Page 2 of Enchanted Heir
I slumped down and sat on the bench at the foot of Krew’s bed. I tried to keep my eyes off Owen—the person I had hurt most with my little disappearing act. I didn’t know what to say. In fact, I was pretty sure I had said it all where Keir was concerned. I no longer wanted a future with him. I wanted out. But he wouldn’t let me go. I hadn’t even trusted him enough to not force me into becoming queen, which had been the catalyst to my running.
Krew shook his head. “Father already knows. You have to take one of my women for your Assemblage. It’s already done, Keir.”
Keir stepped toward him like he wanted to pummel him to the ground, his fists clenched at his sides. “So undo it! How could you?” His eyes went to me for only a moment. “You know what she means to me sohow could you?”
Krew stepped in also. “How couldI?How couldyou?She felt like you were going to force her to wear a crown, Keir.”
It was at that point I stole a glance at Owen, who was staring me down with fuming green eyes.
Great. So this was lovely.
“I wouldn’t have forced her to!” Keir snapped at Krew. “I would have never done that to her.”
Krew squinted. “No. You just would have forced her to stick around until the very end, hoping until the last minute she’d change her mind. Even though she didn’t want this anymore and clearly wanted to leave.” He leaned in. “And now she’s still stuck here, thanks to you. Becauseyoucouldn’t just let her go.”
Keir pulled at his hair and took a step back. Krew hadn’t needed a fist to land the first blow.
Krew strode toward the little credenza by the fireplace, pouring himself a small amount of amber liquid I took to be whiskey. “And we had to make father believe we are enamored with one another, so not only is she in my Assemblage effective immediately, brother dearest, but we also have to sell it now. To keep her safe.” He downed the glass in one drink.
Keir let out a curse before he turned toward me. “Don’t do this, Jorah. Please.”
I didn’t feel tears then, surprisingly. “I already did. I wanted better for myself than to be weaponized in your schemes. I didn’t wish to be your prize anymore.”
“You are so much more than my prize, sweetheart,” he choked out.
“Well she’s not your anything now,” Krew added, his voice rough. “Need I remind you she is not, nor has ever been, your chattel.”
“Is this what you want?” Owen snapped at me just when I was sure Keir’s magic was going to explode out of him.
I looked at Owen and then down at my hands. “I just wanted to go home. I only wanted to leave. So no, this isn’t really what I want.”
Keir came toward me but Owen, even though he was still mad at me, stepped between us, keeping Keir away from me.
“Come back to my Assemblage, Jorah,” Keir pleaded from around Owen. “Give me a few weeks. And if you still want to leave, I’ll let you walk right out the front door. Just fight for it. Don’t give up on us.”
Krew shook his head from behind Keir’s back. “Did you not hear the bit where to get her out of being apprehended, our father knows she is now in my Assemblage?”
“We can say it was a momentary lapse in judgement or something. You can make a big show of publicly handing her back to me tomorrow at the ball,” Keir offered as he spun back to Krew, already scheming. “That way he will have no other choice than to allow it.”
Krew’s voice went deadly. “Have you no pride at all? Not only will it look like we bothsharedher, but have you considered what that would make her look like? Not just to all the other women, but to all of Wylan?”
Keir’s silence was answer enough.
“Ask her,” Owen said, his voice still laced in anger. “If she has to stay in an Assemblage, let her choose which one.”
The room went silent before me as three pairs of eyes zeroed in on me.
We could do some sort of ruse and get me switched back into Keir’s Assemblage, or I could be in Krew’s, faking it to my freedom.
I had already made this decision back in the forest when I’d taken his hand. “Krew’s.”
Keir tipped his head back to the ceiling and groaned. He pivoted toward his brother. “You have donemanyquestionable things over the years, but this is going right to the top of that list.” He leaned in within an arm’s reach of Krew. “I don’t trust your motives.”
Krew didn’t so much as flinch. “Nor do I yours. That you would makeanyonefeel like they would be forced to wear the crown when you know what the weight of those damn things feels like.”
“This isn’t over.” Keir pointed at the ground. “This is not over.” He spun toward me. “I know I have failed you, Jorah. Repeatedly. I get it. But I will earn your trust back someday. No matter how long it takes.”
And with that he was heading for the door to Krew’s room in a hurry, Easton on his tail.
