Page 4 of Uncrowned

Who would bend or break first?

What were they hiding?

When did their claims take place?

Where did I go from there?

Most would call it torture. I called it survival.

The Crown was all I had left. How I got answers to get it back didn’t matter. There were days I questioned whether my duty was worth the blood it demanded. Those thoughts never lasted long.

Flashes of my uncle with his throat slit.

My father bleeding out as I tried to help him.

My mother and sister….

No. I didn’t have a choice but to continue. I was the last in my line. There was no successor. Not yet. And I needed one.

“LaRoe remains the strongest choice. Marian LaRoe has the right blood, she’s engaged, and her parents say no. Not that any of that will stand in my way if Marian’s the one. I just⁠—”

Names blurred together. I couldn’t remember the last time I got more than a few hours of sleep at a time.

I blinked hard, seeing the names clear. “LaRoe is ideal. Her temperament is not. Leslie Jones could prove a good match if her lineage was stronger. It doesn’t hold the impact.”

“Davies might be strategic?”

My hand waved, dismissing Charles Redmond, the High Master of The Order. He paced as I sat in my black, iron throne, studying the papers. As I scanned the list of names again, my free hand trailed over the arm’s pitted surface. I moved through the carved valleys that symbolized the decades of hell my former ancestors faced in this underground kingdom. Every scar held a betrayal—the weight of a decision. And when I finally took over for Redmond, the throne, The Order, the power, would be mine to step into.

“Davies—”

My gaze cut up. “She’d never survive. If a queen is ever going to rule a country, she must first rule the devils below it. The Order would eat Gianna Davies alive.”

Redmond tapped his finger. “So… Marian LaRoe, then? She has a bad temper, but that can be easily broken.”

“At what cost?”

Redmond paused and something flashed across his face. “I’ve been thinking… What about Taylor?”

“Taylor?” One of my eyebrows lifted, and I looked back to the list. The name wasn’t there. I paused. “Surely you’re not referring to the Taylors who betrayed my family, only to shortly lose their own title over treason to the same king they chose to follow?”

Redmond’s cheek ticked as distaste took over. “Everyone knows the evidence was lacking. It was more of a safety measure than anything. Besides, they have a daughter who is the right age. One, I hear, is quite beautiful.”

I threw him a hard look. “This isn’t about beauty, it’s about blood.”

“And they have it. She’d be a duchess. She’d probably be queen right now if what I hear is correct. I mean, my birds tell me King Lawrence gave her serious thought. Perhaps he still is. You know he’s looking for his own queen, and something very odd happened with Lord Shorelam. Over whisky the other night, he told Lord Summerlyn he’s to have her. The next, something scared him away. He won’t talk about it anymore. Tell me who has the power to do that?”

Silence rested between us as I licked my lips.

My lids narrowed. “It is interesting. …Taylor.”

Paper crinkled as I felt my fist draw in the slightest amount. The king wanted her? Wanted. Her. Wanted.

“Taylor,” Redmond repeated. “It would be unwise not to consider her. I hear her parents are especially eager to marry her off. To a title, of course.”

“Which isn’t me.” Paper crumbled under my grip.

“No, but the father has quite the reputation, and it’s not good—hence their rush. Perhaps you could convince them to reconsider?”