Page 90 of A Crown of Lies

Twenty-Seven

Theyslept,thethreeof them. Even Rowan was relaxed enough to doze a little. It seemed he’d barely drifted off to sleep when a light rap came against the door to the bath.

Careful not to disturb Rixxis and Ieduin, Rowan got up and cracked open the door. Ewan waited on the other side. He glanced back at the bed, watching Ieduin turn over before sliding through the cracked door and into the chilly night.

“What is it?” Rowan asked, bouncing and rubbing his arms against the cold.

“We’re ready to ride out,” Ewan replied. “Thought you’d like to come along if you’re not too busy.”

Rowan frowned. “I thought I was clear earlier. I can’t tonight. I promised Ieduin I would stay with him.”

“Because you’re too busy putting your cock in the elf and the big woman?” Ewan crossed his arms.

The king lowered his hands and said carefully, “You sound like you don’t approve of my choices.”

“It’s not the choices I disapprove of, lad. It’s the timing. It’s one thing to go messing around. Fine, I understand that. A man’s got needs. But the needs of the kingdom should come first, shouldn’t they?”

A muscle in Rowan’s jaw flexed. “I have always put the needs of my people and my kingdom first, Ewan.”

“Except for tonight. Because you made a promise to an elf?” Ewan snorted and spat. “Piss on that, Rowan.”

“Excuse me? Piss on a promise I made to the people I love?”

“It’s not love, Rowan!” Ewan shook his head, put his hands on his hips and paced away. “If it were, you’d be marryin’ him and not the shipping baron’s daughter.”

“Maybe I will marry him, then. Maybe I’ll marry them both,” he shot back.

“Bah!” scoffed the other. “You’ve lost your head, lad! That’s not how marriage works.”

“It can be. I’m the fucking king. I make the laws. I can make it so.”

“Aye, you could if you want Greymark to be the laughingstock of the Free Cities!” Ewan pointed a finger in his face. “It was one thing when you made the bloody pig a lord. We laughed at that. Havin’ a bit of fun, you were. And when you took the elf to your bed the first time, I was willing to write it off as a man grieving. You been so lost since Ambra, I thought maybe it’d do you some good to work it out of you. But now both of them? Together?”

“What I do in my bedroom is none of your damn business!” Rowan had to work to keep his voice low so that he didn’t wake the others.

“It is when the future of this kingdom is on the line!” Ewan gestured to the door behind them. “The woman’s a poor choice when you could have a princess, or a duchess, cement an alliance with Savarra or Qet or anywhere! Instead, you’d trade yourself for a few ships and some half sunken cabbages?”

Rowan looked away. He didn’t care that it was foolish. Maybe it was the wrong move, but he couldn’t be expected to give everything for Greymark. What about his happiness? What about whathewanted?

Ewan put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you think he loves you, but they’re mercenaries. Mark me, Rowan, a day will come when they must choose between you and coin, and they’re going to take the coin. Can’t you see that’s all you are to them? Just a good fuck and a stack of coin?”

Rowan lifted his head, lip twitching into a snarl. “You don’t know the first thing about them.”

“I know enough, lad. She’s a liar, and he’s a whore.”

Rowan’s temper flared and he lashed out before he could stop himself, he threw a punch, hitting Ewan square in the mouth. Ewan stumbled back, touching his fingers to his lips. They came away bloody.

They stared at each other for a long moment, Ewan in disbelief, and Rowan with his chest heaving, burning with anger.

Rowan lifted a shaky finger, pointed in Ewan’s direction. “Don’t call him that. Don’t youever! And you have no idea the things she’s been through to come this far. How dare you pass judgment on anyone! Least of all two people you’ve barely taken the time to get to know!”

Ewan lowered his hand and stood up straight. “I’ve loved you like a son.”

“I am yourking!”

“Aye, and I thought we were friends.”

The words were a knife twisting slowly in Rowan’s gut. His temper cooled, and regret settled in. He took a step forward. “Ewan…”

---