Page 114 of What Fury Brings
“No, but—”
“But what? That boy, stupid though he is, was right. So what? Do you think I love you because of how strong you are?”
“No, but that is why I’m your general. That is why I lead your armies.” After swallowing, she amended, “Why I did.”
“I’m not in the market for a new general, nor a new heir.”
“The nobles will never have me when they learn about this. I can’t come back from this.”
The queen nodded. “I’m not going to lie to you. Your odds are almost nonexistent. Glenaerys will make this ugly. She won’t just call you weak and unchosen. She’ll call you a liar. A traitor to the country. She will do everything she can to blow this out of proportion. I will control the damage where I can, but you must prepare to weather what comes ahead.”
“And the prince?”
“You could send word to Atalius. Make it sound intentional that you’ve had fun with his heir all this time. Then ransom him for the spare. Get the real Andrastus and make him yours. We could tell the court that you took the heir on purpose to teach Atalius a lesson. You lied about his identity for his own protection. It was all part of the plan.”
Olerra shouldn’t hate that thought. She didn’t want to give her prince back, but she also didn’t want to go through the trouble of kidnapping a new one. As if there was any point. What good would it do if the nobility already hated her and thought of her as a traitor?
“Everyone who was in this room knows the truth. I did nothing to hide my reactions.”
“They will believe the royal family over a handful of guards, whom I can pay off.”
“What of Glen’s? There’s no paying them off.”
“We will just have to hope that we can spread our truth faster than Glen can spread hers. She should have challenged you publicly on this.”
“She tried. She was cautious, in case she was wrong.”
“That’s to our benefit, then.”
Olerra hated all of this. She hated that she needed to take action. She wanted to be alone. To think without anyone watching her or expecting anything from her.
But queens did not have that luxury.
And though she would never become one now, she should still behave like one.
Her nose burned as she forced away more tears. “Do I have any other options, Auntie?”
“You mean other than giving him back? No, Olerra. Atalius will start a war over this if you don’t.”
“I don’t want to keep him,” she said forcefully.
Liar.Her emotions were a tangled mess, but it was still a lie. The queen, probably sensing this, didn’t bother to respond.
Olerra said, “I will send word to the king. He can come pick up his heir at his earliest convenience and swap him out for the spare.”
In the meantime, she didn’t want to go anywhere near Brutus’s lying crown prince.
Sanos expected a dark cell as Olerra had promised. Instead, he was carted off to Ydra’s estate. He recognized it from the carriage window, just over the shoulder of the guard who sat at his side. There were six inside with him. They exited before letting him do so.
Ydra met them at the front door. “What is this about?” she asked when she saw him and the queen’s guard.
“The queen asks that you keep a careful eye on Prince Sanos,” one said.
“Prince Sanos?”
“He is a prisoner, yet he’s to be treated well.”
“Of course,” Ydra said. “I’m happy to do the queen’s will. Thank you for delivering him.”
