Page 42 of The Ice Prince's Fated Mate
I looked at Yarl, another opponent of Caz’s and the dragon who had bought Ella from the slave market. The older man sat in the chair, his frizzly hair more gray than silver these days, and he made no effort to hide his curiosity.
In fact, as I scanned the room, I didn’t see a single face that looked eager for what was to come. Most were neutral or at a loss.
“Caz,” I whispered as Mirko approached the foot of the raised dais. “Nobody seems to know what’s about to happen. Be careful.”
I heard a tiny sound of acknowledgment from the throne, but that was it. I gritted my teeth as Mirko came to a stop and stared up. If he was playing things so close to his chest that he hadn’t told anyone else, it was going to be big. And bad.
Caz acknowledged our uncle with a tiny tilt of his head, nothing more, and waited for Mirko to speak. But Mirko only looked on in silence.
The urge to rip his face off grew. A finger twitched against my side, but that tic was the only sign of my rage at the disrespect being shown to the Ice Tyrant. Mirko should be respectful and not try to provoke Caz into speaking first. Instead, he should address his leader and explain what was going on.
Unless he no longer sees Caz as worthy of respect.
Alarm bells started to go off in my head, but all I could do is wait.
The silence went on until someone at the back of the crowd booed. “Get on with it, Mirko. We’re bored.”
I took great satisfaction in seeing the weathered skin twitch on Mirko’s face as his eyes narrowed.
“This is Yellena,” he said, speaking loudly enough to be heard by all but looking straight at Caz. The challenge on his face was now plain, the hatred twisting his birthmark viciously. “I have spent years tracking her down, until I finally found her in the farthest reaches of the Ice Kingdom.”
Caz didn’t react. Didn’t even blink. He simply stared at Mirko, waiting for him to continue.
“For centuries, she served the tyrants, right here in the citadel itself. Her service ended one hundred and ninety-three years ago.”
I clenched my teeth. That number might not mean much to the assembled Elites. But to Caz and me, it was a known figure.
That would have been the year both Mirko and our father, a pair of twins, were born.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this …
“That’s because she was banished there one hundred and forty-three years ago by Hatveik, my brother and the father of our current Ice Tyrant. He did this when he came of age.”
“Get to the point!”a voice called out from in the crowd as the Elites tired of the production Mirko was putting on.
Mirko’s face twitched again. “Yellena was a wet nurse, assigned to the Tyrantess herself, to help with the birthing and care of heirs to the throne. And she knows something that everyone should hear. A great secret, born in shame, that will now be brought to light so an injustice may be righted.”
My gut tightened with every word. Something was very wrong.
“What secret might that be?” Caz asked, speaking at last.
Mirko took Yellena by the arm. Tightly, by the look of it. His face twisted into a wicked looking thing of hatred and evil delight as he stared up at Caz.
“The secret that my parents tried to bury, to hide away for almost two whole centuries. That when they announced Hatveik as the heir, it was alie!The truth that Yellena knows is thatI,Mirko, was the firstborn son, and so the title of Ice Tyrant should rightfully be mine!”
Stunned silence lingered for a pair of heartbeats.
Then the throne room erupted into chaos.
Twenty-One
Dirk
It was a lie. It had to be.
“They covered it up because they were ashamed of my appearance,” Mirko continued, raising his voice to be heard over the din. “They thought I would be unable to command the respect of those around me, because I was blessed with this mark.”
He touched the large blackened patch of skin that ran down the left side of his face from temple to jaw, as if it were some sort of gift from an ancient god.
