Page 72 of A Cage of Magic and Darkness

He beckons to one of his guardsmen who ushers in three children. They range from about fourteen or fifteen down to a little boy who I’d put at about three years old. The boy clutches the leg of the older teenage girl and plugs his mouth with his thumb.

I dart my gaze from the group of children back to Cirrus. I can already tell I’m not going to like this.

“Who are they?”

“The remaining family of the mother and baby who were killed in the street because you gave them that money. Don’t you think they deserve a chance? Or do you want to see them swallowed by the rot, or murdered like their mother and sibling?”

Tears blur my vision. “No, of course I don’t.”

The weight in my chest is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It’s utter helplessness. Everything I’ve tried to do has failed. I’ve risked our lives to find the Mage, and even that hasn’t helped.

With a flick of his hand, he sends the young family away again and turns his attention back to me.

“Then what’s your plan, Princess Taelyn? How are you going to save them, otherwise?”

The question hangs over me.

I don’t have any other answer.

Cirrus ducks his head and scuffs his feet on the floor. “Considering the rumors that are currently circulating about you and your stepbrother, I feel this offer of marriage may be the only one you’ll get. King Robertus is too far away to have heard such whispers.”

My head snaps up. “What rumors? How I conduct my private life has nothing to do with anyone else.”

“A princess belongs to the kingdom, not to herself. You understand that, surely?”

Bitterness floods through me. “But not a prince. He can do whatever he wants.”

“Don’t concern yourself with Prince Ruarok,” Cirrus says. “He’s the one who started these rumors about you.”

I lurch back as though he’s slapped me. “He what?”

“Prince Ruarok deliberately left the door to the king’s office open that day so people would hear the two of you together. It’s been his plan all along to ruin your reputation among the citizens of Askos, so he is the one who is crowned. I’m afraid it’s worked, too. The people would rather you accept this offer of marriage so you give them somewhere safe to go, if needed, and they will crown your stepbrother instead.”

It’s as though the air has been stolen from my lungs. Did Ruarok really do that? I remember seeing the door hadn’t been shut properly and how he’d encouraged me to tell him what I wanted. That bastard had manipulated me, and now he’d gotten what he wanted.

Cirrus still hasn’t finished, but now he seems embarrassed, not meeting my eye. “The king will expect you tobe…whole, however, Princess. He’s aware you’re unmarried and would expect you to still be…intact.”

My face flares with heat. “I understand. I assure you I am still that way.”

“That is good to know. Should I get the guards to make sure the messenger hasn’t left already?”

What else can I do? I’m unwanted here, betrayed, and my people need to know they have a place of safety.

“Yes,” I say. “Stop him from leaving. He can tell the king I’ll accept his offer.”

36

RUAROK

Taelyn is still avoiding me.

I should be focusing on taking the crown now that the service to say goodbye to the king and queen is out of the way, but instead, all I’m thinking about is her. The uneasiness in my stomach refuses to leave me. What if I’ve made a terrible mistake?

Cirrus comes to find me in my chambers. Having this man as my ally should surely be enough of a reason to make me uneasy. He played his part in locking me inside a cage for the whole of eternity, and now he wants to place me on the throne? He acts only in his own interests…but haven’t I done exactly the same? Perhaps we are more similar than I’d like.

“I have excellent news,” Cirrus announces.

I eye him warily. “What is it?”

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