Page 92 of What Fury Brings
He tried to think quickly. “Not large crowds. Private audiences. I don’t—”
“Please, Andrastus. I need this. My people need this.”
For the first time since meeting her, he wanted to do what she asked. He knew better the stakes—what would happen if Glenaerys were made queen instead of Olerra. And some part of him deep down wanted to do this for her just because she’d asked. He told himself it was because once he was king of Brutus, he’d rather deal with Olerra than Glen as queen of Amarra.
If he could make that happen before he escaped, then why wouldn’t he?
Sanos took a breath. “I will need some books from the library.”
“Yes, of course. Whatever you need! I will tell your escorts, and I shan’t bother you.”
Whatever face he bore, she seemed to think he needed encouragement. “I believe in you,” she told him. “I know you can do this.”
He gritted his teeth. “You will owe me for this.”
“Gladly.”
Though there was a library in the gymnasium, Sanos was allowed access to the royal library as Olerra’s soon-to-be husband. She’d claimed there were Brutish texts within, and he might find some “favorites” there. He really hoped he could find something familiar, at the very least.
Poetry.
Fucking poetry.
Sanos could recount the great wars of his people. He could list important dates and figures, recite the winning maneuvers in important battles.
But poetry?
That hadn’t been part of his required reading growing up, and he didn’t gravitate toward it naturally. Now he had to memorize something. And deliver it with finesse.
This wasn’t going to work. He wished he could ask Andrastus for help. He missed his brothers something fierce, even Canus.
Were they getting on well without him? Was his father terrorizing Andrastus? Were his brothers blamed for his disappearance? Was his father keeping it quiet, or did he have the entire country searching for him? Gods, he wished he could have some news from home. Anything.
He wished he could move his mother and siblings here into Amarra with him.
The thought startled him.
It was the first time he’d thought about bringing his family here rather than going home.
An accident, surely.
He was a literal prisoner.
But he hadn’t been beaten once. He’d participated in fights, but nothing like on the battlefront. The Amarrans, his so-called enemies, treated him better than his own father did.
Olerra protected him from the threat of her cousin. By taking him, he realized she was protecting him from his father without even knowing it.
But there’s no one to protect my family now.
And this place was horrible. Sanos made himself remember the market and the pit. Then again, Olerra had plans to dismantle the evil of that place and make things better for Amarra’s people.
But only if she was made crown princess, and for that to happen, she needed him.
He was stuck here, but he could help Olerra win her throne.
With poetry.
He found a stack of titles and started to read.
