when I find Adele again, her arm is wrapped around Leo’s throat near the exit. Her voice has completely changed, sharp as glass as she says, “How did you know?”
My pulse grows cold at the sight of her long red nails sinking inside the tender flesh of my first-blood. “Stop!”
“Nobody moves, or he’s dead.”
There’s no doubt that she will kill Leo if any of us try anything. A big part of me is screaming that she will kill him regardless, her mind like an endless well of bitterness.
“They killed him. Killed my love just like that. I should tear out their hearts and feed them to my little one. I’m going to make them all pay.”She tightens her hold around Leo’s neck. “I saw it in your eyes, just then. You knew I was lying.”
“Yes,” I admit, trying to buy time.
