Page 140 of Boundless
“I know the Ice Queen is safe, brother. What I need to know is how fast the Seelie King can strike should he feel compelled to do so,” Jasewine said, her voice hard, her eyes distant as the wheels in her head turned. “We have to prepare now that you’re here. I know all war strategies Sunnies have used in the past centuries—Raja, remember the books you gave us to read when we were little?”
“I do,” Raja said, and her mind was working, too, as she looked down at her hands.
“The Midnights have always kept detailed records of all courts. We know how they operate—and you worked for the king, too. In his forge. You know his weapons,” my half-sister said, her black eyes glistening with brand new excitement. “We can take them—right, Raja?”
Raja flinched but nodded. “If we’re careful. The Seelies are strong. They have never lost the magic we or the other kingdoms have lost. They’re ahead of us, magic-wise, but we have better numbers and better swordsmen.”
“That will be what wins the war. Magic cannot last forever—once the soldiers tire, they?—”
“There will be no war,” I cut her off—or tried to, but she continued.
“There might be. If he’s so intent on getting rid of the Unseelie King, we must offer our help, mustn’t we?”
“We should,” Raja said. “There is no other way.”
“And so we will. We’ll be ready. The Unseelies have virtually no army to speak of, but we?—”
“Jasewine.” This time, I said her name louder, and it worked. She blinked and focused on me. “There will be no war. Lyall will not attack when he knows he’s up against three kingdoms and two armies.”
“Oh,” she breathed.
“I suppose that is correct. Heissmart when he needs to be,” Raja muttered.
“And I’m leaving soon.”
That got—not just the two of them, but the entire room to stop breathing, and focus on me.
“What?” Raja demanded, while Jasewine screeched, “Again?Do you need me to remind you that you just got here?”
“I know that,” I said, and despite the guilt, the bad feeling in my gut, I forced myself to continue, to speak slower this time. My nerves were getting the best of me, so I stood up to face them, too.
“This time, I’m not coming back. Not as the Midnight King, at least.”
My words seemed to echo in the tall ceiling infinitely.
I looked at Raja first and nearly broke under that look of shock and fear and concern—especially ofbetrayalshe gave. Very hard not to feel like a failure in that moment.
“I don’t…” Jasewine shook her head, but she couldn’t tell me she didn’t understand—because she did.
That’s why her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes, breathed deeply, fisted her hands in front of her.
“I was never supposed to be the Midnight King. I was never meant to rule.” Nor had I ever wanted to. “You were, Jasewine. You’ll make the finest Midnight Queen Verenthia’s ever seen.”
“Careful, boy,” Raja breathed, and I went closer to her, wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, saw her tears that she wouldn’t let slip out.
“You know this is the right way, Raja. She’s a better ruler than I would ever be.”
“Youkilled Helem. The throne accepted you?—”
“And the throne acceptedher,too. If you only knew how stubborn it can be, you would believe me when I tell you—if this palace had any doubts about Jasewine at all, it would haveneverallowed her to sit there, whether I asked her to or not. It would have never letmego the way it did.”
This I knew with a hundred percent certainty. There was no explaining what the connection to the part of the palace that was sentient felt like. It was like a presence, like a person but not quite. A mind that defied the definition of the mind that we currently had. Something…more,simply put.
And thatmorewas incredibly strict about whom it allowed even through the doors—the Unseelie Court was enough proof of that. The Frozen Court was enough proof of that.
Jasewine had already been accepted. I knew it the day I was allowed to leave because she carried the crown, agreed to fill in for me while I was gone. She’d already sat on that throne chair, had made changes to it, had made it her own. She belonged there more than I ever would.
“She’s the right person for the job, and I think deep down you know it, too,” I said and kissed Raja’s forehead.
