Page 5 of A Kingdom of Lies

“Do you want your father back or not, Robin?” Queen Lyra’s words lashed into me like a whip of boiling fire.

The room was silent as the shock settled like ash upon us all. No one was brave enough to be the first person to speak, until Althea broke their cowardly silence. “What my mother means is it’s Erix’s choice, not ours to make for him.Stupidas it may be.”

I could’ve laughed, but not as a result of happiness. Delusion. “It’s suicidal, not stupid.”

“Erix knows the choices he must make, and the effects those choices will have.” Queen Lyra looked almost sad as she settled her eyes on my guard. “It has been a long path keeping you from him thus far, Erix. This is your decision to make, and yours alone. You came to me for sanctuary from him all those years ago. I gave you my word. I will only break that word if you are the one to make this sacrifice.”

I had to place my hands upon the table to stop myself from falling in disbelief. My knees buckled.

“It is the only way.” Erix held his chin high, his chest jutted out. And yet, when I looked at him, I saw a man struggling. As though his demeanour was calm, but a different emotion inside of him wanted out. My worry was confirmed when the atmosphere shifted. One moment Erix was calm, subdued, and then his fists shook as he clenched them at his sides. “I have thought nonstop about this since I took Tarron’s life. It was only a matter of time before Doran used his leverage over us. I cannot stand in the way and be the cause of Robin losing the last family he has.”

“Don’t speak on my behalf.” I mirrored his tension, hissing through gritted teeth. Anxiety rocked through my body, making even the dull light through the windows too intense to see. I just needed a moment, to allow myself a second to truly work out the impossible puzzle that had been put in front of me. I pinched my eyes closed and focused on breathing.

Someone’s hand found my shoulder and held it. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know it was Erix, whose touch was almost etched into my being at this point. I would know his hand and its print for all of eternity.

Think Robin, think.

It was hard to do anything but picture the bloodied part of my father upon the table. This was only the beginning, that much was clear. If we didn’t respond to Doran’s letter with our own then he’d continue sending threats. And when would they stop coming? When my father was dead, when there were no more body parts left to cut and carve to send to me?

Time was not on our side, it never had been.

“I want to speak with him,” I finally said, looking back over the crowd. “Let me negotiate my father’s return. It is the last thing we’ve not tried. No matter what Tarron did to me, he was still Doran’s last living relative. Just as my father is mine. I’m not saying what Doran is doing is right, but in a warped sense it is justified. I want to speak with him myself before I allow anyone to make a sacrifice on my behalf.”

Erix flinched at my comment.

“He may not come peacefully,” Althea warned, flexing her fingers at her sides as though she stretched, ready for a fight.

“I don’t expect him to,” I replied, jaw clenching. “I’ll be ready to greet him no matter how he arrives.”

Erix turned his back to the room, facing me with an expression of pure terror, eyes wide, the usual bright silver now a dark storm cloud that mirrored the one I harboured within. Both his hands gripped my arms as if I would simply slip away from him. “Please, Doran is dangerous. More than you could imagine. Allow me to do this for you. I will go and save any more unnecessary timewasting.”

“Why?” I whispered. “Why would you throw away your life for the sake of my father?”

I waited for him to admit his feelings, as though I longed to hear them aloud. I wished to hear how he felt for me in the hope it would conjure the same reaction inside of me. For me to feel anything but the deep, terrifying numbness that had clawed into my soul the moment my father’s life became threatened at the hands of the Oakstorm Court.

“Because I am dangerous too. You saw what I did to Tarron, what happens when I lose control.”

“That isn’t an excuse, Erix.”

He took a deep breath in, steeling his silver eyes. “You deserve the chance of normality.” His response caught me off guard. “Do not question me again. Please, just let me do this. I deserve what is to come.”

There it was. The truth that glimmered in his eyes. Guilt had eaten away at Erix, a silent assassin, devouring him from within. I could see through his false confidence as though his mask had slipped.

I sighed, longing to reach for his face and pull it down upon mine. But I stayed rigid to the spot, unable to give Erix the solace he longed for.

“Queen Lyra,” I said as the void opened within me, hungry and emotionless. Erix dropped his stare to the floor, released my arms and stepped aside, defeated. “I would like to invite Doran for a conversation between two kings. Let me speak with him before anyone makes choices they will regret.” I spared Erix a glance, offering my next words to him. “My decision is final.”

Althea smiled, pride glittering in her eyes. “Demanded like the king you are, Robin.”

I expected someone, anything, to refuse me, to tell me that my hope for an audience with Doran was wasted effort. No one did.

He may be dangerous, but so was I.

Queen Lyra nodded, silently gesturing to the decorated, aged soldier at her side. “There is one place where Doran would be foolish to bring violence. If you are certain you want to meet him then we shall do so on neutral ground. We shall send our invitation to Doran, with my seal of approval.”

“Where is this place?” I asked, body trembling with adrenaline.

“Welhaven,” Queen Lyra said, gaze fixed to me, pride etched into her expression matching that of her daughter. “Altar’s blessed resting grounds.”

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