Page 17 of The Crimson Princess (The Ravengale Chronicles #1)

He lifts a hand in Mikhail’s direction and Mikhail’s eyes meet mine, a reaffirmation of his prior words in his stare, but he obeys his dismissal, disappearing behind the thrones.

“Tell me,” I demand, before Mikhail can possibly have left the room, but I don’t care. I’m the only one living in the darkness of death and deceit.

“I met with the druids.”

“King Darus Dalaigh?”

“Yes. King Darus and we came to terms that avoid war and allow us to cede no power or land.”

Uneasiness burrows in my chest and I seek answers to relieve the pressure. “The sorceress is real.”

“Yes,” he confirms. “The sorceress is real.”

That news alone would not disturb me, but his concern over her does. “Did you tell Toren?”

“No, I did not tell Toren. The vampire cannot be trusted.”

“He wants what you want. To prevent the sorceress from causing chaos and death.”

“Or use her to conquer us. I told you, there’s no negotiating with vampires. Toren cannot be allowed to come in contact with the sorceress.”

“A contradiction to the fact that we live in peace with Toren and his kind.”

“We are never at peace with them,” he snaps back. “They have an army that could overtake us at any moment, and that is a weakness we need to correct. By joining with the druids—”

My heart literally skips a beat at such a premise. “Joining how ?”

He puffs up his shoulders, an act that tells me he’s preparing for war. With me. I will not like what comes next. “You will wed Prince Bellar,” he announces, his voice pure steel. “We will become one Ravengale kingdom.”

Shock rips through me, and my anger burns as hot as the new magic but somehow it bubbles from me as laughter. “No. No, I will not wed the prince. I barely tolerate him.”

“It’s decided,” he declares, a whip to his tone .

My laughter is gone, transformed into a spark, one decibel beneath rage. “I am not your whore you can sell off.”

“We will make your couple status public at the Challenge.”

“No.”

“I am your father and your king.”

“No,” I repeat. “The druids are in bed with Toren’s brother.”

“The druids have vowed to stand with us against the vampires and together we will be strong enough to ensure neither Toren nor his brother, Ruhn, will ever dare challenge us.”

This is wrong. I feel it in every part of me, but I know my father and he’s as stubborn as stone when he’s made up his mind. He won’t listen to his daughter’s viewpoint, no matter what her future role in the kingdom. Especially now that he intends me to be second to the druid prince.

“You will allow Prince Bellar to court you publicly to allow the gales to find comfort with the idea of this union,” he adds.

“They will question us both for joining the very enemy that killed many of their family members.”

“They trust in what the book has destined as our future. You will do this and you will smile while you do it.”

It’s not a question and as sour as it is on my tongue, I comply and say, “Yes.” And I do so only out of the childhood memory of being locked away for a public display of disobedience, and I was only nine at the time.

Not even my mother could save me his wrath when he flexed his crown.

And now I stand alone against him, without her by my side.

With a twist of my gut, I vow to figure out a way out of this.

I will figure out how to save the lives that will certainly be lost if we travel this path.

Everything inside me that tells me this alliance with the druids is wrong.

My father’s lips curve. “Excellent. I will send news to the druid king.” He motions to my throne. “Now sit. We have visitors waiting.”

It is all I can do to force my feet to carry me to my own throne where I claim my seat.

But I do it. I sit. And thankfully, the change seems to be over, and the physical discomfort that came with it, though I have no idea what my new powers might be, if any.

I’ve been taught that most simply have better use of their prior skills, but some develop new abilities that gradually show themselves.

I do feel different.

I have no idea what that means, but something inside me has changed.

A visitor steps in front of me and I begin greeting those who wish to honor my mother, trying to put my whole heart into the process.

But there is much to distract me, and I silently console myself over the Prince Bellar development, reminding myself that I’m only allowing him to court me.

I will never accept a true proposal. At the core of this problem though, I’m far less worried about me than I am my father’s motivation for this decision.

There is clearly much I do not know.

When the hours of greeting conclude, I’m eager for escape, but I’m halfway down the steps of our platform when my father calls out my name, “Satima.”

I grit my teeth and rotate to face him. “Yes, father?”

“I know you left the castle last night. Do not repeat that action, not while the vampire king stays in our lands. I told you. He cannot be trusted and you are the future of our people.”

“Understood,” I say, despite the fact that I don’t understand where his head is at one little bit nor do I appreciate being spied on by his guards.

He waves his hand in dismissal and I reluctantly oblige, anger bubbling inside me as I finish my path down the stairs, but once I’m there, I simply can’t bite my tongue, no matter what the consequences.

I whip around in confrontation. “The moment you announce the marriage plan, the druid prince will be our future. If I were you, father, I wouldn’t announce.

Keep it to ourselves or you might just find yourself losing control.

” With that, I don’t wait for his reply.

I hurry away and I’m rather shocked I do so without his delaying me.

Once I’m finally in the privacy of my room, I begin to pace.

And pace some more. My father is wildly biased toward the vampire king, and my mother knew it.

There’s a reason she intervened once before.

And now it’s my turn. I need to speak to Toren, King Toren, for I do not trust the druids, not even to a small degree.

And I have a bad feeling my father and the druids intend to start a war with the vampires I cannot allow.

War is not the answer especially when it ends stable peace.

I consider a galbird to send Toren a message, but quickly nix the idea as problematic.

My father knows I left last night. He’ll be monitoring my activity.

And as I always did when he was peeping through the vines at my every move.

I’ll wait until the midnight hour, when I’m assumed to be sleeping, and slip outside the castle walls.

I’ll go find Toren myself.