Page 75 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

“What do you mean?” Merrick stepped closer behind her, the warmth from his body keeping her feet firmly in place when a shiver raced down her spine at her father’s haunted face.

“I couldn’t tell you this before, Merrick… But Rioner knows all about the rebels and the Oakgards’ Fae, and he has a plan to keep Vastala and his rule intact.” Her father sighed as he sought Lessia’s eyes. “This goes back to before any of us in this room were born. Back to when our ancestors lived in the Old World.”

“What scheming shit has Rioner come up with now?” Kerym scoffed but quieted after Merrick growled softly.

The low rumble rolled through Lessia, and she wrapped her arms around herself when goose bumps pebbled her skin.

“It wasn’t Rioner who came up with it.” Alarin wrung his hands as his gaze swept over the room. “When we drove our gods from this world, they didn’t leave peacefully.”

“We know,” Raine sneered. “Our race was nearly extinct from the war.”

“Not just that,” her father responded. “It’s rumored that they left each royal family with a curse as revenge for their treachery. My father didn’t believe it, nor did his father or the king before him. But when those Oakgards’ Fae arrived to speak to Rioner… he wasn’t so sure anymore.”

“Curse?” Ardow asked as he leaned forward, his eyes wide.

Alarin nodded. “Curse or prophecy… whatever you prefer to call it. Each of the four royal families was supposedly bestowed with one. The Fae planning to invade us are bound to the earth—used to be under the Oakgards’ rule—and only through the connection to the elements can they draw up power to wield magic. They told Rioner their lands are dying because the Oakgards were cursed to kill their lands if they ever used magic again.”

Lessia’s breath hitched, and from the silence at her back, she guessed Merrick held his breath as well.

Wincing, her father cast a glance their way. “Supposedly, the Rantzier family—which back then was known for our emissaries, our eagerness to travel and to form new alliances—was cursed to be dethroned, our people’s lives torn apart by an ally. It wasn’t until recently I heard part of the curse, and…” Alarin swallowed. “While I don’t agree with Rioner’s plans, I can understand his reasoning as a leader of his people.”

It felt as if everyone in the room stared at her chest, where her heart beat so hard it echoed in her ears when Lessia opened her mouth. “What… what did the curse state?”

Her father’s eyes dropped to the floor. “As I said, I only heard parts of it…”

“Alarin,” Merrick warned when he hesitated.

“Very well.” Alarin leaned against the wall, and when Lessia’s gaze traveled across the room, all eyes were glued to him as he spoke in a low voice.

“The Rantzier rule will end, its people disband, by the hands of the reluctant ally—the ally that should have stood by their side, that should have fought with them, that should have protected them. It’s the one loved by Fae and human, the one you may not slay for the war that fragile death would bring, who will finally bring the Rantziers to their knees.”

Everything went silent.

Everything but her pulse, which seemed to sing a song of fear within her.

“Fae and human…” Raine mumbled, his eyes flying over her for a moment.

Lessia violently shook her head as Ardow whispered, “It’s Loche, isn’t it?”

Alarin nodded. “Rioner wasn’t sure at first, as Loche seemed to be a true ally. It wasn’t until… that last night of the election with Elessia.”

Lessia swallowed, the sound bouncing between the walls of the silent house.

“For those of us who just arrived, what happened with the human ruler and the Faeling?” Kerym’s eyes sought hers, and she quickly averted them when curiosity filled his sea-blue ones.

“Well?” Kerym demanded when thick tension layered across the group.

Loved by Fae and human.

Betrayed gray eyes filled her vision.

Herself crawling toward him on the floor.

I think I’m falling in love with you.

Her father remained quiet, but the pity in his eyes was as evident as the shaking in Raine’s hands when the latter offered him a glass of liquor.

When Raine’s face also twisted with sympathy as he glanced her way again, she couldn’t stand it anymore, every muscle within her body going taut as she cast her eyes down.

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