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Sayyida merely shook her head.

“Is something wrong with my choice?” King Magnus growled.

Lady Virtoris stepped forward and spoke for her daughter. “We’ve already spoken with the jarl and refused his offer. He is from the midlands.”

“And?”

“We are seafaring people, Majesty,” the Lady of Ships continued, her voice stronger after the initial shock. “Sayyida is a captain in the Royal Nava. That is where she wishes to stay. She can’t very well command ships from a castle in the landlocked midlands now, can she?” Lady Virtoris’s chin lifted. “Not to mention that I believe my daughter to be too good for the jarl.”

Whispers abounded, but my attention had strayed back to Sayyida. She, too, had pulled on a brave face and crossed her arms over her chest as though they were armor. But would it work?

“That is where you are wrong, Lady Virtoris,” King Magnus spat. “Your daughter has proven that she is nothing special. Dare I say, I should have punished her for attending recent events and not bringing them to my attention. Not even trying to stop them.”

The Lady of Ships’s lips parted in shock that had to be similar to the jolt running through me.

Recent events . . .

The king had matched Sayyida and Marit, both high ladies who had attended my wedding to Vale! They were nobles with power and armies of their own. The king could not punish them in the same manner as Sir Qildor—not if he wished to keep the Sacred Eight on his side.

However, he could, by rights and tradition, match them and give them horrible husbands—ones he knew they did not want.

Which was what he was doing.

My fists clenched at my sides as a mix of fury and guilt rolled through me. I hated the king for doing this, for hurting innocents.

Worse, I was responsible. Had I not said yes to Vale, none of this would have happened.

But then again, I’d most likely already be dead if I had said no.

I swallowed the lump rising in my throat. At least Anna, Clemencia, Sir Caelo, and the whores who had witnessed our wedding were far away and safe.

Thank the stars Lord Riis had known to send them away. That he’d had a place to keep them.

But what of Filip? I found the young squire in the crowd, standing by a male I assumed to be his father. My jaw tightened. Would the king match Filip too? And cruelly so?

“He’s too young to be matched,” Vale whispered. “Filip is safe, for now.”

So he’d come to the truth of the matter too. That we were responsible for this misery. And yet, he’d said nothing either. That led me to believe that staying quiet was the smart thing to do for now. Perhaps if we fought it, the king would force my friends to wed at this very moment, ripping them from their families. In Marit’s case, he’d already insinuated as much. At least this way, if we played our cards right, there was a chance to fix this.

I would ask Vale to bring it up with his father.

“Now”—the king’s voice boomed, quelling the murmuring running through the crowd—“that the matter of the matches is settled, we shall celebrate.” He lifted his glass of wine. “To the new betrothals! New alliances!”

Those in the crowd raised their glasses, even those of the House Armenil and House Virtoris. Even Sayyida and Marit, though Marit’s arm was shaking and Sayyida only did so at her mother’s insistence. If Sayyida had it her way, she’d probably hurl her goblet to the ground.

With the toast finished; the king turned back tospeaking with the newly betrothed jarls. The newly matched ladies, however, bolted from the solarium. Marit did so with grace, but Sayyida with so much fury that she knocked over two potted trees and bulldozed through a group of ladies on her way out.

Saga wasn’t far behind Sayyida.

“Vale,” I whispered. I had to be there for the ladies who had taken me in and who were now hurting because of me.

“Let’s go,” he said. “Don’t run, though. Don’t draw more attention to them.”

I parted through the crowd. Sayyida, Marit, and Saga had already disappeared through the door. A few Armenils left too—though Lady Virtoris remained with two of her children, one male, one female, both in their mid to late teens, whom I had not met. They followed close behind their mother, who seemed to be doing her best to steal the king away from the jarls. Not having much luck by the looks of it.

Vale strode behind me, fending off the few people who tried to get his attention. Apparently, we were no longer the main gossip of the court, so speaking with the prince wasn’t as much of a risk.

We were nearly at the door, the Clawsguards we’d arrived with waiting to escort us, when Prince Rhistel stepped into my path.