Page 96 of The Prince's Fealty

Tekilona cleared her throat. “Prince Torex is correct. She possesses the Fealty of a people, and under the circumstances, I assume it’s of Filon.”

Even Tor was a little taken aback to have this firm confirmation of his guess. No one seemed to know what to say, and then Fernila sagged against Var.

“Thank goodness.”

He looked at her with surprise. “I thought you might be upset.”

“Upset that I’m not supposed to be ruling one of the realms when I want to be with you in Alossa? Of course I’m not upset!”

She really wasn’t anything like her father. Tor wondered now how much of their animosity had been engineered. He certainly wasn’t blameless, but maybe they’d had a bit more “help” than he’d realized to reach their former impasse.

Fernila looked down at Pamuna. “I always wanted a big family. It was just me and Father, and he always said that he could never forget Mother.” Her face twisted. “I always thought that it meant he loved her too much to let her go, to think of anyone else. I should have realized.”

Var stroked her hair. “None of us realized.”

“None of you lived with him your whole life!” Fernila almost shrieked.

Cala stirred in sleepy protest, and Fernila shushed her and looked embarrassed.

“He hid it from everyone,” Var said firmly.

It probablywasworse when it was your own father plotting against you, but he’d definitely pulled the wool over all their eyes.

There was a tap at the door, and it opened to show that Beluna was there with… a tray of food?

Tor stared at her a little incredulously, but she and then Cavun came in bearing loaded trays and set them down beside the people who were still clustered on the floor. She also had sets of dry clothes for Tor’s brother and Rin.

“Figured you could use these,” she said, before she headed back outside.

Tor stared after her incredulously—and then watched while Var and Stronex piled food on plates for Fernila and Ada, and they both worked their way through it.

Var and Rin stepped into the corner of the room, and everyone else looked away while they changed.

Then a much dryer Var sat down to eat with the rest of them, while Rin also settled on the floor and pulled Terila into his arms.

Tor vaguely remembered from childhood that the longer he was in a shield, the hungrier he was when he came out of it. He hadn’t been trapped in one for long—apart from up the mountain before the landslide, but he’d dealt with that by collapsing into a magical coma.

Even though everyone was clearly still at least somewhat emotionally distraught, they consumed everything avidly.

Pel grabbed two apples and gave one to Tor, who happily ate it.

Tor was really glad that Beluna had already pledged her Fealty to him, because he definitely wanted to keep her.

After they’d eaten in silence for a few minutes, Fernila resumed the topic, sounding calmer now, though still horrified. “He confessed that during the final battle, he was pulling too much magic. He thought he needed just a little bit more to defeat your mother.” She looked at Var and Tor and blew out a breath. Her eyes were glassy with tears. “My older brother was four when I was born. Father always said he lost everyone but me to that war. It made me think that he wanted this peace, but he was just angry that he’d been beaten. He was pulling too much magic, trying to hold out against Queen Ralexa, and I think—” Fernila cut herself off, sucking in a ragged breath. “He pulled so much I think he killed my brother, and it was killing my mother, too—and me, because I was in her womb. Rather than letting me die, she killed herself.”

She couldn’t go on for a moment, and Var pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.

She sighed. “The bond snapping between her and my father was enough to incapacitate him long enough for the war to be won. He was defeated. Peace was declared. The healers barely managed to save me. My father always said that I was his most precious possession.” Her expression turned bleak. “But heloathedme. I was the reason he lost, and so he honed me into a tool he could wield to win this time. And he made me think that Torex hated me, and he fed me lies so that I would feed them to you.” She lookedat Var and then Tor apologetically. “I believed him. I’m sorry. I thought you resented me and the baby. I thought you wanted to rule.”

“I love her so much,” Tor told Fernila.

She nodded. “I see that now.”

Tor blew out a breath and admitted, “Also, I did kind of blame you for the distance between me and my brother. I was kind of an ass. I’m sorry.”

Her lips tipped up, and she managed a watery-sounding chuckle. “I understand. I didn’t think about how hard it was for you. It was nerve-racking for me, suddenly being the High Queen, feeling like everyone was watching me and waiting for me to fail. I clung to Var, and I didn’t think about how that was pulling him away from you. You should have had a place with him as well. I’m sorry, too.”

Varex sucked a ragged breath. “Can I hug you all now?”