Page 162 of The Forsaken Heir
He sighed in what sounded like exasperation. “You said she’d makesomeonea good mate. I thought you two were on the way to becoming that.”
I blinked at him, trying to understand exactly what he was getting at. Worried he might be going senile, I decided to spell it out for him. “We can’t be together like that Dad. Notreally. I have to have an heir. I have to do what’s best for our people. I like Elle. Alot. I think I might even…” I trailed off. Speaking of love out loud was powerful, and knowing nothing could ever come from it would only make the realization more bitter. “I’d really like to be with her, but there are some things that come first. Duty, honor, all that. I’ll do what I need to do as the prince and future king. You don’t have to worry about that.”
His eyebrows drew together. “Fuck that,” he said, grunting the words out in a disgusted tone I’d never heard before.
I gaped at him. I’d never heard my father blurt out a derogatory term like that before, especially not in such an angry tone.
“What?” I said, barely managing to get the word out.
“You heard me. Fuck duty, fuck honor, fuck all of that.” He pounded a fist onto his thigh for emphasis.
Shaking my head, I groped for the words to respond.
“You don’t mean that,” I finally managed to say. “You can’t. Our numbers, the kingdom?—”
“For fuck’s sake,” he hissed and gripped my shoulder so hard it was almost painful. “Listen to me, Aurelius. I’ve been the king for a really long time. I made the mistake of living myentirelife trying to do what was best for our kingdom. Putting that before myself at every step. Along the way, I lost two mates, our numbers have dwindled, and now we’re on the verge of a war that might wipe us out once and for all. Do you know what all that has taught me?”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled.
“It taught me that dynasties come and go. Kingdoms rise and fall. If the Laurents win, then so be it. A few centuries from now, maybe another wolf family will throw them down. Perhaps the panther shifters will grow in power and rival them. Who knows? What we should care about is people. Everyone always wants to look out for themselves.” He waved at the castle. “Look at Benedictus. He is so terrified of losing what we have, he can barely think straight. I don’t want that for you. For anyone. The role of king shouldn’t be filled with fear and sacrifice. What I want for my son is happiness.
“There’s more to this kingdom than dragons. I think that’s what we forget. We have the fae that are under our protection, we have the humans who rely on us and our magical items—whether they ever realize it’s magic or not—to make their livesbetter. We have the wellspring itself that we need to protect. All of that weighs heavier than whether or not the prince has an heir. If we survive all this and you don’t? Someone else will take the throne. Some distant cousin or another powerful family. A title is nothing, absolutelynothing, without a life to go along with it. I’ll be damned if I let my son miss out on something simply because he believes I want him to fulfill some stupid destiny.”
He couldn’t have surprised me more if he’d slapped me. But he’d also filled me with hope.
“You’re serious,” I said, more a statement than a question.
“When I was your age, I was stupid.” The fire in his voice had faded, and he now sounded tired and sad. “I believed all that stupid shit. Honor, power, control. I came here with your grandfather to a brand-new world and fought and warred and tried to assert my dominance. It cost us the respect of the other shifter races and the numbers of our people. It nearly cost me my soul. I’m different now, but I am still paying for those mistakes. All I’m saying is that I don’t want you to make the same ones I did.”
Something deep and buried twisted in my chest, tugging at my heart. I pulled my father into a hug. He grunted in surprise as he wrapped his arms around me. For a long time we sat like that, father and son, embracing in a way we never had before.
“You’re a good man,” I said.
He patted my back. “Thanks. I think you’re a better one. And to me, there could be no greater honor. Knowing that you’ve raised a child who’s better than you? What more can a parent ask for?”
We released each other, and I dabbed at my eyes and cleared my throat.
“I need to head to the castle,” I said. “There’s something I need to do.”
Dad’s grin returned, and he squeezed my shoulder gently. “That sounds like a good idea.”
Giving him one last smile, I hurried away.
I needed to find Elle.
37
BRIELLE
Ipractically ran toward the castle, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Aurelius and the king were watching me go. My face still burned from being caught in such a compromising position. It could have been worse, of course. At least he hadn’t come upon usnaked.
Once I was inside the castle doors and out of their line of sight, I took a breath and relaxed a bit. The place was teeming with activity, and that noise and chaos helped mask any lingering shameful thoughts bouncing around in my head. Things were busier than ever with noblemen, servants, and the Hikshil. I actually had to bob and weave around people to get upstairs. Was this how the castle had been all those years ago when the dragon numbers were bigger? Most likely. It made me sad to think how far they’d fallen over the last few centuries.
When I burst into my room, Delphine gave a gasp of surprise. She must have just gotten out of the shower because she was dressed in a robe.
“What are you doing back here this soon?” she asked, looking a little disappointed.
Breathless, and still red-faced, I crossed the room and flopped onto a couch. “Aurelius and I wereinterruptedby the king.”
