Page 47 of Crown of Betrayal and Blood

My throat tightens. “When does it get better?”

“It’s different for everyone, but eventually, time heals in its own unfathomable way.”

She gestures for me to sit up, and I do. The other maid has laid out an outfit for me. A set of trousers, a tunic, and boots all in the traditional white of mourning. Though I’d begun to dress in regular clothing, this seems fitting in light of my mother’s death.

I dress quickly, struggling to think of anything but my loss and grief.

I’m nearly twitching with the need to get out and move now that my head is no longer pounding. “Thank you.”

“Family attends to their own.” Her gaze holds mine. “Now that you’re Knox’s betrothed, we are connected by more than duty.”

My mouth drops as I head for the door, because she’s right. I hadn’t considered it before, but if I do end up marrying Sterling, I will have Rhiann as a cousin as well. “If you’re part of the deal, that gives me even more reason to marry him.”

“You call him Sterling.” Rhiann smiles as we walk side by side to the door. “Very few call him that.”

“Yes, well, I did get to know him while he was pretending to be an alicorn trainer and flight instructor.” I shrug, opening the door for both of us. “The name kind of stuck.”

The guards snap to attention as Rhiann and I pass, tracing our every step with newfound diligence.

I eye the tension in their stances. “I see they’ve been admonished.”

“Indeed.” A flicker of fleeting yet unmistakable satisfaction crosses Rhiann’s face. “Vigilance has been restored in the wake of negligence. My cousin did not take kindly to their lapses. A court member slain within these very walls, and you abducted from under their noses. He dismissed the captain of the king’s guard.”

Hyde. I recall the former captain’s swagger, that inflated sense of invincibility he wore like a second skin, his ready sneer, and fail to summon a speck of sympathy. “I won’t pretend to be saddened by that news.”

Rhiann glances around us before lowering her voice. “Truth be told, neither will I. He once told me that if I didn’t strut through the palace as if I had a giant pole up my ass, he might be tempted to woo me.” She harumphs. “As if I’ve ever strutted a single day in my life.”

Despite everything, I find myself snickering as we head for the closest exit to the courtyard. I could get used to this new, more personable side of Rhiann.

She keeps in step with me. “If we’re to be family, I would like to get to know you better. I must admit, I am heartened you are with my cousin, not because of his status but because of who he is.”

We stride through the corridors, the echo of our footsteps a testament to the vastness of the palace. Guards stand at attention, their numbers seemingly doubled, each one alert and watchful. Their scrutiny prickles at the back of my neck, reminding me of the ever-lurking danger.

“Yes, well, it certainly isn’t because of his sweet and even disposition.” I speak without thinking, but she laughs anyway.

“Then what was it? My father always joked we would have to pay someone to marry him. Or he would remain a bachelor forever. We never expected he would be the one to sit on the throne.” She cocks her head at me, and I realize she’s truly curious.

I suppose if I had a cousin who could be as arrogant as Sterling, I would wonder the same thing. “Oh, I don’t know. A lot of things, really. The way he saw me for me and not just as a title or the bearer of other people’s expectations. How he helped me when he shouldn’t have in order to assist people in need. I think it was his compassion that really won me over, and how gently he treated the alicorns and dragons at Flighthaven. He’s not terrible to look at either.”

She gives me a sage smile but doesn’t comment.

As we step outside, the sun’s warmth greets us, the light a stark contrast to the somber mood clinging to the stone walls behind us. I pause, allowing the rays to chase away the chill of shadows and sorrow.

“Fresh air.” Rhiann takes a deep breath, her gray-streaked black wings catching the light as if to absorb the day’s promise. “A necessary reprieve.”

“Something feels different today.” I watch a pair of servants hurry across our path, their arms filled with bags. “More than just the change of guard.”

“Much has changed since last night.” Rhiann makes a sweeping gesture toward the soaring spires of the palace. “Knox dismissed all visitors as soon as it was proven none of them had any hand in your mother’s death. He also dispatched soldiers to our borders.”

“Attack could come from anywhere, and we’d be hard-pressed to discern which is the greater evil, drachen or human.” Either could rip the throat out of a loving woman and leave her to drown in her own blood.

“Indeed.” There’s a grimness to Rhiann’s profile as she surveys the horizon. “We are in precarious times. Which is why we need to be ready for anything.”

The path underfoot shifts from cool marble to the soft give of grass, and I sense we’re no longer wandering aimlessly. Rhiann, with that same purposeful grace she commands in the palace halls, leads me toward the distant clatters and grunts of the training fields.

I rush to ask a final question, one I need answered before we’re surrounded by men. “Do you know what Sterling was thinking when he claimed me as his betrothed? Was he serious, or did he use it as a convenient excuse to fend off all those eager courtiers?”

My heart flutters like a trapped bird, uncertain of its fate.

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