Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms 3)

Her expression darkened. “Some things have changed, but others have stayed exactly the same. I can now leave the palace, but I’m still not permitted beyond the city walls. And I’m always surrounded by guards.”

“Except for now.”

She raised her chin. “Yes, you’re absolutely right. I’m completely defenseless. If you decide I’m not as useful as you’d hoped, you could slit my throat and leave me behind as a message to the king.”

He was more amused than insulted by her absurd statement. “I could. But I think we’ve already established that I don’t kill women.”

“Lucky me.”

He’d expected resistance, but now that he knew she was willing to listen to him, he considered his options. “Leaving aside the king and his road for a moment, there’s something else I need to speak with you about. Several of my friends are currently being held in the palace dungeon.”

“Let me guess—you want to rescue them.”

He held her gaze. “I damn well want to try. Anything you hear about them, you must let me know.”

She stared at him for a moment in stunned silence. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“Without a doubt.”

“And you’re going to get me killed, too.” She wrung her hands, moving closer to the candlelight so it flickered softly against her golden hair. “As if I don’t already have enough trouble as it is.”

Her fiery temperament had faded to mere embers in moments. Suddenly he felt compelled to ask her something that had been on his mind since her wedding day. “Does he abuse you?”

“The king?”

“No, the prince. Does he . . . hurt you?”

If she said yes, Jonas would find Magnus and kill him, no matter what the consequences. He would tear him apart and leave him in the Wildlands in small, bloody, twitching pieces for the beasts who lived there to consume.

She hesitated, a frown drawing her brows together. “No. Actually, he never speaks to me if he can help it.”

Jonas couldn’t repress his sigh of relief. “Good.”

“Oh, yes, it’s lovely to be completely shut out by those who control your destiny.”

Again, her outrage sparked a smile from him. “You control your destiny, princess. No one else.”

She studied him with bemusement in her eyes. “You are the most frustrating boy I’ve ever met.”

This made him laugh aloud. “I’m sure it’s a close race with the prince.”

“You seem rather obsessed with Magnus. Perhaps next time I should try to arrange a meeting between the two of you instead.”

“You’re already thinking ahead to the next time we meet. I like that.”

Color rushed into her cheeks. “Don’t be so self-assured, rebel.”

frowned. “Who told you I killed him?”

“I assumed . . .” A shadow of confusion crossed her expression. “It wasn’t you?”

“No.” He couldn’t lay claim to slaying the murderer of his brother and his friend. “I arrived too late to do the deed myself. But I would have, if your new husband hadn’t stolen the opportunity from me.”

She stared at him. “You’re saying . . . that Magnus killed Aron. But why?”

Apparently, this wasn’t common knowledge at the palace. “Because Aron Lagaris killed Prince Magnus’s mother.”

“What?” She grappled for words, a rush of nameless emotions playing on her face. “But . . . but they’re still saying you’re responsible for the queen’s murder.”