Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,112

a unicorn beside a skull with the mark of Hecate. The background of the flag showed a rainbow with what appeared to be castle ruins on the ground.

“Peasant,” Greer whispered, causing me to jump with his sudden appearance. “I’m glad to see your ability to die of a heart attack by my sudden appearance hasn’t lessened any. What is that hideous flag?”

“I believe it’s supposed to be my flag. It’s a headless unicorn with a rainbow behind it,” I frowned. “Do you find it offensive?”

“I’m not gay, Peasant. I am bisexual and just happen to prefer men over women, which I have repeatedly explained to you. I can go either way, though, really,” he snorted, tilting his head at the same moment I did. The flags turned, lifted by the breeze, and Greer smirked, “I do take offense for the poor unicorn that didn’t deserve to lose its head.”

“I take offense,” I admitted. “My flag would be a full unkindness of ravens poised for battle on a skull with the mark of Hecate burning in the middle of it. It could be white, but it would need to represent me, and I didn’t own that raincoat. It belonged to my sister.”

“An unkindness?” Greer asked, staring at me strangely.

“A flock of ravens is often called an ‘unkindness’ because they are associated with bad luck. In mythology, they are trickster animals. Did you know ravens are among the smartest birds? Probably of all animals if you consider their history and events in which they played a role. They never forget, and they study their enemies and even those they don’t think of as foes. They’re amazing creatures.”

“You do know that the high king’s flag has twin ravens, both perched on the skull of a Hecate witch, right?”

“No,” I frowned, shaking my head, pursing my lips. “I assumed it was only on his armor and that it was the flag of Norvalla that held ravens.”

“You’re honestly the most brilliant, stupid person I know, Peasant.”

“Ouch, that coming from a suit of meat actually makes me give a fuck. No, wait. That wasn’t a fuck. It was indigestion from eating the last fuck I gave,” I snorted, and Greer chuckled. “You do realize that I am only twenty-five and have no idea what I am doing, right? I’m winging this, which is pretty much the story of my life.”

“You’re not doing too badly, Peasant. Or shall I call you the High Queen of the Nine Realms, now? Or do you prefer I wait until after the joyous occasion has occurred?”

“I’d prefer you to call me Peasant, because it is something that has remained steady, to keep me grounded, Meat Suit. I will never be a real queen. Knox won’t allow it. I will be a joke to the people, one whispered about behind their hands. You and I both know that. I could be more, but not with the high queen and high king hunting my family to use against me. So the princess has become a pawn for them both.”

“It does sound pitifully hopeless when you put it like that,” he muttered, leaning his head against my shoulder. “Knox is wounded and has been for so long that he doesn’t know any other way to be. Change that, and you may change the man. You’re more fire than ice, and he’s the ice to your fire. Melt through his frozen heart, and breathe life and fire back into him, Aria. He’s good at concealing his feelings. That lesson was beaten into him when he was young. I know because I watched his father teach him that a great king feels nothing. For hours and hours, King Lennox beat his son. The child lifted from the ground as nothing more than a bloody pulp, staring down a king. Knox told the king he hit like a lady of the court, even while spitting out blood. He told King Lennox that his mother had often struck him harder than that for peeking up the skirts of maidens at court.”

“Knox wasn’t ever a child,” I grunted, turning to stare at Knox as he frowned at something Brander said beside him, pointing at a location on a map.

“Oh, but he was. Prince Knox was a bright child. One filled with dreams of making the Kingdom of Norvalla a place others respected and could love as he did. He had these smiling eyes, and you could see the brilliance within them, burning to get out. His parents directed his