Page 93 of Bite The Terror That Feeds

“He’s probably figured it out by now…”

He gave a quiet sigh. “Then I suspect the entire Ethereal military will be at our borders soon enough.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Why?”

“My father wouldn’t risk his people for a single person—even if it is his daughter. He’s a great king. I was the one who made the decision to come, so he has to respect that. If I lost my life…so be it.”

“You underestimate the unconditional love of a father for his daughter.”

“And you underestimate my people. Our pragmatism has kept us in power since the beginning.”

He was quiet for a while. “Why did you come?”

“Because I wanted to.”

“Why did you come in secret?”

“I told my father I wanted to serve our people with my sword and dagger. He rejected my proposal because that wasn’t my place.”

“And where is your place?”

I tightened the blanket around me, feeling a cold chill. “It’s complicated…”

“I’m a bright guy.”

“As the eldest, I’m next in line for the throne. It’s my duty to rule.”

“Sounds pretty nice, if you ask me.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

“But in order to rule, I must wed.”

Silence fell. A long bout of silence. “That’s a barbaric tradition reserved for the humans. I assumed the Ethereal were far more progressive than that.”

“Well, we aren’t. There needs to be a guarantee of an heir. If I’m not married…then there’s no guarantee.”

“What if you don’t want children?”

“There’s no such thing.”

He was quiet.

When I returned to Evanguard, I knew my father would be angrier than he’d ever been. And he was already disappointed in me as it was.

“Do you at least get to pick the guy?”

“Yes—but I picked wrong.” Now I felt his stare on the side of my face again. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s what your dream was about,” he said. “I heard you saying the name Aegnor.”

“I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“Fair enough.”

My chest loosened once the subject was dropped.

“Do you want to rule your people?”