Page 28 of The Crown of the Dark Prince
She snorted bitterly. “Then why haven’t you done anything to stop him, Clay?”
“You know that I’ve done what I can.”
“Come on, Clay! You’restilljust playing your part, even now.”
There was a pause, thick with tension.
“You have no idea what I’m working towards.”
“And you have no right to cry over her,” Iris continued, her voice trembling with anger. “You’ve lost that right. For multiple reasons.”
“I can’t be with her, Iris!” Clay’s voice rose, raw and defensive. “We can’t be with each other. She reminds me of that every opportunity she gets.”
“She’s trying to protect herself!” The sound of fabric rustling and the creak of floorboards punctuated her words.
“Iris, I’m doing what I have to do as the next king of this country.”
She laughed, cold and dark. “Funny. I imagine that’s exactly what your father was thinking when he threatened her.”
Silence. A heavy, suffocating silence.
Finally, Clay spoke, his voice low and dangerous. “He did what?”
Iris laughed again, but it was a bitter, joyless sound. “He told her that if she didn’t end things with you, he’d remove her from the Council and send her to live overseas. I imagine he was just doing what he had to do as the king of this country.”
“Please, Iris,” Clay said, his voice cracking. “Try to understand—”
“Get out, Clay.” Her voice was firm, resolute. “I don’t want you here. And soon enough, she won’t want you here either.”
Cold sweat trickled slowly down the skin between my breasts as my body refused to stop trembling. I was hot and cold all at once, wide awake but bone-deep tired, ravenous yet nauseous. My body was a battlefield of contradictions as it fought the lingering traces of venom.
But at last, I was awake and sitting up.
Rankor slouched at the foot of my bed, snoring so loudly that the blankets shuddered under his head. Gently, I stretched my foot under the blankets and nudged his head until he snorted so loudly he woke himself and lurched to alertness.
“You’re awake!” he exclaimed.
I grinned. “And you snore like a pig.”
His face twisted in an expression of indignation. “I do not!”
He stood as I stretched wide like a cat, approaching me with concern before running his fingers across my forehead. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a mythical creature bit me,” I replied grumpily, frowning as I tried to piece together my fragmented memories from the trial. “What happened?”
His brows lifted. “What do you remember?”
“Not too much after I killed it.”
“The Dragon tried to stop anyone from helping, but we carried you back here and had the nurses examine you. You’ve been in and out of sleep for a few days with a fever. We weren’t sure you would ever wake up.”
I chuckled softly. “I’m basically impossible to kill at this point.”
Rankor shook his head and leaned down to press an affectionate kiss on my head. “Don’t jinx it. I’ll go summon a nurse.”
I relieved myself in the bathroom while I waited for him to return. The reflection that greeted me in the mirror had certainly seen better days. My hair was oily and matted to my head and my skin was paler than I had ever seen it before. With my muscles still aching though, all I could manage the strength for was to fold my hair into a simple braid before the nurse came to examine me.
“Remarkable what you did out there, Lady Moore,” the nurse said as I settled back into bed. “You seem to be recovering well. The fever is to be expected, but I can already sense your strength returning.”
