Page 51 of The Twisted Throne

His father ignored him, eyes fixed on Will as he answered the accusation. “I didn’t realize I needed to say it. I thought it was as obvious to you as it is to everyone else. Your brother is twice the man you’ll ever be, and every hour for the last three decades, I’ve cursed God for the law that puts you first.”

“Stop!” James let go of Will to grab his father by the shoulders, pushing him backward.

He heard the footfalls of Will abandoning the room, Ginny calling his name as she pursued, but he did not let go of his father. “When I was eight, you made me swear that I’d always protect Will. That I’d stand between him and those who meant him harm. Whether you intended so or not, that includes protecting him fromyou.”

His father’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t mean to tell me that you take his side in this? That you defend his behavior?”

“I don’t condone his behavior. Nor do I agree with his assessment of Ahnna’s character.” For which James fully intended to have a separate conversation with Will, once he was sober. “But I am always on my brother’s side. I always have his back.”

Except when you kiss the woman he’s meant to marry.James shoved the thought away.

Silence stretched, and then the rage vanished from his father’s eyes, replaced with a grief that was so much worse. “You’re just like her,” Edward muttered. “Loyal to a fault. Loyal until death.”

He only brought up James’s mother around Alexandra when he was beyond reason, but now that he had, James knew that his father would rage no more. Would only find a bottle and drink until sleep stole him away from the memory of the woman he said he loved more than life itself.

He shrugged James’s hands off his shoulders, pressing fingers to his temples. “I’ll speak to your brother. Apologize for my harsh words.”

“Now?”

“No. In the morning.”

James grimaced. “Now would be better, Father.”

“The morning. When my head is clear.” Hands still pressed to temples, his father left the room, and James knew that the apology would never come. That tonight, the only person his father would think of was Siobhan Crehan.

Alexandra knew the same.

Taking a breath, he turned to face the queen. His stepmother, though she’d been no mother to him.

“Always the hero, aren’t you, Jamie?” Her voice was soft yet cruel. “Leaping into the fray to protect your brother, never mind that all that he suffers is because ofyou.You and your whore of a mother.”

He’d long since lost count of the number of times she’d said these words to him over the years. Words made worse because there was much truth to them.

“William is innocent,” she hissed. “He has done nothing, and yet Edward hates him for no fault other than that the law names him heir and not you. The Cardiffian witch who birthed you hasbeen dead longer than she lived, yet he remains under her spell, and all know that it is because of you. You have her fell magic in your blood and hold Edward’s heart with it as surely as your mother. You are no hero, James. You are the villain who will be William’s doom no matter how much you protest otherwise.”

Normally, he silently endured her hateful words, but the limits of his patience had been tested tonight, so James said, “What would you have me do, Alexandra? Tell me what to do to make this situation better, because whether you believe it or not, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for my brother.”

“Half brother,” she spat.

James shook his head. “No. We might only share a father, but there are ties that bind more tightly than blood. So tell me what will help. Tell me what I can do. What I can say.”

Alexandra was silent for a long time, her green eyes seething with hate, and then she said, “When Edward brought you to me, your tiny hand clutched in his, I could not understand why everyone thought you a curse. I thought you so young. So innocent. So desperately in need of protection.” Her lip curled into a snarl. “I should have cast you from the Sky Palace right then and there, for you have been the damnation of all that I hold dear.”

When he’d been a child, these words had scared him. Hurt him. Now, knowing that Alexandra would never risk killing him for fear of his father’s wrath, her words only made him feel numb. “Is that your answer, Your Grace? That I take the long fall? Is that the solution?”

Silence.

“No,” she finally said. “Not even in death will her curse be broken.”

Then she twisted on her heel and strode from the room.

“I’d rather swim in chummedwaters than repeat tonight.” Ahnna collapsed on her bed, having dismissed Hazel after again thanking her for the clothing she’d made. “That was awful.”

“Which part?” Taryn asked, flopping down on Ahnna’s right, then kicking off her boots. “The part where you had to make nice with the dozens of courtiers who told you how delighted they were to make your acquaintance after spending the whole of dinner mocking you? Or the part where the man you are here to marry implied that you’d been had by the Maridrinians and were therefore worth nothing?”

Her cousin’s voice turned bitter on the last, and concern caused Ahnna to turn her head sideways to regard her. The last thing that Taryn would want was platitudes, so instead she said, “Do you have any useful advice?”

Taryn lifted her shoulder. “The king seems to like you, and that’s what is important. Edward is hale and healthy, so barring assassination, he’ll be the one determining trade agreements withAren for a long time. If my advice were not that we should cut our losses and leave this place, it would be to stay on Eddie’s good side. He seemed to enjoy your speech about the hundred cuts, so it was probably worth making William hate you even more.”

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