Promising Hope (47 page)

She looked at her father, whose face was drawn, his
lips pursed. “Oh?” she asked.

“Yes,” William said. “About your future. Our
future.”

She held her father’s gaze, and he sighed. He stood.
“Grace, the prince wants your hand in marriage.”

Grace’s eyes widened. She stared at her father, then
the prince, who looked slightly annoyed as he huffed.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Father said lightly. “Did I steal
your moment?”

William waved his hand as though shooing away a fly
and looked at Grace. “Well?”

“Well—” she began.

A knock on the door broke off her response. She fell
silent as the manservant opened the door and Queen Kate came in.
Grace’s muscles just barely relaxed, so in contrast to her usual
reaction to the queen since the love potion wore off.

She strode in, and her calculating gaze took in the
others in the room. “I hope this isn’t what it looks like,
William.”

“Mother, meet the future queen of Haltar,” William
said, motioning to Grace.

“Nothing has been decided yet,” Grace replied, her
voice hard.

“No, your match must be approved by me and your
advisors,” Kate said, “and I can assure you Grace will not pass our
evaluation.”

“Why wouldn’t she?” Father said, his voice
rising.

“Since Grace arrived at the castle a month ago, she’s
used a love potion that drove my son mad, three prisoners have
escaped, one of our allies was murdered, and the king of Haltar was
assassinated,” Kate snapped. “She’s erratic and unpredictable, and
her loyalties clearly lie with the shape shifters, not Haltar.
She’s not fit to take the throne.”

Grace kept her face blank, even as she was rejoicing
on the inside. Maybe she’d underestimated how much the queen would
be able to help her.

“Mother,” William said, “you misunderstand Grace and
what she’s been through.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Grace said quietly. “My loyalties
do lie with the shape shifters, and they always will.”

Kate made a noise of disgust. “William, this is
perhaps the most important decision you will make in the next
month. The queen represents you and your authority to all of
Haltar, and if your future queen is ready to abandon you and your
country at the first opportunity, then you have chosen poorly.”

William’s gaze met Grace’s again. “Perhaps she’d
consider it if I were willing to give the Avialies their
rights.”

“It doesn’t matter what she’d consider,” Kate
snapped. “She won’t be approved.”

William finally looked at his mother. “Once I’m
crowned king, I can choose my queen without your counsel.”

“If she’s still here in a month, then yes,” Kate
replied. “But her queenship will never have my support.”

“Mother, for God’s sake,” he muttered. “Can Grace and
I speak alone?”

Kate pursed her lips, glaring at her son, then Grace.
“Fine.” She swept out of the room, slamming the door behind
her.

William turned to Father. “General Daniel, thank you
for coming in. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

Father touched Grace’s shoulder. “We’ll visit once
you’re done.”

Grace nodded, swallowing hard. Perhaps being alone
would be better. She needed to be affectionate with him and felt
too self-conscious with her father and his mother. As her father
left, Grace drew closer to William. “William, I wish… I wish I
could give you what you wanted.”

“Do you even know what I want?” he asked.

“Maybe not.” She bit her lip. “I don’t even know what
I want. I want to marry you and rebuild what we had. I want a
chance to start over. But there’s another part of me that knows I
can’t leave the Avialies unprotected. I’m torn but… I feel like I
have to choose them.”

“Why? What are you going to prevent from
happening?”

“Kilar threatened to kill Evan’s family if he didn’t
return with the ancient texts. I don’t trust him. And you said
you’d revoke the edict when you become king.”

“Yes, I know what could happen to them, but how are
you going to stop it? I know you broke the curse, but honestly,
Grace… look at yourself.”

Grace gritted her teeth. “I can—”

“Besides, don’t you think you’d be able to do more
good if you stayed? If you tried to talk me out of it?”

“That’s not going to work.”

“It could.” He closed the distance between them and
lightly touched her chin. “Sometimes I think I’d do anything for
you.”

She narrowed her eyes. His fake words did not impress
her. “Just a few days ago you said you’d banish them from the
country. Excuse me if I don’t trust the sudden change of
heart.”

“I’d banish them because they’re dangerous and
uncontrollable.” His hand dropped back down to his side.

“What if I worked as a liaison between the castle and
the Avialies?” she asked. “What if I assured you they wouldn’t get
into trouble or hurt anyone? If they did they’d have to answer to
me, not to the Protectors.”

William scoffed. “Again, Grace, what would you
do?”

“We could set up laws.”

“We tried the diplomatic approach, Grace—”

“Really? When the Avialies tried to lobby the king,
the protectors slaughtered them and cursed their bloodline. The
Protectors never gave true diplomacy a chance. We need clear laws
and boundaries for both sides. We could live in peace.”

William tilted his head, regarding her thoughtfully.
“They’re barbarians.”

“You keep saying that, but what have they done? Your
men have been worse than them.”

“It could work. If you stayed here and married me,
you could be a liaison. We could both have what we wanted.” He
tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“But your mother…”

“Once I’m crowned king, I will choose my queen.” His
eyes hardened. “Can you sit still for a month?”

Her mouth went dry, and her mind raced. She’d be
giving up her life, her freedom, but she’d still have a chance at
keeping the Avialies safe. “That would only work if the terms were
exactly what I wanted.”

“Such as?”

“The Avialies can come home and they can live
wherever they want, as long as they don’t use their magic on
nonmagic folk or expose their magic. They would be protected from
discrimination and magic targeted at their bloodline. Their ancient
texts would be protected, too.”

William turned away. He walked to the window and
leaned his hands on the ledge.

“Kilar would have to leave,” she added. “He’s done
too much damage.”

“He’s only tried to protect the people of
Haltar.”

“I would be free to come and go as I please,” she
continued as though she hadn’t heard him. “You wouldn’t touch my
family or anyone else I cared about.”

He turned and studied her. The light behind him made
his silhouette bright, but it cast his face in shadow so his
expression was indistinguishable. “You ask for so much.”

“It’s the only way I’ll even consider staying.” She
fiddled with her hands. “I care about you William, but this
assurance is more important to me. I’m not going to stay here
unless I know that my position here is helping the Avialies.”

He scoffed and shook his head. “You act like you have
any power in this at all.” He stepped closer, and she could see the
sneer on his face. “You forget who you’re talking to.”

Grace pointed at him. “You’re the one who wants to
keep me here. You’re the one who wants to marry me.” She paused.
“That’s not going to happen unless we wait a month, and I’m not
going to be here that long unless I’m assured what I want.”

“You will lose everything if you leave,” he said in a
low voice.

She dropped her hand. Desperation crept into her
voice. “Why? Why do you want me to stay here so badly?”

“Because I want you to know who’s in control here.”
He strode towards her, put his hand on the back of her neck, and
brought her close. His mouth crashed into hers, kissing her
roughly.

She pushed him away and wiped her lips. “I told you,
I’ll stay if you give me what I want.” They stood in silence for a
moment, her chest heaving as though she’d been running. “I would
stay if you valued what I did—equality and justice. If you didn’t
cling to power and fear and control.”

“Fear? I’m not afraid—”

“You’re afraid the Avialies will gain power over you.
That’s what all the Protectors are afraid of!”

William drew closer to her again. She didn’t step
back, even as her heartbeat pounded in her ears. “Think of your
mother, Grace.”

“You won’t touch my mother,” she whispered. “You
won’t hurt anyone in my family.”

He laughed softly, the sound sending chills down her
spine. “I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.”

“Neither do I, and I promise you that if you try to
hurt anybody because I’ve left, you’ll regret it. I’ve tried to
give you a chance, William, but we’re too different. We want
different things, and you’re not willing to see past this hatred
for the Avialies. You’re too bigoted to realize they just want to
live their lives in peace, and I want to… I wanted to love you, and
I wanted to be with you, but now I can’t even remember why—”

“Don’t play games with me,” he snapped.

“That’s all this is to you!” she said. “I’m a prize.
I’d be a trophy if you ever convinced me to marry you, but I’ll
never stop fighting for the Avialies. They will always be my first
priority, William… and if you could see how good they can be, we
could work together. We could be together and we could be happy.”
As the words fell out of her mouth, her stomach twisted, making her
feel sick, wanting to throw up on him again. She dropped her voice
to a whisper. “Why do you want to destroy everything I love?”

The anger faded off of his face, and he gazed at her
with his mouth slightly ajar. He snapped it shut after a moment and
exhaled slowly. “It’s not about that, Grace, you know it’s not. I
just want you.”

“I told you how you could have me,” she said quietly.
“It’s up to you whether I’m worth it.”

He touched her lips with his thumb, leading it to her
bottom lip. A shiver ran down her spine. His eyes met hers. The
blue in his irises reminded her of dusk. He took hold of her neck
again, his fingers weaving into her hair. “I’m never really going
to have you, am I?”

She frowned. “I wouldn’t say that.”

He kissed her again, his grip tightening on her neck.
His other arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her close to him.
She closed her eyes tightly. Dar’s letter was hidden in her dress,
the corner of the parchment digging into her skin as William’s
chest pressed against hers. For a horrible moment she thought of
him finding it and imagined an angry, violent reaction. His hand
traveled down to her rear end, squeezing her flesh. She squirmed,
but it brought her front closer to his, and his kiss deepened, as
though he thought she liked it. Or maybe he knew she didn’t, yet
didn’t care at all.

He finally pulled away and gazed down at her. “I have
to get ready for my meeting.”

“All right.” She tried to step back, and he held onto
her for a moment before letting her step away. “Will you think
about what I proposed?”

“Yes.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know
if I can lose Kilar, though.”

She set her jaw as she moved towards the door. “I
can’t be in the castle if he is.”

He let out an exasperated noise. “Just go.”

Grace curtsied and left the room. Her heart was
pounding. She couldn’t stay here with him. She wanted him to turn
her down, but then it meant… what did it mean for the Avialies?

When she reached her chambers, her father stood
outside the door. “Grace,” he said, relief in his voice. He pulled
her into a hug. Her body tensed at the contact, so soon after
William’s possessive kiss. She wanted to find comfort in his arms
like she used to when she was a child.

After they pulled away, Grace asked, “Are Mother and
Kyler here?”

“No, the prince asked only for me.”

“What’s this afternoon?”

“A meeting with other military officials,” Father
said.

Grace crossed her arms. “It seems like you’ve changed
your mind about the prince.”

Father shook his head and tapped his ear, then
mouthed, “
No
.” But he said, “He’s a good man, Grace. I think
he’s just confused when it comes to you and the Avialies.”

He must know the Cosa was back in the castle, that
every word was heard, recorded, used. She sighed. “Perhaps.”

“What do you think of his proposal?” he asked, his
voice full of concern.

She didn’t want to be here. No part of her wanted to
stay, no matter what she told William. But if he instituted laws to
keep them safe? If he got rid of Kilar and the power he had? Maybe
it would be worth it. But she’d be fighting her entire life to keep
those laws in place and she’d never be with Dar. Would William ever
consider it, or was he only enticing her? She could see him
betraying her somehow, roping her into marriage, then still using
his power to hurt the Avialies. She couldn’t trust him, just as he
couldn’t trust her.

“I don’t know,” she finally said.

* * *

Chapter Thirty

Sashe walked through the garden. Would this be her
last time seeing these plants, smelling this fragrance, touching
these petals? The king had died the day before yesterday, and there
were only five days left before Kilar would take his first victim.
She had a strong feeling it would be her if she didn’t leave
soon.

Sashe went to the bench near the woods, waiting to
meet Grace. She motioned for Ronu to sit next to her. “This bench
is protected by Cosa magic,” she told him. “No one can hear our
conversation here.”

Ronu nodded, his gaze on the castle. He rarely looked
at her. “That’s why you asked Lady Grace to meet you here?”

“Yes.” She paused, fidgeting with her hands in her
lap. “I’m going to leave the castle tomorrow.”