41 A VALUABLE LESSON
ALAR HALTED A few yards away and folded his arms across his chest. The rain had slicked his black hair down, and his face glistened. It gave him a savage edge. “Hello, Lara.”
“Alar.”
Silence followed, broken only by the steady drum of the rain beating against the ground around them, before he asked, “What do you want?”
Lara blinked water out of her eyes. “An explanation.”
He studied her for a few moments, as if wondering what to make of her calmness. Maybe he’d expected rage, tears even, but he wouldn’t be getting any. “You trusted the wrong man.”
“Clearly.”
“I played you.” An edge crept into his voice. “I used your desperation, your hunger to take back what your father lost, to get what I wanted.”
“And what’s that?” she asked calmly, refusing to be baited.
His iron gaze drilled into her. “‘The Brooch of Albia’.”
“You already had Dulross,” she pointed out. “You married me , remember?”
“I did, but being your dog was never enough. I wanted my own territory.”
“So, you allied yourself with the Circines to get it?”
“Aye, we understand each other.”
“You broke our blood oath, Alar.”
He snorted. “I swore an oath on Gods I don’t believe in. I don’t give a shit about the wrath of The Five.”
Lara’s jaw tightened as rain streamed like icy tears down her cheeks.
She hoped the Reaper would make him pay for his blasphemy—an eternity of suffering in the Underworld would suffice.
However, she wouldn’t bite. He thought he’d won, but he hadn’t.
Earlier, she’d been stunned, flattened by his betrayal.
Yet, as the walls of Dulross loomed before her, something had hardened inside her.
A resolve that sank deep into the marrow of her bones.
She wouldn’t let him win. And as she faced him, her strength held fast. She was soaked and chilled to the marrow, but if this bastard wouldn’t break her, then neither would anything else.
“Don’t look down your nose at me.” His voice roughened then.
“You had a part to play in all this too. You marched on Doure before you were ready. You didn’t have the numbers to take, or hold, the fort successfully …
but you were determined to win, no matter the cost.” He flashed her a hard smile.
“Never strike a bargain when you’re desperate. ”
She stared back at him, her pulse beating in her throat. “You’re right,” she answered. “You’ve taught me a valuable lesson.”
And he had.
She’d made some grave mistakes since taking the throne.
She’d worried her people would think their young High Queen weak, and so she’d gone on campaign before she was ready.
Then, in her quest to beat the Shee, she’d married a man with questionable morals and motives—a choice that had caused her overkings to rebel.
“I was desperate,” she admitted then. “And there you were … appearing at the perfect moment, offering me what I needed most.”
His eyes glinted. “Aye … for a price.”
“There’s always a price.” And there was. Every choice. Every path. The road she’d taken was full of sharp thorns and jagged edges, cutting her deeper at every turn. Maybe he thought this would break her, but he was wrong.
Ironically, their marriage had been the making of her. His support, his protection and guidance, had all been a mummery, yet her response to it hadn’t been. Unwittingly, he’d shown her what she was capable of. He didn’t realize it, but he’d help forge her.
Silence fell between them as the rain continued to drum down, and she imagined she saw a glimmer of regret in his eyes then, a flicker of pain upon his glistening face. But it was gone in an instant. No, he wasn’t sorry for what he’d done. The prick was incapable of remorse.
They stood there, cocooned by the downpour, until Alar finally spoke.
“Just to be clear,” he said, his voice hardening once more.
Water dripped off his chin. “The lands around Doure and Dulross … and down to Deeping Barrow now belong to me. If your army marches this way again, I will take it as an act of war.”
“These lands are mine ,” she countered. “Lift your leg and piss all you like … it changes nothing.”
His face transformed into a sneer. There he was. The real Alar. The man who’d saved her life, who’d put his body between hers and danger, who’d taken her passionately the night before, didn’t exist. This was who he really was. “Look around you, Lara. Your realm is crumbling. You can’t stop it.”
“You’re wrong. I’ll see you on the battlefield, Half-blood .”
His eyes darkened, his jaw tightening. Raindrops glittered on his eyelashes.
She thought he’d say something else, yet to her surprise, he let her have the last word. Moving away, he turned on his heel and headed back toward the gates through the murk.
The rain still hammered down into the sodden earth. It felt as if it would never cease.
Lara watched him go, tracking every stride.
“Let me kill him.” Bree was at her side then, her voice hard-edged. “There’s still time.”
“No.” Lara’s gaze never left her husband’s retreating back. “When the day comes, I want to be the one to do it.”
Get ready for the epic conclusion to The Unforgiven duology!
Wow, that was quite a ride. That cliff-hanger nearly broke me … I hope your e-reader still works after you threw it across the room!
How could you, Alar, you BASTARD? How can this be the end?
Well, it’s not. Luckily, the story doesn’t end here! Get ready for Book 2, coming in December 2025. Buckle up. It’s going to be another wild ride.