Page 126 of Once Upon a Crown
“I’m fine, thanks.” He closed the book that was in his hands. “Just tired.” He shut his eyes and leaned into me.
“Me too.” Even now that it was all over, I still found it hard to sleep through the night. The only thing that helped was having Cai close to me.
I pulled away from Cai and removed the satchel I’d been carrying over my shoulder.
“I did have another purpose in coming here, though.”
Anesta had come to me a few days ago, with the satchel in hand. Apparently Rhen had given it to her before he’d left for battle.
“What’s inside?”
“King Evrin’s diary.” I pulled out the old book, dropping the satchel on the carpet in front of the fireplace. “Rhen gave it to Anesta, and she thought it was best that I have it back.”
“You did go through an awful lot of trouble to find it,” Cai reminded me.
“Yeah.” I traced my fingers over the old leather spine, delicate pages carrying centuries-old secrets inside. “I suppose it was worth it in the end.” If it had not been for the diary, we might never have discovered what the Myrgonite objects were. And if not for Rhen’s sacrifice, that dangerous magic would still exist. King Evrin was right. Some things were better left buried.
“King Aries and his men who knew about the Myrgonite stones are gone, and we know that our friends and family who know about this are trustworthy.”
“I’m not sure if I would use that exact word for Lance but it’s close enough.”
I gave him a knowing look, unable to hide my smile. “I just feel like this book was so well hidden for a reason, and while it’s pretty much impossible to get to those stones now, I don’t want to risk anyone finding out about it, even after we’re gone.”
“So, what are you saying? That we should hide it somewhere?”
I shook my head. “No, I think we should destroy it. Just like everything else about the magic was destroyed.”
Cai put down the book he’d been reading and folded his hands. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe everyone will be better off if we destroy everything.”
I kneeled in front of the fireplace and slowly started to tear the pages from King Evrin’s diary. It didn’t take much effortsince the paper was so old and fragile. One by one, I tossed them into the burning flames, watching as the words were turned into ash, slowly destroying history.
When it was gone, I tossed the leather binding in, for good measure, and finally stepped away from the heat of the flames. Cai came to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“Feel better?” he asked, pressing a kiss to my temple. I nodded, eyes still boring into the flames. “Now we can only hope that Queen Riona didn’t also keep a journal.”
I let out a snort and turned around so that I could face him, letting my hands rest around his neck. Cai’s hands drew lazy circles on my back.
“Let’s not do all that again for a long time,” I said, referring to everything we’d been through in the past few months.
“I’d be perfectly happy if we never have to do that again ever.”
I could not agree more.
“I’m sorry about Rhen.” Neither of us had brought up his name since the day of the battle. Rhen sacrificed everything for us, for our kingdoms, for me. “And I’m sorry about Cordelia.” Most of my nightmares consisted of watching Aries kill her over and over again, and I could never save her.
“I’d like to think they’re all together now. Her and Jack and Rhen.” Everyone we’d lost to this bloody and brutal war.
“Yeah.” A sad smile crossed his face. Everything felt a little more broken than it had been before, including us. But at least we still had each other.
“It’s almost strange not to have the palace full of soldiers anymore.” The court was slowly returning to its previous state. I let my fingers tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck. “Everything’s been so crazy, it almost feels too quiet. Like I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with myself.”
Cai got a sneaky look in his eye, his hands tightening around my waist. “I might have a few ideas in mind.”
“Is that so?” I feigned ignorance as he pulled me into him, pressing slow kisses to my neck. “You know what, you might be right. We need to revise all the borderlines for the nobility’s lands. So much paperwork.”
Cai let out a low growl against my skin before grabbing my hips and throwing me over his shoulder. I let out a yelp in surprise.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing, Your Majesty?”
