Page 101 of Crimson Throne

A qualm in my stomach as I watched her pull herself into the saddle, clearly still sore from yesterday. Determined to go no matter how much pain she’s in.

Men who take trophy wives to become kings aren’t known for their generosity or fidelity.This isn’t one of my romance novels. It’s her life, and while the rest of us waved away her concerns with empty reassurances, Zosia faced her fate with a clear-eyed sense of doom.

We lied to her. For years. Cata, Rohan, me—not one of us wanted to admit what we were forcing her to become. That would’ve made us culpable. We all wanted to gloss over it. Told her to grow up.

Zosia already had, though. Her childhood ended the day her mother died.

I screw my eyes shut, fighting back tears. If she can be unbreakable, then damn it, so can I—at least for long enough to say goodbye.

Upon opening them, I find Lorcan speaking with the guards I assigned to accompany Zosia. A moment later, he’s striding toward the stable, pack slung over his shoulder, stone-faced.

I hurry after him. As best as I can, given my rounded stomach and resulting waddle.

“You leave her alone,” I order, upon catching up. “Did you hear me, Lorcan? You leave Zosia—”

“She needs a proper guard.”

“Is that right?” I snap. “Some guard you’ve been. Leaving her locked in with a madman for over a year.”

He doesn’t answer. I hate that he’s right. As wrecked as she is physically, Zosia’s got a will of steel. She’s going to do this, and that means she needs a guard.

Which is why I assigned her two of our best.

“There and back again, you hear me, Lorcan?” I hiss, not wanting our argument to be overheard. “Stay out of her way. Zosia’s doing what’s best for the country, and hopefully, for herself.”

He leads his horse out. He barely glances at me. I can’t tell if there’s still a human heart beating inside his chest, or if that’s turned to stone, too.

“Stay away from her, Lorcan. Let her do what she needs to do.”

A loveless marriage. I shut my eyes and squeezed them tight.No.She needs warmth and love, a gentle, steady light to chase away the darkness of everything she’s been through. She hasn’t told me all of it. Won’t. Refused my attempts to ask delicate questions about her time locked in with Bashir. Protecting me from the horror of her time there.

Whatever happened, was bad.

My eyes snapped open. What she definitely doesnotneed is the hard, jaded man Lorcan has become. And if not him, then what’s the alternative? Either the royal line ends with her, or she chooses someone who might get our country out of this mess. It’s not as if either option is great.

She always knew what being the last of her line meant for her future. That future has arrived fast and hard.

Lorcan swings into his saddle.

“Do you hear me?” I call after him. His horse’s tail twitches. He doesn’t look back.

Warm hands skim up my arms. Tovian.

“Raina. Let them work it out.”

I huff. “There’s nothingtowork out. He’d better leave her alone, or I’ll murder him myself.”

Absent-mindedly, I rub my stomach. Tovian kisses my hair. “Your distress isn’t good for the baby, Arianelle.” Using the name I gave him when we first met, an affectionate reminder that I’ve played fast and loose with the truth when it suited my purposes, too.

“He’ll hurt her. Again.”

“They’re adults. Lorcan can’t conceal the truth of what he’s done for long. He might be looking for a way to tell her in private. She might forgive him. It could be good for both of them, however they decide to move forward. Clear the air, you know?”

I know he’s right. I have to find a way to let go of my simmering anger. It’s heartbreak for the man I thought I knew and once loved. I don’t want to have these feelings for him. My heart only belongs to Tovian. But a piece of it still loves the boy I knew as a child, no matter how changed he is now. A part of me always will, and it grieves.

I love Zosia, too. Along with being my fellow ruler, she’s my closest female friend. Closer than my sisters or my cousins, because she knows what it’s like to carry the weight of expectations. Even if her burden is a thousand times heavier than mine, we’ll always have that connection.

“I can’t stand to see her hurt again.” I sigh. “Especially not by him. It’s best if she thinks he doesn’t remember her at all.”

For her to let herself fall for Lorcan—whom she loathed for so long—and then find out how profoundly he betrayed her…it will convince her that everyone was right. She’ll never come out of that hard shell again. She’ll learn the wrong lesson, that she can’t trust anyone. It will kill her. If not literally, then in every way that matters.

“Yeah,” Tovian says neutrally. “That might be for the best.”

I have the distinct impression he doesn’t agree with me.

Is it too much to hope that two deeply wounded people will find strength in one another and fight their way back to happiness?

I think it is.

Time will tell.