Page 49 of A Treachery of Swans

“I’ve done you a favor, then. One less competitor.”

“Odile!”

I threw my hands in the air. “She deserves it, Damien! She made me her playmate—no, plaything—and then cast me aside when it was convenient!”

Damien’s jaw tensed. “That was cruel of her,” he agreed steadily. “But Odile, what you’ve done to her is just as cruel, if not more. Idon’t think you’re quite aware of what you’ve condemned her to.”

“Please,” I snapped. “How bad can it be? She’s rich and pretty and has people fawning over her. She’ll marry the Dauphin and give him little blond babies and live happily ever after.”

“That’s not fair, Odile, and you know it.”

“What do you know about fairness? You haven’t seen the things I have!”

“And what do you see, beyond Regnault’s ridiculous missions? They’re all you care about!”

“Ridic—?” I spluttered in affront. “How can you say that? I’m doing this forus.For you and me and Papa. So we can have magic back as we were supposed to.”

“And what comes after? What will you do once you have magic?”

“The kingdom will be saved, and I’ll be able to learn sorcery.”

“It’s not that simple!” Damien said, the usualI know better than you because I’m two years oldernote creeping into his voice. “Do you think Regnault will stop there? That he’ll sit back and retire after bringing magic back? He hates the noblesse, and you know it. He wants them all dead!”

“Good,” I growled, irritated at being talked down to again. “It’s only right after what they did to the sorciers.”

“Hurting a whole group of people for the actions of one man would make you no better than the Spider King.”

I curled my lip. “So? You’re just worried about your precious prince.”

“So what if I am!” It was rare for Damien to shout, and the echo of his voice made me flinch. “I’m protecting you, too! Or do you really think you can look at someone—maybe someone your age, like Aimé or that girl Marie—and drive a knife into their heart?”

I crossed my arms. “I could if I had to.”

“And what if it were me?” my brother asked suddenly, quieting.

I stared at him in confusion. “What do you… Why would it be you?”

“The Dauphin, he…” Damien rubbed the back of his neck, staring at the dome overhead. “He offered me a place in his guard.”

My heart stopped then.Thud,and then silence, as if I were dying, as if I were already dead.

No, this couldn’t be happening. Not again.

I wish I had been strong—wish I had taken the news with dignity. But I curled my knees up to my chin, cold fright washing over me, and whispered a pathetic “You’re leaving me?”

“I don’t want to,” Damien said. “I don’t, Dilou, I swear. But I can’t stay here any longer if I have to keep watching as that man turns you into his little minion—”

My panic veered sharply into disbelief. “?‘That man’?” I echoed. “You mean ourfather?”

“That’s not what he is,” my brother said passionately, and I could see this was something that had been eating at him for a long time. “He calls himself that to make you feel like you owe him loyalty. But he’s not what a father should be like.”

I snorted. “He’s much better than our real father.”

I met his eyes, and I knew that we were remembering the same thing: our mother’s shaking hand; her voice, faint and rasping, rotting away like the rest of her. You must go now. Take your sister and go.

“I’mtrying to keep my promise to her, Dilou,” Damien said quietly. “But I can’t do that when you keep choosing Regnault over me. You’re becoming like him. Vindictive. Cruel.”

“I’m not cruel,” I said furiously. “I’m merely seeking justice.”

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