Page 5 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
"We’ve already been questioned," he spat, the veins on the sides of his neck quickly becoming more predominant. "Or do they still doubt our intentions and have finally decided to use their little pet to see if we’re lying?"
"What are you—" Kallie choked on her words.
Heknew. He knew what Kallie could do, which could only mean one thing: Myra told them.
Laurince smirked, the twitch of his mouth anything but kind. "You don’t feel so righteous now that we know your little parlor trick, huh?"
"Laurince."
Kallie went rigid at the sound of the Rian’s hollow voice.
None of this was going as planned. She had thought that they would all be asleep, that she would be in and out. But the captain and Rian were proving that was easier said than done.
"Rian, she?—"
"Is not worth your time," Rian said, cutting off Laurince.
Rian’s words shouldn’t have hurt her, yet they were a punch to her gut. Kallie peered into the cell across from the sneering captain. Rian sat against the wall at the back of the cell. His wine-red hair was longer and more unkempt than when they were in Frenzia together. His shirt was covered in grime, and the collar was wrinkled and worn around his neck. His brown skin was dull in the shadows of the cell.
Rian was the man she was supposed to make fall in love with her, the man whose crown she was supposed to steal. He had the right to be angry with her.
While Kallie might not have been locked inside a cell for the past few months, she knew what losing control felt like. She knew what it felt like to watch one’s world fall apart in the palm of one’s hand, unable to stop it from crumbling, no matter how hard one tried to keep it together.
Kallie exhaled a soft apology.
Rian didn’t move.
Maybe he hadn’t heard her? She cleared her throat and stepped closer. "Rian, I?—"
"I heard you," Rian snapped.
"Oh," Kallie mumbled, the apology thick in her throat. She shifted on her feet, uncomfortable.
"Is that it, then?" Rian asked, head still hanging low.
Kallie blinked. "Pardon?"
Rian lifted his head, and Kallie barely stopped herself from retreating when his eyes locked onto hers. The nearby sconce cast dark, heavy shadows beneath his eyes. Even before today, there had been a sadness that lingered in the green hues from the grief of his father’s death. While Kallie may not have recognized it months ago, there had once been a molecule of hope flickering in the sea of green. Now, there wasn’t a single drop, and its absence surprisingly gutted her.
"Is that why you are here? To apologize?" Rian clarified, his tone colder than she had ever heard it. He didn’t just hate her; heloathedher.
"I—" Kallie spun her mother’s ring around her finger, the metal threatening to carve into her skin. Apologizing wasn’t the initial reason for the visit, but she couldn’t say that to him. Rian deserved an apology, and maybe she should have considered his anger before coming here tonight.
It was too late now, though.
Pressing his palms against his knees, Rian stood. He strolled forward, every step filled with malice. "What exactly are you apologizing for, Kalisandre?" He didn’t give her a chance to respond, though, and barreled forward. "Let me see if I can help jog your memory. Are you apologizing for lying to me about the reason for our engagement? Are you apologizing for pretending to have an interest in me when you were just using me for my crown and army?"
"Rian, I?—"
But Rian wasn’t done. He tore her apart, word by word. "Or perhaps for cutting off our engagement and destroying my kingdom’s sacred temple in the process?"
"I didn’t mean—I didn’t know about the attack!" Kallie sputtered. It was as if she was being doused with buckets of water. She struggled to find the correct words—the words that would make it right—for none existed.
"No?" Rian released a bitter laugh. Shadows danced across his face as he stepped closer to the bars. "Or maybe you’re apologizing for my brother stealing my throne because of the messyoucreated?"
Each remark stung worse than the last. Sweat pooled at the back of Kallie’s neck as she held her breath. From the corner of her eye, she saw movement from the fourth set of cells.
"Or are you apologizing for manipulating me every second we were together?"
