Chapter 65

Silas

"Your princess will be in the city within the hour," my father informed me.

We'd arrived in the capital with little fanfare, riding each set of horses until their legs were about to give out from under them before swapping them for another lot to do the same all over again. We went straight to my father's headquarters and delivered the news. The plan we'd all been preparing for, putting Arik on the throne, was now in play.

Father looked me up and down, cataloguing all my little tells that made clear my mind wasn't as focused as it needed to be.

"You're worried about this girl?"

"Considering every other princess died at the king's hands," I replied crisply, "I think I can be forgiven for that."

"You weren't a nervous wreck when the last one died, and she was a pretty little thing. What was her name?"

He knew as well as I did that it was Princess Tiana, but that wasn't the point of this conversation. My father watched me closely, noting every involuntary reaction.

"You know what her name was," I shot back. "And all the other princesses."

"And so does your prince." His lips pressed together. "Why the sudden change of heart? What's so special about this one?"

This is where I drew comparisons between Jessalyn and my mother, wasn't it? Where his undying love for the woman that bore me and my sister was used to help him to understand. Of course, that wasn't the case. He hadn't loved my mother. She was merely the sister of a powerful member of The Guild that he wanted to forge an alliance with, and we were the means to do that. Once Mother gave him twins, she withdrew back to her own people with barely a look over her shoulder. The only time we heard from her was when her faction used her as a spokesperson to negotiate a deal.

"She's special to Arik, that's all you need know," I told him, despite knowing that would never be enough detail for my father. He'd have her height, weight, and relevant life history in a file on his desk before the day was done.

If he hadn't already taken care of that.

"Special to you too." Father looked me over coolly. "I guess it would have to be that way. This whole pack thing—"

"Is what welds the four of us together. You told me to get close to the prince."

"To inform me of his movements. So I might use you to direct him onto the right path, and when he took the throne, to be clear about who was the one that put him there."

"He'll still be aware of that." I met my father's gaze without flinching because that's what he'd taught me. I could tug my forelock with the best of them, be a picture of servility, but underneath it, this remained. I was still the son of the Raven of Khean, and while nobles might gain or lose titles, no one could ever take that from me. "You'll make sure of it."

His mobile face split into a grin as he clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"That I will, lad. That I will. So, this pack bond… Does that mean all of you are considered equal? Because I think that could prove advantageous. Arik will take the crown, but you—"

"Let's not count our chickens before they've hatched," I said. "If Jessalyn doesn't survive—"

"That may be a desirable outcome," he said, as if discussing the weather. "A grieving king, a young one that's pretty enough to make all the women sigh. We could find another princess, prettier than this one, and then we could—"

It'd been a long time since I pulled a knife on my father. The last time he'd had me beaten soundly, not even deigning to punish me himself. Some of the lower ranked members of The Guild were given the task, and they did so with relish. I shoved my blade under his neck, forcing the skin to dimple around the point as I sucked in a breath, then another, trying to settle myself.

And he caught all of that.

His eyes danced, his mask slipping because I'd already let mine fall. His smile widened right up until I made clear my threat.

"If you think of touching a fucking hair on her head, I'll take the usual steps to assume control of The Guild."

"Will you, son?"

Father's teeth were nicotine stained and cracked, showing his years. He'd killed his own father to take control of The Guild, so he knew the day was coming where he would face the same fate.

"But then I'll let it all fall to ruin, sowing discontent in the lower ranks, destroying trust between the major families." I watched his smile slowly fade with satisfaction. "I'll destroy every part of the legacy you hope to bestow upon me, making The Guild into nothing other than a disorganised array of thugs."

"You wouldn't…"

He didn't know what I'd dare. Father had never given a shit about a single thing in his life, nothing about the organisation he ruled over like a petty warlord. I'd destroy it, him, everything, if it meant keeping Jessalyn safe. I clung to that certainty because it was all I had to hang onto as my brain tried to work out exactly what would've happened to our mate while she road in a carriage with that son of a whore, Magnus.

"I got word…" Arik took in the knife, my father and me, then stopped where he was. "Jessalyn has arrived."

"And she'll be forced to submit to an inspection of her womanhood to ensure her hymen is intact," I said in clipped tones, my grip on my knife tightening. "And if she's found wanting, Magnus will order for her immediate execution."

That had happened to the poor lass from one of the far northern countries. While a princess, she'd spent a life in the saddle, meaning whatever maidenhood she'd possessed was long gone. She'd protested that right up until the point her head was lopped off by the royal executioner.

"Thank the gods for your restraint," Arik said as I jerked my knife away, shoving it back in its sheath. "But we need to go."

He held up a wad of papers I recognised easily. Jessalyn's marriage contract. We signed them blithely, knowing they weren't worth the paper they were written on, but now… I nodded and then brushed past my father, going to follow Arik out of my father's office.

"A princess that gets serviced by the prince of thieves of a night time," Father said when my hand went to the door handle. "I like the idea of that. I'll be able to sell it to the families, the potential for blackmail endless. You might not want to pressure your princess into acceding to our wishes, but you'll find you have to."

If we wanted The Guild's support to help Arik take the throne, that went unspoken. I glanced up to meet Arik's eyes, communicating clearly what he already knew.

I'd kill my father and every head of the families that ran the whore houses and whiskey stills of this city. Not one of them would survive to threaten my queen. But they weren't the threat we were facing right now, Magnus was.

"What makes you think the contract will be of any use?" I asked Arik as we stormed out of the office. "Magnus will just wipe his arse with it when he shits, like all the others."

"I may have coached the King of Stormare through this one," Arik told me with a grin. "Made clear how much the kingdoms of Lanzene and Matteau value the trading relationship with Stormare. So much so they might even be persuaded to take action against a country that refuses to abide by the contract our king's proxy signed on his behalf."

"This is why you are encouraging the removal of the shifter troops from the border," I said. "Do you realise the kind of devastation the border towns are facing? There will be blood on your hands."

"I know that." We walked in the door of the room we all shared, and Roan leapt to his feet. His sword and sharpening stone were left to lay on his bed. Arik shot me a rueful look, then shook his head. "I keep trying to summon the requisite guilt, but it doesn't come. I was prepared to lead Jessalyn to the slaughter. I was prepared to just do the horrific job Magnus assigned me, but then you lot had to bind yourself to the little princess, heart and soul, and I…"

He stared at the flagstones, not seeing the slate tiles, but her.

"I tied myself to her just as tightly. That's what none of you have ever understood. I'll make a terrible king because as far as I am concerned, the borderlands, the whole world can burn, if that's what it takes to keep Jessalyn safe. She's all I care about, not the people."

"Well then…" Roan looked at Arik then me. "I assume she's arrived in the capital?" We nodded. "Let's head to the palace, make sure we're there by the time she arrives. Is your sister in place, Silas?"

"Sister Selene knows what's required of her," I said. "She made sure the king's physician will be… out of action when the inspection needs to be done."

The Temple of the Women pretended to be a religious refuge for half the city's population, but really the idols and altars were just for show. It'd been started by powerful women generations ago, realising that by preserving a charade of piety, they could provide women of all walks of life support and safe haven. My sister had been put forward as a postulant the moment my father worked out what it actually did, discovering their attempts to end Magnus' reign.

"Then let's go." Arik tapped his thigh with the contract as we strode down the halls of The Guild headquarters, then into the courtyard where our horses were stabled. "It's time to make clear to my brother the stupidity of allowing your worst enemy to sign legal documents in his name."