Page 40 of Tarnished Crown
“Yes. Tomorrow. While you’ve been busy playing drinking games and judging arse contests, I’ve been trying to plan logistics--”
My jaw clenched, and I cut him off. “While I’ve been making the best of being your prisoner, you’ve been racking your brain to ensure there was no way for me to go free, you mean.”
He pursed his lips. “Try to remember that you have the capacity to start a war tomorrow. It might sound appealing to have Korhonan fighting to take you back, but I assure you, that will not end well for any of us.”
It was almost impressive how quickly fury overtook my curiosity about why he was here. War was the last thing I wanted, and it was insulting that he thought otherwise.
“I’m sorry, are you actually tellingmenot to start a war right now? Maybe you should have thought of that before youclaimedme, Evander.”
Heat flashed through his eyes. Anger. Probably.Surely.
“I did think about it, Princess,” he snapped, his frustrated tone a far cry from its usual calm. “In fact, it’s all I have the luxury of thinking about most days.”
“And yet--”
“And yet,” he interrupted me. “I saw one of my enemies about to ally with another of my much more powerful enemies, conveniently located on either side of my clan’s territory, and I did what I had to do to stop that from happening.”
My jaw dropped, my rage mingling with a degree of shock. “So all of this was to stop me from marrying Theo?”
His expression hardened, and he nodded.
I saw red. Everything he had put me through, all for something that might not have even happened?
“You manipulative bastard!” I bit out each word. “I knew you didn’t give a single stars-damned hell about that blood debt.” I was all but shouting now, something I almost never did.
Evander sat forward in his chair, his features tight with an ire he had no right to. “I’m the manipulative one? You’re so busy concerning yourself with what I had to lose from that alliance, have you stopped to think about who stood to gain from it? And how very conveniently that worked out for them?
“Here’s a tip, Princess. When you want to figure out who’s manipulating a situation, take a step back and figure out who benefits from it most.” He put a mocking finger to his lips. “I wonder who stands to benefit if Lochlann allies with Clan Elk just as they’re preparing to make a bid for the throne.”
I thought about what Iiro had said, how some thought the monarchy should come back together. He had implied that Elk had the best claim, with their mother being the cousin of the late queen. But he hadn’t said anything about pursuing it...
“That doesn’t even make sense,” I fired back, without revealing that bit of information. “If that’s what they wanted, Iiro could have broached that subject before dragging me to the Summit. Stars, he could have just reached out to my father and asked. Theo didn’t even mention marriage until the last possible opportunity.”
He shook his head as if to argue, but I cut him off.
“Has it occurred to you that you’re just seeing what you want to see because you hate Theo and you hate Clan Elk and you hate Lochlann, and honestly, is there anything you don’t hate or anyone you don’t instantly disdain, or is that illustrious honor reserved solely for me and the people I love?”
He scoffed at that. “Yes, I’m sure the time you spent with Theodore gave you ample opportunity to explore his character.”
This again.“Is everything you’ve done about getting back at him for whatever the hell is between you two? Or is this because you want the throne instead?”
I hadn’t forgotten the rest of that conversation with Iiro, what he said about Bear wanting a claim as well, based solely on the size of their territory and their brute strength.
He laughed, but there was no humor to it. “No one with any sense wants the storms-blasted Obsidian Throne.”
I narrowed my eyes again, scrutinizing him under the lens of everything I knew. Did he really not want the throne? Was this just another manipulation?
Or was it more personal than that?
“So, everything you’ve done is just about keeping Elk from getting something you don’t even want?”
He didn’t deny it, and for some reason, that did me in. I rose from my chair, fuming all the way to the door.
“I should have known.” I shook my head. “This is just like the day you used me against him in the sparring ring. You treat people like toys, like pawns...likepets.” That last word was soaked with bitterness. “I guess you were up front about that, at least.”
I opened the door, ushering him out. “You can go now. Rest assuredIwon’t be starting any wars tomorrow. You’ve done that enough for the both of us.”
To my surprise, he actually left without another word. Instead of feeling victorious for finally being the one to leave him speechless, though, I just felt drained.