Page 4 of The Prince and His Stolen Throne

Oh, thank the gods.If he was calling me ‘Trey’, this wasn’t the conversation I expected.

“Treasure,” he said, altering his tone with the simple change in my name.

Fuck. The door was definitely the best option. I tensed, ready to run at the first sign of trouble.

“Your dad and I, well, you know the reason for our marriage.”

I knew both reasons: the public one, which claimed it was a political marriage arranged by the Good Wizards’ Council, and the real one—that they were ridiculously in love with each other. Anyone who caught them exchanging flirty glances across the throne room knew that. Since they’d already given me the sex talk, I assumed this was about politics. “You mean the arranged marriage?”

“Thwarted arranged marriage,” Dad corrected.

Father ignored him. “Yes, the arranged marriage. You were quite young when you came to live here. Do you knowwhyBane and Woe wanted to unite in marriage?”

I shrugged nonchalantly. “Political reasons. No one’s mentioned a war, so I assume trade agreements or something.”

“You’re not wrong,” Father said slowly, “but it’s more complicated than politics. You know that our kingdom is protected by a defense spell created by the Good Wizard.”

Even though I hadn’t been born in Bane, I knew the basics, but no one had ever shared the details. “Right, the spell keeps evil mages out of the Desolated Lands.”

Father nodded. “For the spell to work, all five kingdoms must be united, through one of two ways. The first is through marriage.”

“Which is why the royal family trees are all tangled together,” Dad said dryly. “Arranging the marriages was the only way to avoid incest.”

“Rick,” Father chided with a disapproving frown.

Dad shrugged unapologetically. “Trey’s old enough to hear the blunt truth.”

Ignoring him again, Father continued, “The second option is for each kingdom to send a royal champion on a quest.”

“What kind of quest?” I asked.

“A quest to defeat a Great and Terrible Evil.”

Silence followed his statement. It dragged out long enough to morph from ‘dramatic’ into ‘awkward’ and I realized they expected me to react. “What do you want me to do?”

“Treasure, I may not have raised you from birth, but you are still my son, and Bane Royalty. It’s now fallen to you, and the others of your generation, to renew the spell.”

The words of love and care burrowed into my heart until they were more painful than comforting. I kept my face neutral as I nodded along. “So, which is it? Have you arranged a marriage for me? Or am I going on a quest?”

“We’ve spoken with the monarchs of the other kingdoms,” Father explained. “Everyone has agreed to let you decide for yourselves. If you collectively choose to marry, everyone will ensure the bloodlines don’t become too muddled. If you choose to embark on a quest,” he locked eyes with me and warned, “it’ll be dangerous, Trey. You could die.”

I swallowed nervously and forced a smile. “I’ll be fine, Father.” My brow furrowed as I looked back on the decade I’d lived with them. “Is that why you hired all those weird tutors? Sword fighting, camping, sewing…”

Father nodded. “We wanted you to be prepared.”

“Plus, they’re good skills,” Dad added. “The Desolated Lands are safe from evil mages, but they’re not alwayssafe. You never know when you might get lost in the woods—or when the woods might decide to eat you.”

“What?” I asked, eyes widening in alarm. “Why would the woods try to eat me?”

“The point is,” Father cut in, “that we’ve given you every resource we can, for whatever outcome you choose.”

That also explained the relationship books they’d handed me at the same time they’d given me the sex talk. They were full of communication tips and ways to fulfill your partner and yourself.

“So, all five of us are involved in the decision, but what if we can’t agree? Do some of us get married while the rest of us go off on a quest?”

“Unfortunately, it must be a unanimous decision. That’s why we wanted to start as soon as you were all of age.”

“We had to wait until Franny and Kit’s daughter turned eighteen,” Dad said.