Page 12 of Her Cruel Redemption

‘Yes, and I can’t just hide here forever while my people suffer and die.’ These words burst from her with uncharacteristic heat. She closed her eyes and took a steadying breath.

‘I don’t know what you expect going to Oceatold will do to help that, Gwinellyn,’ I said carefully.

She opened her eyes again. ‘This war can’t have the full support of the Brimordian court and the people. If I was to go to Oceatold and make my presence known… perhaps I could rally support to take back the throne.’

I laughed. Her face didn’t change. The laughter died on my tongue. ‘You’re serious?’

She nodded.

I tried to imagine her at the head of an army, perhaps waving a sword and charging down the enemy. The image was ridiculous in itself, but when I pictured her charging atDraven… it was downright frightening. He’d be laughing too.

And then he would destroy her.

‘I’m the rightful heir to the throne,’ she continued. ‘You’re the one who told me I need to start believing that.’

‘That was before a magical madman decided he wanted the throne for himself and the idea of you ruling became blatantly impossible.’

Her voice dropped to little more than a whisper. ‘Rhi, he killed my father. I have to seek justice for that, if nothing else.’ My throat tightened as a hot flush of shame climbed my neck. Aether’s teeth, why did she always manage to make me feel ashamed of myself? I was perfectly content with my choices until she decided to wave them before my eyes. Not that she realized that’s what she was doing, since she believed I wasn’t complicit in her father’s death.

‘Then it sounds like you’ve already made up your mind,’ I said. ‘How do you plan to cross a war zone and enter an enemy country?’

‘Well… you’re going to help me.’

‘No.’

‘Rhiandra…’

‘I’m not going out there.’ My voice sounded tight. Panicky. ‘Not for all the thrones in the world.’

She drew herself up a little, rolled her shoulders back, lifted her chin. Her eyes took on a hard, determined gleam I hadn’t seen before. ‘If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be in this situation. Mykingdomwouldn’t be in this situation. You owe it to me and to the people I serve to help restore peace and stability.’

‘Come off it, Gwinellyn, you aren’t going to guilt me into going on some foolhardy journey to certain death with you.’

She held my gaze with that steely look. It set my insides to squirming as the silence stretched.

‘I’d be no help, anyway,’ I burst out. ‘Look.’ I swept a hand wide, encompassing the crater-marked lake bank. ‘I can’t control my magic. I’m completely useless to you.’

‘I know you’re fixated on your magic right now, but I’m not,’ she replied. ‘More than anything else, I need your support. I just… I need you to believe I can do it.’

‘I just told you trying to cross a war zone—’

‘No, I need you to believe I can rule.’ She took my hand, her expression growing ever more earnest. ‘You’re the only one who’s ever thought I needed to step up to my responsibilities as heir to the throne instead of step back. I’d never even thought of it as my throne until you yelled at me in that infirmary because I was letting the council make all the decisions after my father’s death. I was always told my role was to determine who would be the next ruler by my marriage, not that I would rule myself. All my lessons… it was always about equipping me with knowledge to be a good support for my husband.’ She sighed, dropped her gaze. ‘My nurse used to tell me I was stupid. She was always criticizing me for being clumsy or for making mistakes or for speaking up when I should be quiet. She’d mock me when I had a fit and call me the little mad princess. When I think back over it… I think that was her job. Whenever I mentioned how cruel she was to my father, he just told me that she was helping me.’

As she spoke, anger began to heat my blood. Of course. Linus had treated her like a bridge to Prince Tallius, who he’d been grooming to take the throne. She had been his pretty little Snow White, a fragile flower princess with no wants or brains to speak of. Just a girl, so of no real consequence. Best kept fondly out of the way. ‘And did you believe her when she said you were stupid?’

She nodded her head. ‘For a long time.’

I’d been called many things throughout my life, some of them false, some of them true. A whore, a witch, a brat, a regret. I’d been told I was too impetuous, too angry, too selfish, too sly. But I’d never believed I was stupid. It would be strange, to face the world without the faith that you could outsmart anyone you came across.

‘I don’t anymore though,’ she continued. ‘But I think I have a lot to learn if I want to rule Brimordia myself. That’s why I need you. When I make it to Oceatold—’

‘Ifyou make it to Oceatold. And that’s a big if.’

‘WhenI make it to Oceatold,’ she repeated firmly, ‘I’m going to need your help. I never learned to play politics. I don’t know how to negotiate an alliance. I don’t know how to rule. Butyoudo.’

‘I was only really a queen for a few months—’

‘Which is a few months longer than anyone else I know.’ She pulled my hand towards her, caging it between both of her own. ‘Please come with me. Pleasehelpme. Help me put it to rights the way you helpedhimtear it all down.’

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