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“There’s been work that needed to be done,” he says. “Our city is not in a good place.”

I experience a pang of guilt. So, Ruarok has been doing my job while I’ve been lying around in bed feeling sorry for myself. I’d been mentally berating him for not doing as I’d asked, but the people of Askos have had far bigger things to worry about than a service for those already dead.

“Did you hear we lost another part of the city to the rot?” he continues. “Fifty people or more are dead. Where is it going to end? With the loss of the whole kingdom?”

I remember my homeland, the utter devastation the rot caused. Toward the end, there was no safe place, and we’d had no choice but to leave. I understand that Ruarok doesn’t have any love for his father, but, without the king, my mother and I would have been left without a home.

My voice is barely a whisper. “Honestly, I don’t know. I wish the Mage had given me something more substantial to go on.”

He glances away. “About that. I need to speak to you about something. It’s important.”

A chill condenses in my veins. “Oh?”

“It’s been brought to my attention that people are concerned you’re not the right person to take the throne.”

His words hit me right in the heart. “Who has been saying such things?”

“Just little birds.”

Isn’t it exactly what I’ve been thinking myself? It’s as though all my worries have just been voiced back at me.

I force myself to keep my chin up and shoulders back. “And what do you think about that, Prince Ruarok?”

“It’s not really my place to say what I think.”

His dark eyes glitter. I don’t believe him.

“What if I command you, as your future queen?”

He twists his lips. “We are equals. Until the coronation happens, you can’t command me to do anything.”

“Very well. What if I ask as your stepsister?”

“Do you really want to know?”

I bristle. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”

He takes a breath. “Truthfully, I do not believe you are the rightful heir to the throne. That person is me.”

I grit my teeth and try to remain calm. “But you’d been banished.”

“I’m here now.”

I shouldn’t have released him from the cage.

Guilt spears me at the selfishness of my thought. If I hadn’t freed him, he’d have spent even longer inside that godforsaken cage. How much longer? Years? Centuries? Did I really have it in me to leave someone to that much suffering, no matter what they might have done?

“Are you saying you plan to take the throne from me?”

One corner of his lips turns in a smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I can’t take something that was never truly yours, Princess.”

I can’t look at him. I turn from him and go to the window, to gaze down at the ruined city. “At the end of the day, it’ll be the people of Askos who crown their ruler. They will decide who they want.”

Before now, I had no doubt that it would be me. I’ve been here for the last ten years, walking among the people, have sat at the king’s and queen’s side as they’ve sat on their thrones. The citizens of Askos have watched me become a woman, and I’ve never done anything wrong in their eyes. Until now, that is.

Ruarok, however, has spent the past ten years locked away by his own father. He already had a terrible reputation, and everyone knew the king hated him. What reason would the people of Askos have for wanting Ruarok as their king? Surely, that would only happen if he were the only option available.

I realize what this means. If he were to be rid of me, then there would be no one standing in the way of him taking the throne.