Kennet bristled. “Don’t tell me how I feel.” He softened a little. “But I’d like to spend more time with you. You could come back to Storvatten with me.”
“For what?” I shook my head in disbelief. “What are you even doing here?”
“I came here to see you.” Kennet tried to touch my arm, but I pulled back from him.
“Bullshit.” I wasn’t buying any of it.
“I was sent here to help ensure peace between our tribes,” Kennet said wearily. “Without a true King right now, and with such a shitty guard, this would be the perfect time for someone to attack us. So I’m supposed to make sure the Kanin like us, so they can defend us if we need them to, and also so they don’t attack us themselves.”
I eyed him up, still not sure what to believe. “Who sent you?”
“Well, since I’m the acting ruler, I suppose you can say I sent myself.” He offered a small smile. “But everyone, including Marksinna Lisbet, thought it would be a good idea to make nice with you all. I gave Mina that necklace as a gesture of our goodwill.
“I did also think it would be fun to spend more time with you, but apparently I was wrong about that,” he added dryly.
“Sorry.” I relaxed and let my arms fall to my sides, trying not to look as suspicious as I felt. “You just seem a little too cavalier about everything.”
He rolled his eyes and went over to grab his drink from where he’d left it on a small side table. “You’re really great at knowing how I should act and how I should feel, Bryn.”
“How is Mikko?” I asked, switching from one touchy subject to another. I’d dropped the formal titles, since I had no idea if Mikko was even King anymore.
“I don’t know.” Kennet had his back to me as he took a drink, and I watched his shoulders rise and fall with heavy resignation. “He won’t let me see him.”
“Why not?”
“You’d have to ask him that yourself.” He swirled the alcohol in his glass around, watching it. “I do love him. I know a lot of people don’t believe that now, maybe you included, but he is my older brother. I don’t want to see him hurt.”
“I’m sure it’s hard for him,” I said gently, trying to offer Kennet a bit of comfort. “With everything that happened, and now with you being the King. Mikko is going through a very difficult time.”
“He never even wanted to be King,” Kennet muttered, still staring down at his glass. “I offered to take the crown in his place, but Mikko refused to go against Father’s decree.” He shook his head and took a long drink.
“When I left, Marksinna Lisbet told me she thought she’d be placed as acting monarch,” I told him.
“Did she?” Kennet laughed. “She is one crazy old bat.”
The sharpness of his words startled me, but I quickly recovered and asked, “What do you mean?”
“I’m next in line for the throne.” He looked at me like it should have been obvious. “If anything happens to Mikko, it goes to me. There’s no way that a Marksinna with no ties to our bloodline would ever be in charge, even for a moment.”
“Maybe it was just wishful thinking on her part,” I said. “She was just worried about Linnea’s safety.”
Kennet scoffed. “I can keep the kingdom safe.”
“Her biggest concern—and mine too, really—was continuing to allow Bayle Lundeen to remain in charge of the guard.”
“Then you can both rest at ease,” he smiled at me. “The first thing I did after being appointed was dismiss Bayle.”
“You fired him?” I asked, almost breathless in my relief.
He nodded. “I did, but I think he feared an investigation, so he immediately took off. We have a few guards looking for him, but I’m not sure what a guard like ours will really turn up.”
“So then are the charges against Mikko dropped?” I asked.
Kennet shook his head. “It’s not quite that simple. There’s still evidence against him, and we do have to wait for a trial. I’m sure this will all be sorted out soon.” He walked over to me, probably because I’d softened since our conversation had started.
“Is Linnea holding up okay?” I asked, since I didn’t know what to say to that.
“About as well as you’d imagine.”
“But you’ll keep her safe, won’t you?” I asked, and I tried to play on his pride to ensure that he would do everything in his power to protect her. “As long as you’re the acting King, you wouldn’t let anything happen to her, would you?”
“No, of course not,” he said, and a sparkle had returned to his eyes. “But if you’re really concerned about her, why don’t you come with me?”
“Prince—” I started to decline, but he silenced me.
“I know I was a little overzealous before, and I am truly sorry about that,” Kennet said, his voice low and apologetic. “But I like having you around, and Linnea would love to have you back. You can help us, and honestly, we do need you.”
“I appreciate the offer, I really do,” I said. “But as much as I enjoy your company and Linnea’s, I just don’t think can. There’s too much going on in Doldastam.”