Page 119 of What Fury Brings
The queen turned to her other niece. “And I have witnesses who will say otherwise, Glen. Are you really calling me a liar?”
Glen looked at the table. Shaelwyn stiffened at her side.
Sanos wanted to hit something.
Yes, he’d kept a secret, but so had Olerra! Yet he was the one sent away, locked up in Ydra’s home yet again.
If he could just see Olerra, he was prepared to take the high road. He’d tell her that he understood why she’d kept her secret from him, but if he’d known, he could have helped. He would have helped her hide everything from her nasty cousin.
And then she could forgive him for not telling her who he really was. They would fix this.
But what if she didn’t forgive him?
Then he’d make her see reason! She’d stolen him; he was under no obligation to disclose his identity. She never asked who he was.
Oh, yes. Arguing with her will definitely bring her over to your side.
Gods, if he could just talk to her!
“This time,” Ydra said, “you really can’t. She’s trying to sort out the giant mess her cousin made. She’s busy.”
It was kind of her to say that Glenaerys was responsible for the mess, as though he hadn’t done anything to add to it.
Sanos felt useless. Restless. Beyond agitated.
“Has she decided what to do with me?” he dared to ask.
“She’s trading you for your brother, the real Andrastus.”
He felt his stomach sink. He’d hoped that had been an empty threat. Something she’d said in the heat of the moment.
“I don’t want to go,” he admitted.
“Liars get what’s coming to them,” she said unhelpfully.
“She doesn’t want Andrastus,” Sanos said.
“Jealousy doesn’t look good on you.”
“I’m serious! Andrastus would be boring for someone like her. She needs someone who will put up a fight. Dare to tell her when she’s wrong. She needs me.”
“Get over yourself.”
Sanos just barely stopped himself from punching the nearest wall. “Don’t you pretend like you don’t like me. Like you don’t want to see her with me.”
Ydra set down her quill. “What I want is to see her happy. What I want is to see her on the throne of Amarra. What I want is to not be stuck with you in my home any longer!”
He deserved that. All of it. Ydra had every right to be upset.
“You will do as you’re told for once,” Ydra said. “When your father arrives, you will be the only useful thing left to Olerra: a bargaining chip. Is that understood?”
He didn’t have a retort. He was overwhelmed by how much hewanted to set things right. To help. But the last thing he wanted was to be returned to his father. To go back to being nothing but the king’s pawn.
A messenger knocked on the open door to Ydra’s study. The newcomer strode up to Ydra and handed her a note.
Ydra read it quickly before widening her eyes. She turned to Sanos. “Stay here. Don’t get up to any trouble.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
