Page 42 of Vows to a King
The shock of the events she relayed made Adonis still in his armchair. Not for a second did he doubt the veracity of what she said. Queen Calista had proved herself to be a true ally.
Rubbing his hand over his face, he tried to keep his irritation out of his voice. “And this midnight chat was to reminisce about my brother?”
The little humor disappeared from her eyes. “I know this is going to come as a shock but bear with me, Adonis. I have yours and Thalassos’s best interests at heart. A month ago, a land scouting team discovered your brother in the jungles of Ephyra. He was hurt pretty badly, but he’s alive. My physicians insisted that he must be induced into a coma for his internal organs to heal. He has been under my care for the last month.”
Adonis shot to his feet, the heavy armchair he had been sitting on, toppling upside down. “Adamos is alive? And you hid this for a month, Calista?” A growl emanated from his throat and he gave it full rein. “What could your motive be in hiding this big truth from me for a whole month? And here I thought I could trust you.”
“Please,” Calista whispered, her expression of calm serenity unbroken. “He was in a coma, Adonis. And for the first time in years, I was meeting a man who understood what I needed to do as a queen. A man who came to the table willing to negotiate a deal that did not actively harm Ephyra. I wanted to see if you were a better ally than your brother. And you proved to be. But now that Prince Adamos has come out of the coma, I made contact instantly. Please know that I have kept this secret from most of my own council. Only my trusted physician, two attendants, and two bodyguards know of his existence.”
Straightening the chair he had toppled, Adonis sank into it, seconds before his knees gave out.
Adamos was alive… His brother was alive. Which meant he was nothing but a fake monarch, taking what wasn’t his.
Immediately, all the consequences of that rammed at him from all directions. “You are sure it is him?”
Calista nodded. “Your brother is a six-foot-four giant of a man of commanding presence. Even hurt, it is impossible to mistake his innate royal arrogance for anything else.”
When Adonis remained silent, Calista continued. “I understand all the political ramifications that this has for you and Thalassos, Adonis. And I am willing to keep him in my care for as long as needed.”
His head jerked up as Adonis considered what the young Queen was saying. “I could not hide Adamos’s presence any more than I could cheat Thalassos.”
“Come, Your Majesty,” she said, infusing the address with gravity. “Thalassos is thriving under your rule. Do not let some misguided loyalty to your brother undermine all that you have undertaken as King. Especially when he’s having problems with his sight and his memories.”
Adonis refused to give her his assent. “I will be in touch with you, probably as soon as tomorrow morning. Guard him well, Calista. And my gratitude to you for looking after him with such care and discretion.”
The Queen shrugged off his thanks and ended the call.
Adonis had no idea how long he sat in the darkness of the room, his head in his hands. A part of was overjoyed at the fact that Adamos was alive and well. And another darker part of him resented the hell out of the fact that he would give up the throne he had a taste of, already.
* * *
“Adonis?”
Jemima’s breathy whisper from the threshold of the vast room made Adonis jump from numb stillness to exploding action. With a curse, he closed the video call browser, switched the laptop off, and took a long, deep breath before he turned. “You shouldn’t have gotten out of bed, Jem,” he said, keeping his tone steady through sheer willpower.
Whatever he thought he could hide from her, it was too late. “Was that…” She rubbed under her eyes with her knuckles like a child, but there was nothing childlike about the fear and something else that flashed in her eyes. “Did I hear that right? Calista said Adamos is…alive.”
Adonis cursed, feeling itchy and restless under his skin. But the last thing he could do right now was to take to the skies or push himself off the cliff of a mountain. Not when his brother needed him and… Jemima needed him. For just a second, he regretted everything he had become part of in the last three months. And then, he hated himself for the thought.
“We will discuss it later,” he said, knowing that he sounded dismissive and imperious. He had never aimed that tone at her but right now, he felt raw and reduced to his lowest denominator and didn’t want to be examined with her brand of brutal honesty.
She ventured into the room, like the storm suddenly raging outside, and closed the doors behind her. A mesmerizing sort of resolve etched across her face when she reached him.
“Queen Calista called you to let you know that Adamos is alive. Clearly, he survived the plane crash. Why is he not here then?” With each sentence that she gave voice to, anger surged through her. “Why is he playing this cat-and-mouse game with us?”
Adonis thrust a hand through his hair. “He is not well. There’s something wrong with his sight and apparently his memories come and go. Calista told me he only woke last night from a coma that he’s been in for the last month.”
“He does not remember who he is?” Jemima’s question rang out like a missile, ricocheting against the silent walls of the room.
“I don’t know,” Adonis said, his own frustration bleeding into his words. “I need to consult my mother and the crown council and the high priestess immediately. This calls everything into question.”
Shock nearly distorted the aching loveliness of Jemima’s features. She grabbed his hand, urgent desperation radiating from her. “Are you mad? There is no need to bring this to the crown council or your mother even. It’s cruel to give her hope when we don’t know what is happening with him. There’s a reason he has chosen to hide himself from her and Thalassos. You should continue to do the same.”
He pushed away from her, a riot of conflicting emotions swirling through him, making his head dizzy with confusion. “I have no right to the crown of Thalassos, Jemima. It belongs to Adamos. It has always belonged to him. As long as he’s alive, all of this…” He waved a hand between them, gesturing to the hall they stood in, to the bloody palace itself, “is a lie and I am nothing but a pretender to the throne.”
“That’s not true,” she said, conviction bleeding from her every pore. “In a mere three months, you have made welcome changes to Thalassos that even the crown council couldn’t deny. You were born for this, Adonis, even if it took a circuitous detour for you to get here. I refuse to let you walk away from this. If we told Queen Isadora, I am sure she will say the same.”
“But I’m not even legitimate. You heard his ramblings that day. Knowing the truth, knowing that I was born of a palace maid, knowing that now the true heir is alive, you still think I should keep myself on the throne?”
