The window looked down on a small enclosed courtyard. A guard stood in each corner. Long swords hung at their sides. In the center two children played, rolling a hoop back and forth to each other. Oleez sat off to the side. She saw me looking down from the window, but her expression remained blank.
Someone took the fork from my hand. Paxton, I think. I didn’t resist. The message was clear, and the king held the winning card. Do as he said, or there would be consequences. There was no changing his mind. I felt like I had been caught, a quarterlord passing sentence, and a fingertip was about to be snipped. I couldn’t talk my way out of this one.
The king came over and stood close behind me. His chest was fire at my back. He pushed the drape back farther. “They look happy, don’t they? They’ve actually become very fond of me. I give them attention, presents. More than he ever did. They’re quite content. Trust me on this.”
I could barely absorb his nonsense. I only imagined their faces as I told a crowd that Jase was a convicted criminal who had been hanged. “Don’t make me say it in front of them. I don’t want them to hear.”
“They have to know about their brother sooner or later,” Banques said. “They’ve mostly forgotten him already. They’ll take it well.”
“Please,” I said.
The king stepped away and said to Banques as he left, “Explain to her the rules of the game. Make sure she understands them, then return her to her room.”
A game? This was no game. The outcome was already assured. There was only one winner.
With the king gone, I turned to Banques. “You can’t do this. This violates everything that the Alliance—”
“This violates absolutely nothing,” he snarled. “I will remind you that this is the Kingdom of Eislandia, and Montegue is its rightful and true ruler. It is not only under his jurisdiction to rule and protect as he sees fit, it is his moral duty to ensure the peace for his citizens. He is doing his job and doing it well. He does not take the advice of a thief or barbarian soldier, especially not one who is sympathetic to the Ballengers, who brought about this carnage in the first place. We are still trying to stamp out a war and restore order and must use every means at our disposal for the good of all.”
Every means? He glanced down at the children, then glared at me, his hand curling into a fist in like he wanted to smash it into my face. He warned me to be silent while he explained everything. The rules, it turned out, were easy to remember. They were nearly all the same.
- If you ever leave as much as a small bruise on the king …
- If you ever leave a bruise on any of his cabinet or soldiers …
- If you are ever found outside your room without an approved escort …
- If you ever steal so much as a hairpin …
- If you ever lie to the king … one of the children will die, and you will be forced to choose which one.
“Understand?” he asked.
I nodded. But I would slit my own throat before I would choose between Lydia and Nash.
