when he aided Everleigh during the Regalia Games. He is all grown up and far more powerful and dangerous than he ever was back then.”
Leonidas was certainly strong in his magic, but I was equally formidable, at least when my power worked, something my father always seemed to forget, much to my frustration.
“Yes, Leonidas is powerful, but I am too. You and Rhea made sure of that, as did Alvis, Xenia, Uncle Lucas, and Aunt Evie.”
Father’s lips puckered again. He didn’t like those facts either. “No. Forget about the tearstone. Uncovering Milo’s scheme isn’t worth your life, Gemma.”
But he was wrong—it was worth my life. I hadn’t warned Uncle Frederich and the other Andvarians, and they had been slaughtered during the Seven Spire massacre. This was my chance to protect my people, to save lives, and to finally make up for my cowardice, for my weakness. Why couldn’t he understand that?
Father drew himself up to his full height and peered down his nose, giving me an official Crown Prince Dominic Ripley glower, the kind that made most people quake in their boots. “You will slip out of the palace, find Grimley, and head toward the Andvarian border immediately.”
This time, I shook my head no, no, no. “I can’t do that. I won’t.”
He peered down his nose at me again. “You forget that I am not just your father. I am also your crown prince, and I outrank you.”
I ground my teeth. We engaged in this same argument every time I went on one of my missions. True, this venture was by far the most dangerous I had ever attempted, but the potential reward was also so much greater, the kind of thing that could change our kingdom—for the better.
“And what about what is best for Andvari?” I snapped, my voice just as harsh as his. “For our people? Or would you prefer that I just stand idly by while Milo Morricone dreams up new and terrible ways to kill us all?”
Equal parts guilt and anger darkened his face, but I kept talking, trying to convince him.
“You and Grandfather Heinrich have been far more worried about the simmering tensions with Morta than you’ve let on.”
Father opened his mouth, probably to refute my claim, but I tapped my index finger on my heart. “I have felt how worried the two of you have been, and I’ve heard more than one stray thought from both you and Grandfather Heinrich wondering what the Morricones are plotting. Well, this is our chance to find out.”
“You are not a spy, Gemma,” he snapped. “No matter how much you would like to be one. You are a princess, the crown princess of Andvari. You are the future leader of our people, and you need to start acting like it!”
Anger surged through my body, sizzling like lightning trapped in my veins. “I am acting like it. Finding out what Milo is plotting is the best, most important thing I can do for our kingdom right now, and perhaps in my entire lifetime. Do you want to be blindsided when Milo finally decides to strike out at us? Do you want to explain to the families of the people he slaughters why we didn’t act sooner? Why we didn’t do everything in our power to thwart him? I thought our bloody duty as royals, as leaders, was to stop tragedies—not enable them.”
I had never spoken so harshly to my father, and he jerked back as though I had slapped him. He blinked at me in surprise, as though he had never seen me before.
“No, I don’t want that.” Some of the anger leaked out of his eyes. “But I love you, Gemma, and I don’t want to lose you the same way we lost Frederich at Seven Spire.”
His worry slipped through the mirror and stabbed me in the gut. Shame and regret bloomed in my heart like poisonous vines, throttling my own anger.
“I know, and I love you too,” I said in a softer, calmer voice. “But I’m not one of the Ripley royal crowns. You can’t keep me in a velvet box under lock and key and only bring me out to admire on special occasions.”
Father winced, but he didn’t disagree. If he and Grandfather Heinrich had had their way, I would have never set one foot outside of Glitnir after the massacre.
“I might be your daughter, but you said it yourself—I am also a princess. I want to do my duty and protect our people from the