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“The new king has made an additional offer.”

My eyebrows were so high up on my forehead, I feared I wouldn’t be able to find them again. “Oh?”

“Of…marriage,” Cabot said.

I blinked, and my mouth fell open. “ What ?”

On the other side of me, Stryker’s smile widened. “King Galen Grimaldi has requested your hand in marriage upon arrival in Mysthelm in one week’s time, and we have agreed.”

White noise blanketed me. A wave of shock and anger slowly built in my core, then moved up my chest and neck, knocking any rational thought from my carefully curated mind.

“I’m sorry, you did what ?” I spluttered, my eyes frantically searching their faces. “You want me to—to marry him? Shut up .”

“E-Excuse me, Your Majesty?” Lord Cabot stammered.

Closing my eyes, I brought my trembling hands below the table and straightened my spine. Firm but gentle. Strong but controlled. Pull it together, Rissa .

When I opened my eyes again, I gave the men a tight smile and stood, the wooden legs of my chair screeching against the hard floor. “Give me just a moment. ”

I spun and headed to the door, catching my mother’s eye in the back of the room. The unsurprised look on her face told me she knew about this. That was what she’d been trying to warn me of before.

She followed close on my heels as I exited the meeting room.

For the second time that day, my claws emerged from my fingertips as my heart rate picked up speed.

I didn’t often lose control like this, having learned from a young age how to subdue my emotions and keep my more animalistic instincts at bay.

It was something all Shifters had to master, or else become a menace to society.

But these last few months had tested my patience.

“You knew they were planning this?” I hissed at my mother once the door shut behind her.

“I only just discovered it. I had breakfast this morning with Ladies Leighton and Cabot before I came to your office. They mentioned hearing their husbands discussing it two nights ago.”

I threw my hands in the air. “For Fates’ sake, how long has the council known? Why would they agree to this without asking me?”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, sweet girl.” She took a step closer. “They cannot make this decision final without your consent.”

“Yes, they can. I’m not the empress yet.” Gritting my teeth, I took a deep breath. “Why does this Galen Grimaldi even want to marry me? He’s never met me, never met anyone from this empire. We’ve been estranged for three centuries. Who does something like that? Marry a complete stranger?”

“Well, your father and I did,” my mother said softly.

I blinked. “I—well, yes, I suppose you did.”

I often forgot how my parents met. My father was in line for the throne, and his father had arranged a marriage for him to the daughter of a wealthy Shifter lord in the capital, a woman he’d barely known the name of. My mother, Evadine.

“But you two fell in love,” I pointed out. “A once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. That’s not something I can guarantee, Mother. ”

“No, it’s not,” she agreed. “But it’s something you can hope for.

” She cupped my cheeks and forced me to meet her gaze, those hazel eyes as sharp as when I was a child.

“I’m not going to lie to you and promise a fairytale future, my dear.

You knew when you fought for this role that life was not going to look the way for you that it does for others.

Your father and I had to make many sacrifices during our time in power.

It doesn’t make it easy. It doesn’t make it fair.

But it’s always your choice . Don’t let them take that away from you. ”

I was no stranger to sacrifices and difficult decisions.

My twin brother and I grew up secluded from the world, isolated after my father abdicated the throne and was run out of the palace by people who believed he sparked the sleeping curse that once ravaged our empire.

One Gayl was behind all along. My father died over a decade before we were able to clear his name.

We’d lived in secrets and shadows, confined to our little cottage in the woods, recluses in our own home while the world spurned the Aris name.

We were hated. Spat upon. Ran from in anger and fear.

When he died and Mother fell sick, Leo and I went through adolescence and early adulthood with nothing but ourselves, our inadequately trained magic, and a couple of close friends.

We made difficult decisions on a daily basis.

And once we formed the rebellion, sacrifice became as easy as breathing.

Time, energy, resources. Whatever I had went to our vision of a better future.

I would give anything for my family, my friends, and my Sentinels without a second thought.

I supposed a part of me…

A part of me believed one day I wouldn’t have to. One day, the rest of my life would begin. One day, I’d be able to take something for myself simply because I wanted it.

Like love, for instance. Marriage. A family of my own.

But perhaps a life of responsibility, of duty , would always look the same. My people first. My empire first.

I closed my eyes. I could live with that. If it was truly for the good of them, I could live with it .

“Fine,” I said. “Let’s go back inside.”

My mother furrowed her brow. “So you’re agreeing to it? To this marriage?”

“Right now, I’m agreeing to hear them out.” Reaching for the door handle, I added, “And they better have a good reason.”