Don’t think about it, he told himself. It’s done. You can’t fix it. Focus on what you can fix.
That thought had his gaze moving to the harem’s building, to Valcotta’s windows. Coralyn was keeping her confined, the reason given that she believed her at risk from Serin. It made him ill that she was effectively being kept in a cell, but there was nothing he could do but push forward with his plans. Since he had failed in learning how to reach the Ithicanians to secure their support, he’d turned to making plans to overthrow his father by way of force. His lieutenants, led by his bearded gambling companion, whose name was Dax, were gathering loyal men and women. As soon as there were enough of them to overwhelm the palace guard, Keris would have them move against his father.
And put the crown on his head.
His stomach flipped with a strange mix of anticipation and terror at the freedom he’d have with all that power. Power not just to free Valcotta, but to change Maridrina for the better. To make peace with enemies and form alliances that would make his country strong.
But those were thoughts for another time. Right now, his family needed to be first in mind, most especially his little sister.
Sara stood in front of the gates, her mother on her knees before her, sobbing and clutching at his sister’s hands. Her tears intensified as he and Coralyn drew close.
“Please. Please don’t take her away!”
“You are making this harder than it needs to be,” Coralyn said. “This is a wondrous opportunity for Sara, and yet you behave as though it were a punishment.”
Sara’s mother only cried harder, clinging to her daughter, who looked on the verge of tears herself. “I can’t lose her. Please, Keris, speak to the king. Convince him that this is a mistake!”
“He won’t be moved on the matter,” he answered, and in truth, that felt a mercy. His sweet sister would leave this place of misery and death, and even if it were not the life she dreamed of, it would be better than this one. “I’m sorry.”
Her eyes turned bitter. “Are you sorry, Keris? Do you even care that you’re taking yet another of our children away from us?”
He flinched, pain ricocheting through his chest, because he had no defense.
“Sara, it is time,” Coralyn announced, and more of the wives moved to catch hold of her mother’s arms, drawing her back. “Say goodbye.”
Sara’s chin quivered, but she squared her shoulders. “Goodbye, Mother. Goodbye, Aunties.”
Keris offered her his arm, her fingers clenching harder than they usually did as they slowly made their way through the gate toward the waiting carriage. He helped her inside while the servants loaded the few belongings she’d been allowed to take with her. Coralyn followed them in, handing Sara a long, wrapped parcel. “For you, dear one. I’ve been wanting to give this to you for some time.”
Wiping at her eyes, Sara unwrapped the parcel, extracting a polished cane sized for a child, her eyes widening. “Is this…”
“To help you walk, my love, because you will need to rely on your own strength going forward.”
Keris’s eyes burned, and he looked out the window as the carriage exited the palace.
It was always this way with Coralyn, her knowing what those of her family wanted. What they needed. When he’d been a boy, it was she who’d procured the books he’d so desired, using her own allowance to purchase them because his father had believed them a waste of coin. Even after he’d left to be fostered until he was of age, books he’d coveted would arrive for him in unmarked packages, her ability to know what he needed uncanny. And he found himself wondering what he’d ever given her in return.
They rode in silence, the carriage exiting the city through the south gate, forced to move slowly on the muddy roads until they reached the large estate where the church’s young acolytes were trained. The Veliant family had long been notorious for having little time for matters of faith, but his father was not fool enough to cut the funds used to support it, especially since it gave him an avenue for disposing of his inadequate children without question.
A pair of older women dressed in robes awaited them at the entrance, both curtseying low to Keris with murmurs of “Your Highness” flowing from their lips.
“His Majesty is giving into your care his daughter, Princess Sara Veliant, with the expectation that she be treated according to her rank,” he said, feeling Sara press closer to his side. Feeling her fear and apprehension, because it was his own.
“With respect, my lord,” one of the women answered, “in this place, there is no rank except for that which one earns in service.”
Which meant his sister would be dressed in rough garments and forced to sleep on a narrow cot in a cold room with no one to comfort her, then made to labor to earn her meals. Hard for any child, but for Sara, it would be harder. “Perhaps that is so, but outside these walls, rank does matter. And there will come a time when it will be me, not my father, whom you will come to when this place has needs that faith alone cannot provide. I will be more amenable to gifting resources to those who have shown kindness to my most favored of sisters.”
Behind him, Coralyn made an aggrieved noise, but the woman only inclined her head. “The princess will be shown every love and kindness, my lord. You have my word.”
“Wonderful. I look forward to your updates on her progress, and you may expect me to visit from time to time.”
“It is our preference…” The woman trailed off as Keris met her with a cool stare. “We would be honored, of course.”
Drawing Sara away to a bench against one wall, he sat next to his sister. “If you have troubles, you will send word to me or to Coralyn. Bribe the servants to carry your messages, if you have to. But you shouldn’t fear—they will treat you fairly.” Promising anything more felt too much like a lie.
His tiny sister stared at him, her large eyes welling up with tears. “I don’t want to stay here. I want to stay with you. Why can’t you move back to your house in the city? Then I could live with you.”
His heart broke into a hundred pieces, because under different circumstances, he’d have done just that. But it wasn’t just the palace she was safer away from. It was from him. “That’s not how it’s done, Sara. You know this.”
She bowed her head and began to weep, and he pulled her against him, smoothing her hair. “It’s not for forever, sister. I’ll get you back.”
She lifted her head to look at him, surprise driving away her grief.
“I’ll need some time to do it,” he said. “But as soon as I’m able, I’ll take you away from this place.”
“Do you promise?”
“I promise.” Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he dried her face. “Except when I do, I’ll be needing your assistance for a good many things, so you must remain strong until then, understood?”