Page 4 of A Kingdom of Lies

Althea cleared her throat, the rustle of parchment audible over the deathly silent room, then proceeded to read the letter for the third time.

“King Robin Icethorn, if you so desire the return of your father, then, in good faith, I will ensure it happens. However, without the exchange of my son’s murderer, you can expect your father to be returned to you in pieces. Little by little, bit by bit–”

“That is quite enough,” Queen Lyra snapped, slapping a jewelled hand upon the table. “We have heard the tyrant’s threats multiple times. Hearing them aloud again will not change them.”

I raised my storm-filled eyes and rested them upon the Cedarfall queen.

“Does it make you uncomfortable? Or perhaps it’s the bloodied fingertip sitting within that package that’s making you uneasy?” I swept my gaze across them all, fearful that if I moved a muscle I’d explode with power. “Can any of you imagine howIfeel? Standing here alongside you all instead of leaving for Oakstorm to take my father from Doran myself. Weeks wasted, and for what?”

“I cannot allow a civil war to start over one man.” Queen Lyra knew she had misspoken the moment the words left her mouth.

“Doran didn’t seem concerned with such issues when he sent his hordes of gryvern into Icethorn land to slay my family. He wants war, let me give it to him,” I snapped.

“May I be the one to remind you, Robin, that you have no numbers. No army who hold your banner,” Queen Lyra replied coolly. “By all means act with haste and retrieve him yourself, but in the meantime, we will continue to petition for your father’s release without the need for bloodshed.”

I heard Lyra, but that didn’t mean I agreed. There wasn’t room for rational thought in my head, not as I looked back to the blood-soaked package Doran had sent.

“And how’s that working for you so far?”

Erix’s anchoring touch landed on my shoulder.

“I understand you are angry.” She ignored my question.

“Angry?” The air of the room plummeted in temperature. I barely noticed the gasp of the serving staff as they dismissed themselves from the room, unable to stand the magic’s unnatural cold. “I’m more thanangry. What lingers inside of me is pure fury, Lyra. Perhaps I don’t need an army, not with the Icethorn power.”

“Perhaps not,” Lyra added. “But destroying Doran will only lead you down a path of more problems. He has no children to take his mantle.”

“Is this why you hesitate? Because Doran hasn’t got an heir left alive to take over the Oakstorm power? My father is the only family I have left and I’m not going to let that monster take him from me. He has taken enough.”

“You are right,” Erix said, forcing me to look at him. “But so is Lyra. We must act with caution.”

I pried my eyes off the bloodied gift that King Doran had sent alongside his letter; I could not fathom returning my attention to it. The idea made my stomach twist, the room shifting beneath my feet.

“There must be something else we can do,” Althea said, mimicking her mother’s regal voice. “Robin should not have to sit and wait for Doran to have an excuse to send yet another threat. This one is more than enough.”

“We are exhausting as many political pathways as we can. What do you suggest we do, daughter?” Queen Lyra said, tone almost defeated.

Althea’s stare flickered to the man standing behind me for a moment long enough to understand.

Defence rose up in me like the very flames Althea could control.

“No,” I gasped, looking between Erix and Althea. “No, I refuse.”

“Little bird, it is okay.” Erix stepped forward, towering at my side as he said, “There is one more thing that we can do. I will go to Doran.”

No one spoke. No one else refused him. I watched and waited for Althea or her parents to tell Erix that his idea was stupid and for him to stand back in line. But they didn’t.

“I said no.” My heart thundered in my chest, threatening to crack free of my ribs.

“Doran wants me. He has already promised Robin’s father’s return in exchange for my arrival. So, I will go. It was only ever a matter of time before he got his hands on me anyway.”

“Erix.” I grabbed him harshly, trying to spin him around to look at me, but he was as firm as a rock in the middle of a ravine. “You can’t leave me. I… I need you – I forbid it.”

All of a sudden, my hold on the icy magic slipped through my fingers. The sky beyond the arched windows lightened as the threatening clouds dispersed. The deathly chill faltered until I felt hot enough to claw the shirt from my back.

“No, you do not.” Erix’s reply was detached and cold. I could see his desire to look me in the eyes, but he fought to keep his stare anywhere else. “Doran is a deranged man. This is the only way for you to get your father back and I cannot continue to stand in the way of that.”

“Shut up!” I screamed at him, looking around the room at the cowards who could hardly hold my eye contact. “One of you say something. Someone tell him that he is wrong. Command him to stay.”

---