Page 5 of The Fox Heir

My heart is racing with anger. “Without you, he made my life a nightmare. He—” I choke on the words, the memories too painful to voice. He disowned me. He made an illegitimate son heir instead of me. He locked me in a dungeon to die. He sicced his foxhounds on me when Hunter saved me. He will stop at nothing until I’m dead.

Tristan’s grip tightens on my arm. I can feel the weight of his gaze, silently urging me to hold my composure. But how can I, when the woman responsible for my suffering stands here? When she’s wearing the face of the grandmother I once adored?

“Tell me what happened.” My voice is sharp as a blade. I came here for answers. Once I get them, I’ll leave this horrible place forever. I’ll try to find a way to live, after existing in the shadow of death since I was twelve years old.

The Dead Queen doesn’t speak.

“I deserve to know!”

“People don’t always get what they ‘deserve’. You should know that better than most.”

She means my father. If he got what he deserved, then he’d have died a torturous death a long time ago. I can feel her dead eyes studying me from behind her black veil.

“I mourned you for years. I ruined my life just to find out what happened to you.” I take a step forward and speak through gritted teeth. “Tell me.”

“No.”

“No?” I scoff, incredulous.

“You aren’t ready to hear that tale.”

I turn to Tristan, expecting some backup, but he just stands still and stoic. Of course, he isn’t going to help me. He was never my friend. Everything he did was driven by ulterior motives.

I stomp up toward the throne, but Nalina steps in front of me. In one smooth motion, she unsheathes her sword, pressing its silver tip to my chest. I glare past her, at the queen.

“Tell. Me.” My voice has a pleading edge to it that makes me cringe. I’m not here to beg. I’m here to make demands. “I’ll make you.” I press closer, not caring that the edge of Nalina’s blade bites the skin at my collarbone.

“You can’t.”

“I’ll find a way.”

Her tone is curious. “You plan to pry the story from my cold, dead lips, you mean?”

“That can be arranged.”

“It’s not so easy.”

“I’m used to things being ‘not so easy.’ You’ll find I’m rather industrious.”

She shakes her head slowly. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, Granddaughter, but a Dead Queen can’t be destroyed by mere strength of will.”

“I’ve killed corpse beasts. I know exactly what to do.”

“Decapitation, you mean?” She tilts her veiled head like a curious wolf. “It may work with a corpse beast, but it isn’t so easy to destroy a queen.”

I hadn’t thought of that. That killing a corpse beast is simpler than killing a Dead Queen with immense shadow power.

“I’ll learn how.”

“I wish you luck.” The Dead Queen says lightly. “Very few people know that secret. And I’m not about to include you on that list.”

“Then tell me what happened and be done with me. It’s the only reason I’m here.”

The queen sighs, a rattling, hollow sound. “I know you’ve suffered. Believe me, it pains me to see the scars you bear.” Her gaze flicks to Tristan again, and something unreadable passes between them. His grip tightens on my arm.

I grit my teeth, fury rising in me. This woman doesn’t care about my suffering. If she did, she wouldn’t have left me to rot in Caerwen. Enough of this.

“My father. He did this to you, didn’t he?”