I wrinkled my brow. “Wait a moment, I thought your assignment was to find the Sybettian princess?”
He laughed again, as if my question had walked him down memory lane. “Well, if I’m honest, that was more of a side quest. I figured that if I managed to marry into the Sybettian crown, my father would have almost no choice but to make me his successor. Merging our kingdoms would certainly make Ashbourne stronger, and if he had still denied me the throne, I would at least have a kingdom to call my own.”
Well, that certainly explained a lot.Ithought back to his unrestrained flirting when we first met. “What were you going to do if I ended up not being the real princess?” I questioned with a teasing brow.
“Simple. I would do what I do best—lie, cheat, and make my own rules.” He snickered with a confident smile. “You have to admit that you’re a perfect match on paper. A few fake witnesses and some forged paperwork would easily convince anyone who dared to question your royal status.” He posed with a mischievous grin and began stroking an invisible goatee.
“You’re ridiculous!” I laughed. It felt so good to smile after such a long day. “I can’t believe your family lets you get away with such things. I always thought royals did everything strictly by the books. Well, most royals. I admit I always suspected Ashbourne of being a little... less than honorable.”
Killian’s joyful grin faded, the shadow filling his eyes again. “You would be right to suspect that,” he said ominously. “My father, King Darius, taught me the only thing a king should strive for is power. It seemed like a reasonable way to rule for a while, but now that I’ve taken a step back, it just seems cruel.” He looked to the rain, watching the drops collect into puddles in the thick mud. “He even pitted me and my brothers against each other. Only the one he deems the strongest will inherit the throne. Our mother insisted that Conan take the crown since he’s the eldest, and father agreed, but when she died... everything changed. My brothers changed, too. Conan became ruthless, and Miron became deceitful. We’ve become just like our father. What a legacy, huh?”
Killian’s gaze never turned from the clouds, so I crept up beside him and joined him in his on-looking. “You know, your brothers may have changed, but I’m sure your mother would be proud of who you are now.”
He tilted his gaze toward me, then let out a heavy chuckle. “Hardly. I’m no different than they are. When she died, I stopped trying. I left the court, I broke every rule in the book, and I gloated about it all. I decided that if I was going to be king, I was going to do things my own way. Now that I look back, I realize how absurdly egotistical I was.” He turned away from the rain, meeting my eyes fully. “Then one day, a spunky red-head told me I had a birdbrain. She really did a number on my pride.”
I gave him a playful shove. “I’m glad I was able to knock you down a peg.” I giggled. “You were far too cocky for your own good.”
“Well, I’m glad that I was fortunate enough to have an honorable princess show me the error of my ways.” he said under a smooth laugh.
“Honorable princess? I’m the farthest thing from honorable.” I steadied the blade that had still been twirling around my fingers. “I’m a thief, Killian. For almost ten years, I have scouted the routes of Ashbourne military wagons and robbed them bit by bit. You probably never even knew that a few apples or chunks of bread turned up missing here and there.”
I tossed the dagger into the air and caught the blade smoothly between my fingers. Killian’s expression took on an impressed light as he watched me handle the weapon with ease. “That’s incredible, Nixie,” he exclaimed in fascination. “Part of my duties was always to monitor the delivery route to ensure the supplies and weapon plans I sent were accounted for. There have always been differences in the final deliveries, but I always assumed it was just the soldiers being insufficient stock-keepers.”
I couldn’t prevent a smirk from crossing my face. “Mother always warned me not to get too greedy. She believed that if I stole more than a few measly morsels, that the military would start catching on. It’s nice to know that she was right all along.” I sighed, recalling the memories of her worried words of warning.
“She was definitely right, and to be frank, I’m a little annoyed to know that the cause of all my mental headaches for the last ten years is sitting right beside me.” He crossed his arms, eyeing me sternly. “Do you have any idea how many lectures I received for miscalculating small things like apples? My father only strived for perfectionism, you know.”
I tossed the dagger to him with a sly grin, and to my surprise, he caught it without flinching. “It’s not my fault those wagons were designed with such fatal blind spots.”
Killian’s mouth fell open. “Hey! I designed those wagons.” He tossed the blade back to me and I caught it mid-air.
“Well, that explains a lot, doesn’t it, birdbrain?”
We both laughed, and at some point, I found myself resting gently against his good shoulder. He didn’t seem to mind the action, so I decided to remain there a bit longer. I could just barely hear his heartbeats from this position.Why are they so fast? He doesn’t still have a fever, does he?
“Can I ask you something?” he asked in a more serene tone. “What were you doing sleeping in the middle of the woods today? Does your hostess know you’re out here?”
I bit the inside of my cheek, considering how to reply. I had completely forgotten about Milo’s proposal, and honestly, I was happy to let the memory slip away entirely. Sure, I’d have to discuss it with Minerva when I returned, but right now, I wanted to be selfish, and forget about everything.
“I just needed to get away,” I answered honestly. “It’s been a hectic day, and I told Minerva I needed to go for a walk.”
Killian’s eyes widened. “Wait a moment, did you say Minerva?” His hand flew to my arm, tightening around me desperately.
I jumped at the frenzied touch. “What? Yes, of course. Minerva is my hostess, have I never told you her name before?” I stared fearfully into his distraught eyes.What has gotten him so worked up all of the sudden?
His grip on my arm tightened. “MinervaZakaria,as in the previous queen of Isalla?”
I blinked in disbelief.Minerva... was a queen?“I-I don’t know. She never shared her last name with me, but I know she used to be well-off before she was banished.” I had never kept up with Isallan politics—they didn’t influence us as much as Ashbourne had.
“Nixie, if your hostess is really the ex-queen Minerva, then you need to get out of there immediately.” His voice was stone, and not even an ounce of jest shone through his serious glare.
“Why? Even if she was a queen, she has been nothing but kind to me ever since we met.”What did a queen have to do in order to get banished from her own kingdom? She did mention something about her daughter being involved...
Killian’s face darkened. “Queen Minerva was banished for attempting to murder her daughter.”
chapter seventeen
It was past sundown when I finally returned to the cottage. Killian’s warning remained seared into my mind as I approached the familiar front door.Minerva couldn’t have actually tried to murder her own daughter, could she?When we first met, she had explained that her banishment was caused by a political misinterpretation that her daughter had orchestrated. It would make sense if Killian only heard the story that displayed her in a poor light, since Minerva was the only one able to share the truth. But she had already withheld part of the story by neglecting to disclose that she was once a queen, so had she withheld anything else?