Page 206 of A Tribute of Fire

I was misinterpreting this scene. I had to be. Maybe he was a messenger for the prince. “What are you—”

“You will kneel before Prince Alexandros,” Thrax said to me.

My heart beat so hard that it was cutting off my air supply and I felt sweat breaking out on my back.

Not a dream. Not a messenger.

Jason was Prince Alexandros.

By the goddess.

“I will not kneel,” I said, my throat tight. “He is not my prince.”

My mind was reeling. What was happening? Jason was Alexandros? It felt like I couldn’t put coherent thoughts together to figure this situation out.

Thrax drew his sword at my disrespect and I did the same. I would welcome the fight.

“Put your sword away,” Jason said. No, not Jason. Alexandros. Alexandros told Thrax to put his weapon down.

He did as his prince commanded him and sheathed his sword.

I, however, did not.

Instead I gripped my sword so fiercely I worried I was going to leave permanent marks in my hand.

Alexandros was not surprised that I was Princess Thalia.

He knew it. I saw on his face that he knew exactly who I was. He’d been expecting me.

My brain was flooded with unanswerable questions.

How long had he known?

From the beginning?

Why had he pretended to be someone else?

To what end? What was the purpose of all of this?

Did Io know that Jason and Alexandros were the same person? Was that why she had just apologized to me?

Was this all one giant trap that I had happily walked into, completely unaware that I was being manipulated the entire time?

When the time comes, say yes.

That bastard. He had known exactly what was going on the whole time. He knew we were headed for this moment and he had expected me to roll over and offer myself up to him.

Everything that had passed between us had been a lie. He had worn me down, tricked me, manipulated me at every single interaction that had occurred between us. He had taken advantage of my inexperience and naivete when it came to relationships between men and women in order to seduce me into agreeing to this marriage.

And I had been fool enough to fall for it. To even fancy myself in love with him.

Now he was forcing my hand, threatening people that I loved, to make me comply.

And all of this after he had destroyed my nation with his excessive tariffs, slowly choking us to death by devaluing the few goods we had left to trade with.

He was the reason my brother was dead.

I couldn’t even confront him about all of that. Hundreds of witnesses surrounded us—his army, the women of the temple, the locals who had come out to watch this scene unfold. I was not going to let my personal business be the gossip of Troas.

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