Page 61 of The King's Queen

“Two days, Rowan? You stayed away for two days!” I hiss, not caring that I sway where I stand.

“Ver, let’s get you back to bed.”

“No.” I push hard against his chest. “No, not until you offer some explanation for all of this. I thought you were dead.”

Rowan chuckles, but there is no humor in his voice, only this lingering tinge of exhaustion. “Then you understand how I felt when I heard from Kya that you hadn’t woken up in that time.” He steps forward slowly, and I swallow hard. “I couldn’t get in. Someone was always by your side, whether it be Lucius, the king, or a maid. I had to wait for an opening, but trust me, I was outside your window every night just waiting and blaming myself.”

The king? No one had told me that my father had come to visit. He’s never come to my side while ill or injured, he didn’t even after the incident with Irene. I had been closer to death then than I am now.

My fists fall to rest by my side. Rowan steps forward, prying my fingers open and massaging my palms until I release the tension entirely. Tanja and Torin watch from my bedside with curious yet knowing eyes. Blaine keeps his gaze on the floor.

“It’s not your fault,” I whisper.

“Like hell it isn’t.”

My head snaps back to the source of the voice. Blaine stands now, his fists shaking with barely controlled fury. His shoulders square, and his posture stiffens. His face contorts into pure rage and hatred as he beholds the mercenary king, so much so I find myself shifting my weight to stand between them.

“If you hadn’t had insisted on taking her to that place alone, then she wouldn’t have been in danger. No, let me rephrase that,” Blaine seethes with such all-consuming darkness. “If you hadn’t had taken advantage of her, no. If you hadn’t had even met her in the first place, none of this would have happened.”

I startle with shock. “Blaine…”

“She wouldn’t have had to stain her hands. She wouldn’t have had to kill someone.”

I suppress a gasp of surprise and indignation as Blaine speaks. I know he has never liked Rowan, nor my solution to my betrothal but this… this is pure hatred written across his face as he stares between us both.

Rowan snorts. “Oh, I see what this is. Someone doesn’t like that Vera isn’t under his thumb anymore. That she doesn’t need him to defend her.”

“More like how you’ve turned her into a murderer!”

Murderer.

The word drives a blade through my heart. I fight the urge to keel over and vomit. Murderer. That is what I am now. It is what I have been for a long time.

Tanja gasps, and her eyes narrow to slits. She grabs her skirts as if to stand when Torin grabs her by the elbow and shakes his head. Blaine watches this encounter, and his face softens.

“I didn’t mean that.” His voice lowers into a plea. “Vera, please. I didn’t mean it like that.”

I take a shuddering sigh. Deep down I know he would never view me that way. It is Rowan he sees as the monster, the one who has stolen and corrupted the woman he loves. But it doesn’t matter who the sword is aimed at if the blade is double sided.

Rowan peers down at me with concern but doesn’t say anything else. For once he swallows his pride and bites his tongue. He eyes undress my vulnerability and beg me to say something.

Finally, after a long pause, I look up and glare in Blaine’s direction. My voice is cold as iron as I speak, and the other four flinch. “How do you think they fixed your leg?”

Chapter24

Rowan

Vera looks up, her eyes sorrowful and red-rimmed. My heart gives an audible crack at the sight of it. Torin holds down the Lady in Waiting, who looks ready to smash the captain’s face in. I can’t say I blame her as I barely restrain my own fury.

“How do you think they fixed your leg?”

Verosa’s response takes all of us aback, with Torin going as far as to clutch at his chest. Blaine’s face quickly falls.

“What?”

“How do you think they fixed your leg?”

“Ver-“

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