Page 88 of The Enemy's Daughter

“Alive.” He lowers himself to sit on the bed with me.

That single word both makes me rejoice and devastates me. So Tristan wasn’t able to escape. I call out for him with the connection, like casting a fishing line into the water. It returns empty.

I glare at the man I thought was my friend. More than a friend. We were going to change the future together. Make things better for the clans. “You slit Tristan’s throat.”

The hand he was running through his hair pauses.

“You could have killed him.”

He gives a strange laugh. “That was the point.”

I don’t know what to do with that.

“It’s war, Isadora. It’s ugly.”

And not that long ago, you hated it too.

He speaks to the side of my face. “I know it’s black and white to you, but it’s a privilege to be able to stay out of it the way you have.Not all of us have been given that chance.”

Pressure builds in my ears until they start to ring. I can’t blame him for the mistaken belief that this is a two-sided war with Kingsland; he’s only been following Father’s lead. But what he nearly accomplished in Tristan’s living room was not about survival. His life was not in danger. It wasn’t kill or be killed. Liam attempted murder because he didn’t like that Tristan was married to me.

It was jealousy.

But I don’t dare say that to his face. Liam is my only source of information, and if I want to see Tristan again, I can’t push him away. My chest heaves with an inhale as I bite my tongue.

“You want to know where he is, don’t you?”

My gaze returns to him.

His shoulders drop, and I realize it was a test. Liam shoves to his feet, then paces the floor, agitation wafting off him with every step. “What did he do? How did he get such a hold over you so quickly? You said it was their magic, right?” He stops long enough to sear me with a look. “We need to sever it. There has to be a way.”

No!

But as his fists clench and unclench and a desperation fills his eyes, I realize keeping Liam as an ally is going to be more challenging than biting my tongue. He thinks I’m still his betrothed.

Technically, I am.

His boots thump as he abruptly comes to a stop. “Do you understand the gravity of what’s going on?”

I school my face to be submissive. “Yes. I’m sorry. I just—”

His head ducks, searching for my gaze. Begging me to look at him. “No, I don’t think you do. Isadora, if we don’t sever everything between you and Tristan, or if word gets out that you choseto willingly stay in the Kingsland, you’ll burn. It’ll be treason, and even your father won’t be able to save you.”

His words strike terror in my body even though I always knew my choices could lead to this. The clans might’ve forgiven me for the things that happened against my will. But he knows what I know:I am guilty of treason.

Is that why Liam tried to kill Tristan? Was he eliminating the evidence?

“Nobody can know you were married.”

I swallow hard.

“Nobody,” he repeats sharply.

I nod because he’s right. But then steel claws sink into my heart. It might be too late to contain it. “Percy knows.”

He lets out a humorless laugh. “Percy stabbed Farron Banks for you; I think your secret is safe with him.” His shoulders seem to roll inward. “Fates, even before that, Percy was the one to convince me to challenge to be the leader of Cohdor. He knew your father’s plans to give your hand in marriage to a clan leader, and he also knew how I felt about you. If not for your brother watching your back, you could be betrothed to Gerald right now.”

The truths keep coming, hitting harder and harder. I never considered that Percy stabbing Farron was something he did for me. I thought he was helping Liam, his friend.

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