Protect the Prince (Crown of Shards #2)(81)

She nodded and started forward, but this time I held out my hand, stopping her.

“I am also very sorry about Lord Hans. My own father was murdered, so I know how painful it is to lose a parent that way. Your father’s death haunts me, as do the deaths of Prince Frederich and everyone else who was killed at Seven Spire.”

Rhea’s topaz eyes searched mine. After several long seconds, she nodded again, accepting my apology, and some of the tension between us eased.

“I was wrong about you, and I apologize for that.” She grimaced. “And for challenging you in the throne room. That was foolish and insulting, especially since you are the king’s guest.”

“It didn’t seem foolish when you were about to take my head off with your sword,” I drawled.

She smiled a little at my black humor. “Well, I certainly felt foolish when you were about to cut my throat.”

I held my hand out to her. “How about we both agree not to do such foolish things from now on?”

Rhea seem surprised by the gesture, but she reached out and clasped my hand. “Agreed.”

She dropped my hand, and we walked on, our silence far more comfortable and companionable than before.

Eventually, we stepped into a familiar-looking hallway, and I finally realized where we were going—the library where the assassination attempt had taken place.

We had almost reached the entrance when Dominic and Sullivan strode out of the open doors. The two princes stopped, clearly surprised, but they walked over to us.

Dominic looked at Rhea, while I stared at Sullivan. An awkward silence fell over the four of us, and no one seemed to know what to say.

Dominic turned toward me. “Everleigh, you’re looking well this morning.”

“As are you,” I replied. “No ill effects from last night?”

He flashed me a smile. “None. And yourself?”

“None, thanks to your brother.”

We both looked at Sullivan, who shifted on his feet.

Dominic smiled, reached out, and clapped his younger brother on the shoulder. “Lucas has always been better with his magic than me. See? This is why you need to come home more often. So you can save me from dangerous assassins.”

The crown prince let out a hearty laugh, but we could all hear the tension in his voice. Dominic dropped his hand from his brother’s shoulder. He smiled at me again, but his gaze didn’t quite meet mine.

“My father is eager to see how you’re doing. Good day, Everleigh.”

“Good day,” I murmured.

Still not quite looking at me, Dominic smiled again, then strode off in the opposite direction. Sullivan nodded, although he didn’t quite look at me either. Then he turned and followed his brother down the hallway and around the corner, out of sight.

Rhea was still standing beside me, and the scent of her ashy heartbreak wafted over me.

“I’m sorry about Dominic too,” I said.

“I know,” she replied in a sad voice. “But it’s not your fault. I always knew that Dominic would marry someone else. Just like Lucas knows that you’ll marry someone else. Besides, if Dominic winds up with you, then at least I know that you’ll protect him, and Gemma too.”

“That’s not much to take comfort in,” I pointed out.

“It’s all I have,” she murmured.

Rhea shook her head, as if clearing away her morose thoughts, then let out a low, bitter laugh. “Sometimes I think that if we all just loved who we wanted to, and married who we wanted to, life would be so much easier, so much simpler. But I suppose they call it duty for a reason.”

She gave me a grim, humorless smile, then stepped into the library. I followed her.

I had expected a whole legion of guards to be stationed in here, but the enormous room was empty, except for a few servants who were laying out a tea set on a low table in front of the fireplace, along with trays of fresh fruit, crackers, cheeses, and sweet cakes.

All traces of last night’s assassination attempt had vanished. The blood and bodies had been removed, the scorched books, rugs, and other furniture had been replaced, and even the glass wall where Dominic had cracked his head had been repaired. It was like the attack had never even happened.

King Heinrich was sitting in a plush chair, staring into the crackling flames as if they held the answers to all his worries. He was dressed in a fine gray tunic, but the garment seemed loose and baggy on his frame, and the large chair almost looked like a black velvet gargoyle that was slowly swallowing him whole.

His blue eyes were dimmer, and his face was much paler than it had been at dinner last night. He wasn’t wearing a crown, and bits of gray glinted all over his head, as though his hair was made of shards of glass.

The marked change startled me. It was as if the king had suddenly aged a decade overnight. Then again, almost losing a second son to an assassination plot tended to weigh heavy on the heart.

Heinrich looked up at the snap of our boots on the floor. He nodded at Rhea, then waved me over to the chair next to his. Once the servants had finished laying out the refreshments, I sat down.

Rhea shooed away the servants, bowed to us both, and left. A soft snick sounded as she closed the doors behind her, leaving me alone in the library with the king.

Heinrich stared into the flames a moment longer before rousing himself out of his reverie. He gestured at the refreshments. “May I interest you in some tea? Or a sweet cake?” His voice was much quieter and far more civil than it had been last night.