hand shot out, slamming across his face.
He grabbed my arm and yanked me close. “Wake up, Lia! Can’t you see what’s going on here?” In almost the same movement, the hot slice of metal filled the air, and both Tavish’s and Orrin’s swords were at Kaden’s heart.
“Unhand the princess,” Tavish growled. “Now.”
Kaden slowly released his grip, and Orrin pushed him back several steps with the tip of his sword, but Kaden’s eyes never left mine.
I heard more footsteps. Rafe was walking toward us.
“There’s someone else who needs to be honest besides you and me,” Kaden said. “I thought you were in on the story from the beginning, but then I realized you didn’t get it.”
“Get what?”
“The excuse he conjured so quickly—the port and the few hills? Why do you think the Komizar bought it? You really think the marriage was only about an alliance? Dalbreck doesn’t give a horse’s ass about the Morrighese army. They mock you. The port was all they ever wanted, and the esteemed First Daughter of the House of Morrighan was going to be their leverage.”
I had no air. I couldn’t force words to my tongue. Instead, a blur whirled in my head.
There’s a port we want in Morrighan and a few miles of hills.
The rest is yours.
The prince has grand dreams.
Is it worth it to have any other kind?
… I never thought it was right.
Do you think the prince knew?
He knew.
I turned and looked at Rafe. Another secret? His lips were half parted, and he looked like he’d been punched in the gut—or had been caught.
The anger burning at my temples drained away. My stomach floated loosely in my chest.
Rafe reached out for me. “Lia, let me explain. That’s not how—”
I stepped back, avoiding his reach, and turned to look at everyone else. Tavish and Orrin shifted uncomfortably but met my stare; Jeb looked away. Their expressions confirmed I was a pawn in a game that was so old it was practically a joke.
The floor seemed to bob. I tried to find footing in this truth that rolled through the room like an unwelcome tide. I hugged my arms to my waist, every limb suddenly feeling awkward and out of place. I skimmed their gazes, felt the shake of my head in a distant, detached way. “How very disappointing it must have been for Dalbreck to learn I was a branded criminal in Morrighan. Being worthless to my own kingdom made me a worthless game piece to yours as well. My apologies.” The wobble in my voice only added to my humiliation. It seemed I was a grave disappointment to every kingdom on the continent.
Kaden looked at me, his expression morose, as if he knew he’d gone too far. When I turned to leave, Rafe tried to stop me, but I jerked free, shaking my head, unable to speak, my throat swollen with shame as I ran out the door.
I rushed across the courtyard, the ground a sickening blur beneath me. He knew.
I had been so worried about the sham my parents were perpetrating, when all along, it had mattered not one whit to Dalbreck if I had the gift at all. My worth to them lay elsewhere. Leverage. The word cut deeply. I’d heard it so many times, the cabinet uttering it with a smug smile in regard to one lesser kingdom or another, one county lord or another, all the ways they used tactical pressure to get something, couching it in a word that appeared so diplomatic and practical, but was laced with force and threat. It is the way these things are done, my father had said, trying to explain it. A little pressure and they pay attention.
“Lia—”
I felt a tug at my elbow and whirled, yanking it loose. I didn’t give Rafe a chance to say more. “How dare you!” I screamed, my anger returned full force.
His shoulders squared. “If you’d let me—”
“How dare you lay guilt on me for one stupid kiss, when all along you had this sham of epic proportions on your conscience!”
“It wasn’t—”
“You and your conniving kingdom turned my entire life upside down over a port! A port!”
“You aren’t getting the—”
“Oh, believe me, I get it! I get everything now! I—”
“Stop cutting me off!” he yelled. The steel of his eyes sparked with warning. “The least you can do is give me a chance to speak! We’re going to talk!”
* * *
We sat on the outpost wall. He had led me there, maybe wanting a place where