Last Stand (The Black Mage #4)(3)

No, I couldn’t tell Darren, not until I had undisputable proof and the other countries’ support. Because right now, all I had was the ranting of a madwoman.

Darren had never seen the little girl in the stands of the Candidacy. He wouldn’t be able to piece together her face with the noblewoman and her daughter we’d stolen away in a mission to Caltoth so many years before. The blackmail of Lord Tyrus and the murders during the Victors’ Ceremony were all parts of the same ploy to frame King Horrace and win the support of two skeptical nations.

Darren would only see a lowborn who had never liked his family, a girl who had lost her youngest brother and was desperate to clear his name.

And even if he saw past all of that, I couldn’t risk the chance he’d choose wrong.

I had chosen wrong just two months before. What was to stop Darren from doing the same? There were too many lives at risk. This was bigger than the both of us. This was the world.

And if he never forgave me for my breach of trust… well, that was my cross to bear.

An invisible hand squeezed my chest. I knew I was making the right choice, but it felt wrong. Two hours into our new marriage and already I was plotting to betray my husband.

“The two of you should make an effort to question the villagers while you are in Demsh’aa.” Blayne leaned back in his seat with a lazy smirk. He had been listening in on our conversation.

I flinched as the king’s gaze caught on mine.

“My apologies, Ryiah, but I doubt you sought to question them during your last visit… you had more pressing affairs at the time.”

Like breaking my family’s heart? Telling them their youngest was dead? Watching Alex scream that he’s never coming back? My best friend following after my brother, knowing both could die for the rebels’ cause? Nails dug into my palms, and it was with the greatest effort that I unclenched my fists.

A second too late, I realized I had still been holding onto Darren’s hand. The prince’s startled gaze fell to mine, but when it did, it was sad.

His thumb pressed against my palm and he shot his brother a scowl.

“That’s enough, Blayne.”

“Your wife isn’t a fool. Her brother was a traitor and put our whole kingdom at risk. Surely she doesn’t fault me for considering her village a possible base for rebel activity. Do you, Ryiah? After all, we’ve never investigated the towns of the north.”

Play the part. That’s the only way you can honor Derrick’s sacrifice now. Show your hand, and this plan will be over before it has begun. “No.” I made myself meet the king’s gaze head on. I made myself breathe. “Of course not.”

Blayne smirked. “See? Even she understands.”

“It doesn’t mean we have to talk about it.” Darren’s voice was low and imploring. “Please, not tonight, brother.”

The young king’s eyes slid from Darren to me, and he heaved an impatient sigh. “One day you must tell me what makes this one so much more special than the rest.”

You’ll know the moment my blade is at your throat. I made myself scoff outwardly; Blayne would expect as much. I wasn’t known to back down from a challenge. Holding on to silence would only garner suspicion. “Don’t worry, by the end of the year, I’m sure you’ll find out.”

“Ah,” the king played along, enjoying our little game, “preparing something big?”

At least I didn’t have to lie. “Saving a kingdom from corruption.”

“After the rebels?” Blayne’s brow shot up. “And here I thought you would want to take on the villainous king himself.”

My heart stopped beating and my body drew cold, the color draining from my face.

“King Horrace is mine.” Darren’s voice was hard as he cut in. “When the time comes—after everything he has destroyed—he is mine.”

The air whooshed out from my lungs. Of course. The Caltothian king. The man Blayne and his father had convincingly portrayed as the enemy.

For a moment, I had thought Blayne knew.

“Not if I get to him first.” I blurted the challenge as fast as I could. Good, Ryiah, keep pretending. Keep smiling.

“Horrace should be afraid.” The young king brushed himself off, standing as the carriage came to a halt. We’d finished our procession through Devon, and it was time for the ceremonial feast in the palace. “I’ve got the two most bloodthirsty mages in the realm.” It was impossible to miss his pride. “The war will be over before it’s begun.”

It will. But not for the reasons you think.

I followed the king with my eyes. With his back turned, he was saying something to a guard as he descended the steps. For the barest second, I entertained the notion of what it would be like to end this here and now, to strike down the king of Jerar in cold blood and let the pieces fall where they may.

It wasn’t my responsibility to make sure everything worked out in the end. Blayne was a villain. For all the innocent lives he and his father had stolen, did it really matter whether he lived or died? If I got rid of him, I would be doing the world a favor, and someone else could figure out how to put it back together.

But something stopped me. Guilt. And it wasn’t necessarily tied to the boy whose heart I would break.

I had always wanted to be a hero. It was what had driven me to the life of a warrior in the first place. I had chosen Combat because it was the most notorious faction of all. Again and again, I’d taken the hard road because it was the most celebrated.