Protect the Prince (Crown of Shards #2)(82)

“No, thank you. I’m still full from my breakfast with Dahlia.”

A smile tugged at his lips. “Dahlia has always been kind that way, always welcoming people and showing them the best of Glitnir. That’s one of the things I love most about her.”

“She seems like a lovely woman.”

His smile sharpened a bit. “For the king’s mistress? That’s what people usually mean, when they say things like that.”

I shook my head. “I meant no disrespect.”

He shrugged. “It is what it is, and we are who we are. At this point in our lives, I doubt there’s anything I can do to change things, especially what people think of us.”

He stared into the flames again, and I sat back in my seat, getting comfortable and letting him put his thoughts in order. Finally, Heinrich looked at me again.

“I asked you here so I could apologize for everything that happened yesterday. You’re my guest, and you were almost killed. I regret that more than you know. But I especially regret how I behaved at dinner last night. I shouldn’t have sprung my proposal on you like that, and I shouldn’t have pressured you into accepting it. Not in front of everyone else.”

“Then why did you?”

“Because I was—am—desperate, just like you said. The Mortan king will never be satisfied until he has conquered Andvari and enslaved my people, and I’m growing too weak to fight him much longer.” Heinrich let out a long, weary sigh, as if his confession had further drained what little strength he had left.

“I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now, but Frederich’s death has . . . hit me hard. Losing a child is every parent’s worst fear, but I didn’t know it was possible to hurt this much.” His voice cracked on the last few words.

Sympathy filled me for the king and all the heartache he and his people had suffered. “You lost your son. There is no shame in grieving for him, Lord Hans, and everyone else.”

Heinrich laughed, but there was no humor in the low, ugly sound. “You know as well as I do that kings and queens do not have the luxury of grief. But perhaps the worst part is that I thought that sending Frederich to Bellona would keep him safe, Gemma too, and help secure our kingdom. But instead, all I did was get my son killed.” A shudder rippled through his body, and he seemed to sink even deeper into his chair.

“It’s not your fault,” I said. “You saw the memory stone. You saw what Vasilia did to her own mother and sister. No one could have prevented that. Vasilia was always going to slaughter the queen. Your son, ambassador, and countrymen were just unfortunate enough to be at Seven Spire when she decided to strike.”

“Deep down, I know that, but I still feel like it’s my fault.” Heinrich shook his head. “I’m just glad his mother isn’t alive to see this day. Losing Frederich would have killed Sophina, just like it’s slowly killing me.”

He stared into the fire again, his pale skin stretched tight over the sharp planes of his face. In that moment, he looked like a skeleton who was just waiting for the last bits of flesh to peel off his bones and reveal his true dead self underneath.

After about a minute of silent contemplation, Heinrich stared at me again, his eyes a bit clearer and sharper than before. “But my offer still stands.”

“What?”

“My offer still stands,” he repeated in a firmer voice. “Marry Dominic, and join our two kingdoms. That’s the only way either one of us is going to survive. That’s the only way Andvari and Bellona will survive, although I’m sure the Mortan king will still do his best to crush us both.”

He was most definitely right about that, especially since I had almost been killed in this very room last night, along with his son.

Heinrich speared me with a hard look. “This marriage needs to happen, Everleigh. As soon as possible. You know that I’m right.”

“I don’t know that you’re right.” I sighed. “But I can’t say that you’re wrong either.”

“Especially with the Regalia coming up,” he added, pressing his point.

Surprise jolted through me. “I didn’t realize this was a Regalia year.”

He nodded. “Yes, which is why it’s even more important for Andvari and Bellona to stand united.”

The Regalia Games happened once every three years and were a time when the leaders of all the kingdoms gathered to watch the best warriors, athletes, magiers, and masters from their respective lands compete for the glory of applause, money, and more. With everything that had happened over the past several months, I hadn’t remembered that this was a Regalia year.

Heinrich was right. Given the upcoming Regalia, it was even more important for us to stand together, but I still wasn’t ready to give in to his proposal.

“There has to be some other way for us to come to terms besides my marrying Dominic. Some trade agreement we can work out. I don’t want this marriage, and neither does your son.”

“Don’t you think I know that? A man would have to be blind not to see how Dominic and Rhea look at each other. I don’t like this any more than you do. It brings me no pleasure.”

I threw up my hands. “Then why are you doing it?”

He sighed. “Because I have a court full of nobles just like you do. Several of those nobles lost their sons and daughters in the Seven Spire massacre, and they want blood in return for that suffering. And if they can’t have your blood, then they at least want Andvarian blood sitting on your throne—legitimate blood.”