Mira balked. “We had a thorough investigation of the entire staff after your envoy arrived. I’ve seen to every one of them myself. Your rebel must have been lying.”
“Or perhaps you aren’t doing your job, mage.” Darren’s retort was biting. “This is your king’s life at stake. And you have already proven that your loyalty to the Crown doesn’t amount to much. Or did you forget you were so willing to sacrifice a prince of Jerar in Dastan’s Cove?”
“I…” Mira paled and I saw her eyes dart to Blayne and then jump to the floor. I knew it! “T-that wasn’t my call, Y-Your Highness.”
The king cleared his throat, and I knew it wasn’t my imagination when Blayne’s expression turned a bit too confused as he addressed the accusation. “What is this?”
“Port Langli’s regiment was deployed during my apprenticeship. Mira was more than ready to leave Ryiah and me behind under the guise that her mission was more important.” Darren frowned. “Father couldn’t even recall the prisoner when I asked him about it a year later.”
My gaze was locked on the king. Three of us knew the truth, and I wondered if Blayne would betray his loyal guard to appease his brother’s suspicion.
Blayne tapped against his wrist, his fingers increasingly erratic.
Oh villainous king, how will you free yourself from this lie? I sucked in a breath, waiting.
“I overheard Lucius’s orders. Mira is innocent.”
“What?”
Blayne folded his arms and stood a bit straighter. “Father wanted that Caltothian wench at all costs, brother. Even if it meant your life.”
“Y-you heard him?” Darren had gone as pale as ash. My fingers shot to his, and he jerked back, away from his brother and the room.
“Father wanted you to take part in the mission. Who do you think suggested the contest for a Combat apprentice in the first place?” Blayne’s explanation was heartless. “You always were the best. He didn’t want anything to happen, but if it did…”
“A prince’s life is grounds for war.” The words fell from the Black Mage’s lips without emotion, hollow and hoarse.
“They were on orders to leave you behind.”
“Why?” Darren’s voice broke. “Why would he—”
“Caltoth is merciless. You know that. Father was willing to sacrifice whatever it took.” The king plunged his lie like a dagger to the heart, twisting and turning until all that was left were his brother’s shattered remains. “You might have been the favorite, Darren, but a second-born son doesn’t amount to much. You were more valuable as a tool of war.”
Darren’s eyes fell shut as his breathing stilled. I saw that broken prince on the cliff. I saw the boy ready to slip away, running from a monster I couldn’t fight. I stood there watching Blayne, hating him so much and wondering how I could just stand there as the traitorous wife, biding my time when there was someone laced with so much poison he was destroying the very air we breathed.
Even though Blayne was lying about the king’s orders, his explanation rang true. Everything the king said was the justification he had used to secure his own reign. Blayne might love his brother, but he was willing to sacrifice him for the cause.
And yet here I was, willing to do—in some ways—exactly the same.
I wondered if the attack during our time at the keep had been a coincidence after all.
What kind of person was willing to sacrifice the one person they loved?
I am not Blayne. My hands locked to fists. Blayne was much more than his abusive father. His motive was still war, greed, and control.
My motive was everyone else.
I couldn’t give in now. This wasn’t about my guilty conscience or the villain in the room or the boy who would shatter when it all came to light.
To be the hero, I had to be the villain… I wondered if, at some point, the tyrant before me had considered himself the same.
I wanted an answer.
I wanted the gods to reach out and tell me the path to take. I wanted them to tell me why it had to be me, him, and his brother. I wanted to know why this was our story instead of another’s.
I prayed to the gods that night.
They never answered.
*
Over breakfast the next morning, Darren was granted permission to question the palace staff. Blayne made it clear he viewed the practice a waste of his Black Mage’s time, but he’d relented all the same.
The catch, of course, was that Mira would take part in his discourse and lead the supposed investigation. “Since she already interrogated all of our staff, she will be invaluable in your search.”
I suspected the gesture was in large part due to other secrets the king didn’t want to come to light by questioning the servants who were involved in his nefarious dealings. They hid bits and pieces of information that could point out inconsistencies in his tales and might lead the Black Mage to question the past, which was just what I needed to collect.