Page 150 of A Tale of Ice and Ash
Cole grinned. “Duly noted. I’ll come by tonight.”
She kissed him, long and hard. “Please don’t think I ever don’t want you,” she said. “Also, I love you too. I should probably get used to saying that, right?”
Cole’s mouth slipped once more to her lips.
There was a polite cough behind them.
“While I reallydohate to interrupt,” said Marie, “there are some matters that require your attention, My Queen.”
Marie had arrived three days ago and had appointed herself as something like a lady-in-waiting. Cole wasn’t entirely sure what the position entailed as she still seemed to spend most of her time in the library, but there was a great deal of gossip and giggling whenever his back was turned.
Cole shuffled to his feet, helping Eirwen up after. They brushed themselves down. “Meet me in the music room when you’ve finished,” he said, kissing her cheek.
“I will.”
His heart thumped with the thought.
∞∞∞
Eirwen finished the meeting in record time, making swift and purposeful decisions on every item on the agenda. Onyx smiled approvingly. She only pinned two topics for a later discussion… one of which involved Cole’s role in the castle now. A lot of people were unhappy that he remained a guest of the Crown’s, unsure as to his involvement with his mother’s machinations. There were a lot of suggestions as to how best to deal with that, some of which she was much more inclined towards than others.
But he would be the one to decide, and she would try and respect it, whatever it was.
He won’t want to go back to Florin, will he?She prayed.Not now. Not after all this.
She made her way to the music room. Cole sat at the piano, tapping out a slightly clunky tune. Despite the misplaced notes, it had a beautiful melody, though it slid from dark and powerful to light and airy rather abruptly.
“Interesting song,” she said, appearing at his elbow. “It’s beautiful. But also… a little terrifying.”
“Thank you. It’s a work in progress. I call it ‘March of the Snowdrops.’”
“Isn’t it a little difficult to play with a broken thumb?”
“I am managing. Not well, but I’m managing.” He paused. “Do you want to tell me what’s on your mind? I’ve no idea what it is, but I know it’s something.”
“Oh,” she said. “Right. Of course. So… so there’s a couple of things. Not… not sure which I should do first. Well, I’ve been thinking about something. Actually, I wanted to discuss it with you.”
A soft smile played in the corner of Cole’s lips. “What is it, then?”
She took a quick breath. “I think I want to dissolve the monarchy.”
“What? After allthat?”
“Becauseof all that. Because no one should ever wield that kind of power. Because I…”
“Don’t want to be like my mother, you mean?”
“Or my father.”
“You won’t be.”
“Maybe I won’t. Maybe all that I’ve seen and done will shape me into the best ruler this country’s ever seen. But what about who comes next? Perhaps I’ll be able to install good values in my children, if I have them. Perhaps I won’t. But at some point, someone will come along who gets it wrong. People shouldn’t have to die to remove them.”
“You’ve… you’ve thought about this a lot.”
She nodded. “Pretty much the entire time we’ve been fighting. I won’t do it immediately, of course. The country needs stability for a few years. I need the dissolution of the monarchy to be slow. It could be decades before I hand over the reins entirely, but I won’t die a queen.”
Cole smiled. “You’ll always be a queen to me.”
