Page 52 of The Crimson Princess
He chuckles. “No kidding. It seems your return was just in time.”
“I don’t know. Maybe it was too soon, considering I’m the tool being used for our destruction.”
“Princess?”
At the sound of Raven’s voice, I turn to find her joining us. “Hi, Raven. Do you two need an introduction?”
“We know each other,” Idris replies, without looking at Raven.
In other words, he sees her as the queen killer. I hold up a hand to Raven, silently telling her to back away, and I don’t have to look her direction to know she’s complied. Idris narrows his eyes on me as if he senses something is coming, even if he doesn’t know what. “My mother believed there was a reason she felt compelled to save Raven beyond my fear for her,” I explain. “Either Raven’s to do something that changes our world and beyond or something would have come through that portal that only my mother could stop. Give Raven the same respect my mother gave her. ThatIgive her.”
His look is perplexed, and he scrubs his jaw. “I never considered it that way.”
“Because my father couldn’t see it that way and that’s who influences you. Frankly, if my father loved my mother, I’d understand his feelings, but we all know he didn’t.”
“That’s not true,” Idris objects. “No. I don’t believe that one little bit. He loved her. Everyone knows he loved her.”
“And yet, he was in everyone else’s bed.”
“Sometimes I think he loved her to the point of feeling vulnerable because of her. As fucked up as it was, I think he felt as if his indifference in the eyes of others protected her.”
I wave that off with a bitter smirk. “That’s nonsense.”
“Respectfully, princess, despite your obvious knowledge that extends before your time in this world, I’ve been around him far more than you have. He loved her. And he is not doing well right now. I fear he’s in the wrong headspace to navigate the decisions he’s trying to make.”
And yet, he’ll willingly auction me off to a druid, I think, and all but suggest I sleep with Bellar. I shift us back to the hunt before us. “Raven’s hunting with us. It’s a good warm-up for the Challenge. The frostburns already like her. The three of us go in first. If they accept you, Idris, we’ll move your men in per the timeline I sense is right for the frostburns.”
“And if they attack me?”
“You go home for the night.”
His rejection is instant. “You know that’s not an option.”
“Neither is killing the frostburns. If you stay, you better hope they trust you. The problem for you is they feed off me, and I’m not sureItrust you.”
“How do I prove you can?”
“For starters, stop being an arrogant jerk. Do you know what they call your behavior in the human realm?”
“Do Iwantto know?”
“Probably not, but I’ll tell you anyway. It’s short man syndrome.”
“I’m not short.”
“No. Because your problem is your magic, not your height.”
“What do you know of my magic?” he snaps.
My lips quirk but I don’t force the subject. I talk around it to save that ego of his. “You know why I think we get our full powers at twenty-three instead of at birth?”
“Why?”
“Because with weaker magic, we have to learn how to stop and think rather than rush into battle with all our fires burning. But sadly, after we come into our full powers many of us forget that lesson and just blast our magic at full force. My mother used to tell me that was a dangerous way to approach war, let alone life.”In other words, he still has the advantage of needing to stop and think. He should be more calculated than the rest of us and that’s a needed asset.
He stares at me for several beats and I feel the moment he understands what I’m telling him. “Your mother was a special woman.”
“Yes,” I say. “Yes, she was. And she’d want us to go deal with the werewolves.” I wave Raven forward and when she joins us, I lay out the plan for her.
