Page 14 of Clash of Storms
How he'd hated those words.
Until the day she'd turned away from him in the Hall of Mirrors and he'd just happened to glance up as she walked away.
And seen her smiling to herself in the reflection.
Realization struck him like lightning. The timid nature was a mask. Malin Sigurdsdottir had spent years playing him for a fool.
"Yes, my prince."
"Yes, my prince."
"Three bags full, my prince."
She'd been mocking him in her own way.
After tomorrow, she would never mock him again. She'd never look at him. The memory of the games they'd played in the last few years would be all that remained.
Thedrekihissed beneath his skin, its wings stretching painfully. There was no doubt in its mind.
Mine, it snarled.Malin is mine.
"Wake up," he whispered to his younger brother, taking Andri's hand in his. "Please wake up. I need... advice from someone who knows what it means tohavea heart."
The long fingers lay lax in his hand.
There were no answers here.
Or perhaps Andri's very condition was the answer he needed.
Malin had laughed in his face when he told her neither he nor Árdís desired such a match.
She didn't know the truth.
Every day he cursed himself for not being at court the moment Andri returned. The sheer horror he'd felt when he'd seen what his father and Roar had done to his favorite brother....
"He betrayed us."Stellan's words were chiseled in Sirius's memories. "Andri stood against Magnus when your brother dueled with Prince Rurik, and your brother is dead because of it."
"Andriismy brother,"he'd snarled, standing protectively over Andri's battered body. It had only been so much blood and bone and pulp then. Barely recognizable as flesh. But Andri's breath still wheezed in his lungs, tortured by the rough-edged clasp of several broken ribs.Drekiwere hard to kill, and could survive an enormous amount of damage.
And perhaps Stellan had recognized Sirius would not stand down.
"The queen sentenced him to death."
"Then convince her he's worth more alive. I know you can. She listens to you."
"Family before all else. Zilittu before others. Andri broke every tie that bound him to family. He spat in our faces for his precious prince."
"You asked too much of him. Rurik is his beloved older cousin. Andri served as his page. And you expected him to murder his master?"Could they not see the wrong in that?
"It was time for Andri to make a choice. Zini or Zilittu. He chose his side. Why should I spare his life? He ceased to be my son when he refused to kill Rurik. There is no saving him. Unless...."
Unless. This, Sirius knew well. He breathed out a bitter laugh."What do you want of me?"
Stellan paused.
"You offer your life in exchange for your brother's?"
Even then, there'd been a lump in Sirius's throat and he'd had to force the words out. Andri was the only thing he had left to fight for. But he knew his father too well."Convince the queen to spare him and I will do anything you ask of me."
