Crystal Storm (Falling Kingdoms #5)(52)

“I was getting around to it. Thought I’d let you deal with the Taran issue first.”

“Oh, thank you,” she said, her voice pinched. “You’re so helpful, really.”

“Somehow, I get the feeling that you don’t really mean that.”

Jonas’s gaze shifted to see that Magnus’s expression was grim.

“I’m getting so damn sick of magic,” the prince muttered. “And everything else over which I have absolutely no control.”

“It’s lovely to see you again too, Prince Magnus,” Ashur said with a nod.

“So kind of you to find us, your grace,” Nic addressed Ashur, his voice without any respect. “I’d begun to think you’d grown gills and a tail and started to swim back to Kraeshia.”

“Not today, I’m afraid,” Ashur replied curtly.

“Perhaps tomorrow.”

“Perhaps.”

“Shall we tell everyone about your phoenix resurrection now or later?” Nic asked.

Ashur’s expression tensed at Nic’s acidic tone. “It seems to me, Nicolo, that there are more pressing matters at hand. I’m right, aren’t I, King Gaius?”

The attention of the group returned to the king, who was hunched over next to his mother. “Indeed you are, Prince Ashur.”

“An alliance against my sister.”

“Will that be a problem for you?”

“No. Provided you don’t kill her, that’s not a problem at all.”

“Wait,” Felix said from his position by the fireplace. “You know I was counting on killing her. Are you really going to take that away from me?”

Ashur shot Felix a stony look.

“Fine. It’s a topic we’ll save for another day,” Felix said.

“Prince Ashur, you are the rightful heir to your father’s title,” the king said. “Take it from Amara, and all of this could be over.”

“And you’re now her husband, I’ve heard. Why aren’t you by her side, guiding her decisions?”

“It’s not that simple for me anymore.”

“Nothing important is ever simple, is it?”

“The King of Blood wants us to work as a team,” Jonas said, shaking his head. “It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. That’s not what I want.”

Gaius let out a breath of frustration. “I know very well what you want, rebel. You want me to die. Well, I assure you, I will be dead soon enough.”

“Gaius . . .” his mother hissed. “I won’t have you speaking like this. I won’t!”

He silenced her with a wave. “My first priority is to regain control over my kingdom. Mytica does not now, nor will it ever, belong to the Kraeshian Empire.”

“Were it not for the magic rumored to be lying dormant here,” Ashur said, “I can assure you, neither Amara nor my father would have bothered with this tiny island.”

“I assume you’re aware that Amara poisoned your father and brothers,” the king countered. “She’s without remorse when it comes to getting what she wants.”

Nic’s dark laugh cut through the tension in the room. “That’s funny. Without remorse, he says, as if he deems it a fault. The very man who broke my sister’s neck for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” His laughter ceased all at once. “You look like death, your majesty. And I can only hope you’re suffering right now.”

“You won’t talk to the king that way, Cassian.” It was Milo, the guard, who said this.

Nic glared across the room at him. “Or what? Are you going to get your friend to help beat me up?”

Milo smiled while cracking his knuckles. “I can do it myself just fine.”

“Thought you were wasting away in the dungeon.”

The guard’s smile darkened. “I have you to thank for that, don’t I?”

“You do.” Nic’s eyes narrowed. “What are you going to do about it, Milo?”

“So many things. Give me time.”

“Milo, is it? Listen to me very carefully.” Ashur’s voice was low, like the quiet snarl of a caged beast. “If you ever attempt to harm Nicolo, I swear I will personally skin you alive.”

Jonas’s eyes shot to Milo. He saw that Milo’s only reply to this threat was a surprised blink.

Cleo spoke then to the king, after glancing worriedly between Nic and the guard. “You gave Mytica to Amara,” she said, disgust clear in her voice. “Can’t you simply take it back?”

“You understand nothing,” the king bit out. “None of you do. Emperor Cortas would have taken Mytica by force had I not acted when I did. Tens—no, hundreds of thousands would have died in that war had I not made my proposal to him.”

“Oh, yes,” Magnus drawled. “My father: the savior of us all. We should erect statues in your honor. Shame that there are already dozens of them throughout Limeros.” Magnus glowered at him. “Quite vain, now that I think about it. The goddess Valoria would not approve.”

“To the darklands with the goddess and with all the Watchers as well,” the king snapped. “We need none of their help to get rid of Amara.”

“Don’t forget about Kyan,” Jonas added.