Page 8 of Crown of Briars
I bristled at that. “I am not a child in need of a nanny.”
“Do not talk back to me!” Father barked. “Your foolishness suggests otherwise. What if the tunnel had caved in onyou? No one knew where you were. And all those years of training you to meet the Wraith King would have been wasted.”
I frowned. No regrets over my imaginary death. He was only lamenting thetraininghe’d wasted.
Slowly, Father rose from the throne, his golden robesswishing behind him as he stepped closer to me. His slick brown hair gleamed in the light of the chandelier.
“Do you know how tirelessly I have worked these twenty-five years to ensure our kingdom’s success?” he asked, his voice soft. “I sullied myself with fae concubines just to produce a child with fae gifts who could one day overpower the Wraith King. I have spent all our gold on the finest tutors and weapons masters. For years, I have only sought the best for you. I have sacrificedeverythingfor you and for what you can do for this kingdom. And this is how you repay me? If you want me to stop treating you like a child, then stop acting like one.”
My hands balled into fists at my sides, and my arms shook with anger. How dare he? How dare he lecture me on whathehad sacrificed for this kingdom? I had been bred as a weapon to be used against the Wraith King. From birth, that was all I was: a tool. Nothing more. I had one singular purpose, and beyond that, I was nobody. Father didn’t care if I had hopes and dreams. He didn’t care if I suffered. All he cared about was for me to be perfectly obedient and prove I could perform the assignment I had been born to fulfill: destroy the Shadow Court.
“Father, I only wanted—” I began, but he interrupted me, his voice booming.
“Youwanted?” His eyes burned with fury. “What makes you think that I care at all about what youwant?”
My stomach twisted as if he had shoved a dagger into my gut.
But Father wasn’t finished. “You are the eldest. And, just as my older sister was taken, so, too, will you. It is your sacred duty. We all make sacrifices for our people, and this is yours. Right now, the only thing that matters is your responsibility to the Earthen Court. Do your duty. Take down the Shadow Court. Then you can live your life as freely as you wish.” He waved his hand idly in the air. “Wander the caves. Roam about the grounds. Whatever you choose to do, I do not care.”
He leaned closer, his eyes steely. “But for right now, your wants and desires do not matter. You are nothing and no one, at least not until you fulfill your task. The sooner you accept this, the happier you’ll be.”
I could only stare at him in blank horror as my chest filled with knots.
Father despised my fae blood, just like Gerard. He hated that heneededme to possess fae magic in order to defeat the Wraith King.
But I was not as monstrous as those unseelie beasts. I had feelings and emotions. I could feel pain.
And Father was essentially sending me off to my death.
Did he feel nothing for me? Would he feel any regret at all once I was gone?
In a way, he was right. The most important thing was protecting my home and my people. Even if I hadn’t been trained for it my entire life, I would gladly walk into the shadow-infested lands to spare my people any more pain and suffering.
But, just once, I wanted Father to act as if it bothered him to send me off to the Shadow Court. Just once, I wanted to see some emotion—regret, worry, concern,anything.
Something besides this cool detachment.
Clearly done with our conversation, Father turned to leave the throne room. Before he left, he said to the guards standing by the doors, “Keep the Lady Sybelle confined to her rooms. Her meals will be brought to her for the next week.”
My heart sank to my stomach like a stone in a river.Confined to her rooms.
An entire week.
Stones, how was I going to survive without Azure? Without my gems?
A pair of soldiers suddenly burst into the throne room, gasping for breath. I stilled, pulse thundering in alarm.
Father stiffened, his eyes blazing. “What is it?” he barked.
“It’s the Wraith King,” said one of the soldiers. “He’s here.”
My heart seized with dread.
He’s here.
It’s time.
Father’s face drained of color, and for a moment, he froze, unable to respond. I, too, was rooted to the spot, my thoughts roaring. Panic pulsed in my body, but I was still as a statue.
