Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
I crossed paths with Ryker in the hallway.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “I went to your room, and your things were gone.”
“I’m in the bedchamber with Huntley.”
His eyes narrowed in ferocity. “Just like that, everything’s forgiven?”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“What does that mean?”
“He said divorce isn’t possible, so we’re husband and wife until the end.”
“That’s barbaric. He’s just going to force you every night?”
“No. He wouldn’t do that.” No matter how much I despised him right now, I knew that wasn’t him. “Just wants me close.”
Ryker gave a slight shake of his head, furious.
“As much as I hate it, it’s necessary. He’s the King of Delacroix—and that makes me the Queen.”
“So, this is about power?”
“This is about succeeding. I was the one who talked him into challenging the Capital and then uniting all the factions at the bottom of the cliffs. If I really leave, he may not be as motivated to do those things. He might just take the kingdoms like he originally planned and let everyone below suffer.”
“So, you care more about people you don’t know than yourself?”
“I wouldn’t put it like that…”
“That’s what you’re saying, Ivory.”
I ignored my brother’s stare because I didn’t want to see his pity. “Father is at the cemetery. I’m going to visit if you want to come.”
The pain moved into his eyes once again, reminded of our harsh reality. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
His tombstone was beside Mother’s. The earth was fresh on top, the tombstone pristine rather than weather-worn like Mother’s. A breeze moved through the grass, and the white jasmine flowers bowed with every gust.
I stared at his name carved into the stone and thought about everything I’d never said. “I started to wonder if he was responsible for her death. Maybe he wanted to be unattached. Maybe he wanted to have his whores in peace. I meant to ask him…but never got the chance.”
“You don’t really think that, do you?” he whispered.
“I don’t know…”
“He loved her.”
“That’s what I tell myself.”
“And even if he did, he never would have admitted it.”
“I guess.”
“And if he did, I wouldn’t mourn his death.”
The breeze blew into my eyes, making me shut them tight so they wouldn’t sting. “Do you think he deserves this?”
Ryker turned to look at me.
“He justified his invasion of Delacroix, and I don’t fault him for that. But what he did to Huntley’s mother… Do you think he deserves this?”
“Yes.”
I turned to look at him, surprised by his answer.
“But not in the way it played out. Not in the way his daughter was used and made a fool.”
My eyes closed again in a cringe.
“Even if he did deserve it, that doesn’t justify what Huntley did.”
I gave a sniff. “I don’t want to live in this kind of world anymore. I don’t want to have to debate the morality between two men I love—” It made me sick to describe Huntley that way, when his love for me hadn’t been enough. “I don’t want to be married into a family that deserted everyone down below with impunity. And I don’t want to be the daughter of the man who raped the queen just for the sake of torture. I don’t want to be a part of any of this.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
“I don’t want children to be sacrificed to Necrosis. I don’t want Delacroix’s citizens to be tricked into believing they’re the winners of a fantastic lottery rather than used as a sacrifice. I don’t want any of this.”
Ryker was quiet for a long time. “Well, you’re Queen of Delacroix now. Soon, you’ll be Queen of the Kingdoms. Then you’ll be Queen of All. You can make this world into whatever you want it to be.”
“Yeah… I guess.”
“And if Huntley disagrees…kill him.”
I couldn’t even entertain the idea, not even as a fantasy. “I would never do that.”
Ryker released a drawn-out sigh. “He’s forcing you to stay with him—”
“It’s more complicated than that, Ryker. I would never hurt him, and I don’t want to even suggest it. And I would never want you to hurt him either.”
He gave me an incredulous look. “You still love him.”
I avoided his stare.
“We’re standing over Father’s grave, and you still love him.”
“Ryker, love doesn’t just die—”
“It does when he betrays your trust and murders your father.”
“Come on, you know it’s more complicated than that.” Maybe I’d had time to reflect on how deeply complicated this was, how there were no heroes in this story, only villains on both sides. It was all about power. That was all anyone cared about. There was no right. No wrong.
“It’s not complicated at all, Ivory. You pledged to help him in exchange for your father’s well-being. He took that promise and pissed on it.” He marched off, leaving me standing alone at the grave site.
The wind whipped in my hair, and the sting moved past my eyes and into my heart. Now I’d never felt more alone, standing over my father’s dead body, my heart weeping. Huntley made me feel whole, made me feel like I had my own family, made me feel like I had my own person who would be on my side, no matter what. The loss of that was somehow the worst part.