Page 107 of Crown of Hearts
Too late to back out now.
If he did believe I was Eloisa, he might divulge information which could be of value to us.
Something inside me dreaded seeing her again, even though I knew I couldn’t avoid Eloisa for the rest of my life. Her behaviour made me understand why Lance carried such a haunting expression when he talked about her. I believed Eloisa needed help. But this was something we could look into once we were all safely returned to Everness... or Norrandale. Cai and I hadn’t exactly discussed what would happen when all of this was over.
Aries slowed our pace, and my stomach dropped. I could just pretend I didn’t hear him call me Eloisa. Elara, Eloisa, it all sounded very much alike.
“What are your plans for the day?” he asked, looking at me.
I avoided eye contact with all my might, afraid he might see through me before I could get anything out of him.
“I’m not sure. What areyourplans for the day?”
He chuckled at the way I asked him. “I’ll probably have to see Cai again. Try and figure out what exactly the idiot’s plan is for thinking he could just march into my palace. He really isn’t fit to be king. Argon should have taken over Norrandale a long time ago.”
I had to bite back a bitter reply, forcing me to clear my throat.
“And why exactly is it so important to end Cai’s reign again?” I posed the question with the sweetest, most innocent voice I could muster.
“It’s nothing personal against Cai. Norrandale just has something that I want.”
Which was exactly what I was worried about. If Aries had any inkling of Norrandale’s secret, we were in so much bigger trouble than just a war.
“Oh?” I feigned casual interest.
We only took a few more steps before he shoved me against the nearest wall, that previously sheathed knife now against my throat.
“Now.” He bit his lip, and I sucked in a breath of fear. “How about we stop pretending and you tell me what it is, exactly, thatyouwant, Queen Elara?” He practically purred my name.
“If you knew it was me then why did you—?”
“I wanted to see if you were capable of lying. Now I will ask again — what do you want?”
I breathed slowly, wanting to keep as much composure as possible with the knife against my throat. I didn’t want to show him my fear. So, I licked my lips and gave a smile. “Don’t we all want the same thing on the same basic level?” He held my stare, and just to show him how much he didn’t intimidate me, I pressed myself closer to the knife.
“Power.”
“Is that why you’re here?” He raised his chin in question.
“Don’t be stupid.” I returned to my innocent expression. “I’m just here for my sister.”
“Hhmm.” He stepped back, dropping the knife, but not giving me enough space to move. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Queen.”
“I’ve seen the depths of hell. I don’t fear anything anymore.”
“Do you honestly believe that even with your alliance, you and Cai can defeat the armies of Argon?”
I thought about how his soldiers trained, moving as one. Disciplined and powerful.
“Argon had agreed to the peace treaty because of what happened to the villages. If we didn’t end the war, our own people would start turning against us. But I defeated Cai on the battlefield once and I can do it again.”
“I don’t need to defeat your armies,” I said. “I just need to end you. An army, after all, without their king is as good as no army at all.”
“You may be a good liar—” he tilted his head slightly — “but even I can see you’re not a murderer.”
His words ignited a fire inside my chest.
“Oh, I’ll keep you alive. But by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging for a merciful death.” For Everness, for Cai, I would stop at nothing.
