Page 40 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

“You’re a spectacular travel partner, you know that?”

“We’ve been riding for less than an hour, is your attention span that short?”

“Sorry if I like to participate in conversation to pass the time.” He tucked his moonspun hair behind his ear.

“Sorry if I like to travel in silence.”

“Well, that’s no fun. I gave you silence the first half, now you need to talk to me.”

I ignored him, keeping my focus ahead.

“Are you nervous about seeing your mother?”

I fisted the reins in my hands tighter. “That’s a complicated question.”

“How so?” He pressed

My chest constricted. “My mother and I—” I considered how to put my mother and I’s relationship into words. “My mother and I have a complicated relationship. We’re close, but we’re also not. She has high expectations of me.”

Nico blew out a breath. “I worry she’s going to be suspicious of me arriving here unprompted. It will raise a lot of questions,” I continued.

I wasn’t due back in Arcadia for another month, that was where I was to return after Lennox and Luka’s engagement party in a few weeks, to meet up with my mother before we would travel to Alethens for their wedding shortly after.

“Sounds like my relationship with my parents.” There was a seriousness to Nico’s tone, a sadness almost, that I had never heard before.

“Do you see them often?”

His body stilled, his back going ramrod straight in the saddle. “I haven’t seen anyone in my family since I left almost two years ago to be Luka’s emissary.”

“Was that intentional?” Nico was one of the friendliest people I have ever met, he cared for Declan and Luka like family,starshe even treated Lennox, Kara, and me like family. Him having a strained relationship with his family wasn’t something I had ever considered.

“That’s a complicated question,” he said finally.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s just—it's hard to talk about them sometimes because we are…were close? Are close? I don’t know what we are anymore.” He sighed deeply. “I don’t know if we’re close anymore. We had a falling out of sorts and that’s why I decided to leave. Luka had been asking me to become his emissary for a long time so I took the opportunity to get out. I needed space from my family so I left.”

“You haven’t talked to them since?”

“They sent me all kinds of letters at first, my parents and siblings.” He shook his head. “I’ve seen some of my siblings over the years, but I haven’t seen my parents since I left two years ago.”

What had happened to make Nico avoid his family to this extent? I saw how much he cared for others—for him to abandon his family?—

“You were right, silence is better,” he finished.

We didn’t talk again until we entered the capital city.

Walking into the city of Arcadia felt like getting a hug from a relative you weren’t fond of, but were obligated to anyway.

It was my home, and at my core, I did love it. But it also held resentment.

Once I became queen I would be chained to this city.

It was my mother’s idea to send me out to the villages this past year. My one last opportunity to travel and get out of the city before I bore the weight of the crown.

Her way of easing her own guilt over me being her only heir.

“Your Highness, what a surprise! We were not expecting you.” Larkin, one of the palace guards, greeted us at the gates.

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