Page 48 of The King is Dead
Diadre was right. This couldn’t go on. It was time. I would not take his power from him, but I would not let him convince himself of lies either. He needed to choose.
I sighed with relief as the corset gave, and I could take a deep breath again.
“Thank you, my friend. Now, while I’m dressing, I need you to run some messages for me. For… interference.”
Diadre grinned. “My favorite kind of mission.”
15. Shifting Shadows
~ MELEK ~
The room was silent when I came out of sleep, and I wondered how late it was. But as I stretched and blinked at the dark, another shadow moved in my line of vision. I snapped my head around… to find Yilan swathed in dark leather and sitting in the windowsillinsidemy prison.
She sat curled intothat deep sill, her back to the inside wall of it, hugging the one knee she’d drawn up to her chest, while the other dangled into the room towards the floor. Her head was turned to look outside. She was bathed in moonlight, turning her skin silver and her hair, twisted into a topknot, into a gleam of white on inky black.
She didn’t look like she was aware I’d woken, but I felt the bond leap.
I rubbed my eyes to be certain she was really there. The Queen of this place was gone—no diadem, no dress, no cloak—and replaced by the assassin. Then she turned her head and locked those cat eyes on me. I felt that surge in the bond again, but her expression remained blank, her wide lips unsmiling.
“What are you doing here?” I croaked, pushing up to sit without breaking eye-contact.
“Do you need anything?” she said abruptly. “Food? Drink? A bucket?”
I frowned. “Yilan, what are you doing?”
“We need to talk. Uninterrupted. No one else. Nothingelse. Just us. If you have any needs, we should attend to them before we begin; I want to make sure you’re comfortable.”
“How would you—”
“I am Queen, Melek. I gave orders. Unless there is a significant change on the border, we won’t be interrupted until the morning after the one to come.”
She was here to talk… at length?
My heart spun a little, but my nerves spiked.
Jaw clenched because that cold, imperious tone of hers was back, I got to my feet and walked to the washbasin. I splashed water on my face, giving myself time to wake up. It was difficult to think with her here, looking like that… it seemed like a dream.
But after I’d breathed through the shock of the cold water and dried my face with the towel, she was still there. Sitting. Watching. Her expression blank.
I growled. “What are youdoing?”
“No, Melek, what areyoudoing? A man of action? A man of honor? A soldier? A man who leads by example? What areyoudoing, sitting in here sulking and roaring like a stubborn child?”
“Child?” I hissed.
“Yes,mate,achild.At best, a moody adolescent.”
“I amimprisoned—please feel free to unmagik the windows, I’d be happy to show you how quickly amancan fly from here.”
It was hard to tell in the moonlight, but it seemed like she paled. Her throat bobbed and she looked out of the window to the land below as if she was considering what I’d said. But when she started speaking again it was through gritted teeth.
“You could beKing,”she muttered. “You could bring peace—not just to your people and mine, but to the entire Continent. I am not aware of another single person capable of that, Melek. But you are. Under your banner, at your hand, every nation in the world has bowed or been conquered. You have the chance to stand tall and callevery people of this landto peace. But instead, you sulk in here, glowering at me because I offer you acrown?!”
“The lies between you and I had nothing to do with the war—”
“Oh, bullshit. Seriously, Melek? You think I would have hiddenanythingif I wasn’t deep in the lair of my deadly enemy? When we got here, I laid myself bareto you—I told you everything.I gavemyself—and my Kingdom—up for you. Ibegged.And still you stomp around in here like a child sent to his room.”
“I have been imprisoned!By the woman who claimed to love me. By the Queen who hid herself in my shadow. Do not speak to me of being childish—you knew exactly what we were walking into, and you told menothing.You drugged me, kidnapped me, and removed all choice.”
