Page 73 of A Kingdom This Cursed and Empty

My throat closed up, the mark burned into my palm, and I only had a single moment to reach deep.

“I’m thinking you’re incredibly condescending—verging on patronizing. I’m wondering if it’s a trait you were born with or one you grew into as you ruled for so long.”

Conreth stared at me, as if I were a new kind of bug he’d never seen before.

My cheeks burned as if they’d been set alight.

He threw his head back and laughed. I hadn’t expected it from the cold king, and I jolted.

“I can see why Lorian is so amused with you,” he said. I watched him.

I had to study these men who had ruled this continent for so long. I had to analyze their every move, understand their actions, their mistakes, theirthoughts.

And I had to learn how to beat them.

I gave Conreth a sweet smile. “It really annoys you that Lorian cares for me, doesn’t it?”

All humor disappeared from his expression. “What makes you believe that?”

“You’ve gone out of your way to make it clear I’m nothing more than a passing fancy to your brother. Nothing more than anamusement. It makes me wonder why—if this is the case—you feel the need to share it with me. That’s a question, by the way. Whyareyou so irritated by my relationship with your brother?”

Conreth looked like he’d tasted something bitter. Clearly, the blood vow was now making him answer too. I was small enough to enjoy that.

“Because in all these years, my brother has been committed to two things. Our people and my crown. Within days of knowing you, he was making decisions that prioritized you—whether he would admit such a thing or not. Never before has he disregarded an order the way he did when he brought you here. That makes you dangerous, Nelayra Valderyn. Dangerous not just to my brother, but to my people.”

We stared at each other for a long moment. I could see the truth in his cold eyes. The fae king had decided I was a threat. And our conversation had shed plenty of light on what Conreth did to those he considered threats.

A huge body burst into the tent, breaking whatever Conreth had done to block out the noise of the camp. I jerked, sucking in a breath. Lorian’s hand slid to my wrist, and he hauled me out of my chair, wedging his body between mine and Conreth’s.

He was in his fae form, his power twisting around him like a living thing. I stepped to the side, taking in his expression—pure, unrelenting wrath—and his eyes—cold and empty. Lorian looked at his brother as if he was the enemy.

Conreth merely held up his hand as several guards burst into the tent. One of them was covered in blood, and the fae king gave his brother a long-suffering look.

“Really, Lorian?”

“This conversation is over,” Lorian snarled, and I sucked in a breath as the blood vow mark disappeared from my palm.

Lorian spun on me, his gaze dropping to my hand. He slowly turned that gaze to the knife on the table. With another deadly look at his brother, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, herding me toward the tent exit. The guards stayed in place for a long moment, and the scent of lightning filled the air.

“Lorian,” I choked out, but Conreth must have given some signal, because the guards parted.

“We will speak later, brother,” Conreth said. Lorian ignored him, and fresh fear shuddered through me.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

During the day, the boy would escape the keen eyes of whoever had been tasked with watching him and would roam the castle instead, finding each hidden corridor and secret tunnel.

There, he would listen as the adults discussed what to do. As they whispered about plans Regner had been willing to wait centuries to put into action, and what the loss of the last amulet—and so much of their power—meant for the fae.

Slowly, the boy came to understand just what had happened.

He was still mourning his family. His father with his booming laugh. His mother with her gentle hands. His aunt and uncle and cousins, all of them dead.

But the fae were planning for war.

They spoke of villages slaughtered, of a human king who had somehow tricked his people, stealing their power.

So, he asked his brother just how the human king had achieved such a thing.

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