Chapter 27
The next day, Callum and Amos ate breakfast together, deep in conversation about a new metal found in the Mountain Kingdom mines.
“It’s stronger than anything we’ve seen before,” Callum said. “I don’t know how we’re just now discovering it. It’s indestructible.”
“Where are you?” Roland asked abruptly. That wasn’t like him.
Amos held up a finger for Callum to give him a second and sat back in his chair. “Eating breakfast with Callum. Is something wrong?”
“Ember said Rainer needs you home. The rebel attacks are getting worse.”
Amos’ fists tightened. “How much worse?”
“They attacked a convoy taking grain to the West Oasis. They burned everything.”
Amos leaned forward and slammed his fist on the table. “Was anyone hurt?”
“No.”
Amos blew out a relieved breath. Grain could be replaced; a person could not. “We’ll leave after the wedding tomorrow.”
“I’ll let him know.”
Roland cut the connection.
“What’s happened?” Callum asked. Amos gave him a quick rundown.
“And you think Paul is behind it?” he clarified.
“Yes. I can’t prove it, but I know it’s him.” Amos picked up his water and chugged it, wishing it was something stronger. “We have to leave after the wedding, but I don’t want Amelia to know why.”
“She can handle it,” Callum said. “There’s nothing weak about that girl.”
Amos snorted. Yes, she could. “I know, but it’s her wedding day. I’m not going to ruin it by telling her that her brother and best friend are riding off into battle.” He met Callum’s steady gaze. “Because that’s what this is. When we get home, we’re going to war.”
“Do you think she’ll hate me?” Clover asked Amos as they dressed for the coronation dinner.
“You’re her best friend,” Amos reminded her. “She could never hate you.”
Clover didn't believe that. Amelia might view her deception as betrayal, and if she were honest with herself, no matter how she justified it, it was. It wasn’t that different from what her family and Amos had done to her. She’d give anything to take back how she’d acted.
To ignore him for four years was beyond petty. The situation with Jennifer exacerbated it, and he deserved her ire, but cutting him off was extreme. Her actions disgusted her, and she hated herself even more that it took her being in this same position to understand it.
“I’m sorry for ignoring you for four years,” Clover said, swallowing around the knot in her throat. “That was a selfish thing for me to do.”
Amos turned to her, brows drawn. “You were a teenager changing from a child to a woman. Kids that age have a hard enough time regulating their emotions on a normal day. You experienced something traumatic, and I don’t blame you for how you reacted.”
“You were also a teenager with the responsibility of a kingdom on your shoulders. I aged out of childhood during those four years, yet I gave you no grace.”
“You forgave me,” he countered, “and that’s all that matters.”
“Will you forgive me?” She moved closer to wrap her arms around him. “I’m not above groveling.”
Amos wiggled his eyebrows. “In that case, I have a few ideas.”
Clover sat at a table on a large stage in the royal dining hall beside Fawn, the maid who’d shown her to her rooms. The group at the table adored Amelia, and Clover sent a silent thanks to the gods that her friend had found a family here.
Clover watched the door, waiting for Amelia to walk in. Amos would be here soon too. Her friend strode through the door on Rennick’s arm, and Clover slowly got to her feet when Amelia’s eyes met hers.
“Clover?” Amelia’s voice carried, and people started to stare. Clover didn’t care.
She and Amelia moved at the same time and came together in a fierce hug. Clover begged the gods that Amelia was a better person than she was and forgave her.
“I knew you were my friend,” Amelia croaked against Clover’s shoulder.
She hadn’t known for sure they were friends? Clover pushed her back, devastated that she’d ever made Amelia feel that way. “You thought we weren’t friends?”
Amelia waved her off. “It’s an inside joke I had with myself. You rarely spoke, and sometimes I thought you were simply too polite to tell me to leave you alone, but deep down, I knew that wasn’t the case.”
Clover laughed, relief rushing through her. “I don’t like to talk, but I like to listen. You always had a lot to say.” An understatement.
“Did you get my note?” Amelia asked. “I dropped it in your mail slot at the house.” Clover must have made a face because Amelia’s brows lowered. “What is it?”
She decided not to tell Amelia that her brother had kidnapped her. “I moved home,” she replied, choosing her words carefully.
Amelia’s hand flew to her mouth. “You left without saying goodbye?”
Clover’s hands twisted together as she took in Amelia’s crestfallen expression. She decided not to grovel later tonight. The look on Amelia’s face was punishment enough. “I knew where you’d be and had planned to visit after you settled in,” she explained.
Amos approached them, his eyes glued to Clover. “We need to take this somewhere private.”
Rennick agreed and shuffled them through a side door that led into an elegant sitting room.
“What is this place?” Amelia asked, surveying the room. “Why would a gaudy sitting room be connected to the dining hall?”
Clover tried not to laugh. Gaudy didn’t even begin to describe this place.
Rennick dropped a steel bar across the door to lock it. “It’s a soundproof safe room for the royal family.”
“I really need a map of the palace,” Amelia muttered under her breath and turned to Amos. “Why are we in here?”
“I sent Clover to watch over you,” he said, still staring at Clover.
Amelia blinked. “What do you mean?”
Rennick went to his mate’s side and placed a hand on her lower back.
Clover hadn’t planned on telling Amelia right away, but Amos threw her to the wolves. She took a deep breath. “My father trained me to fight as well as any warrior from the time I could walk. Your brother found me when I was thirteen and sent me to protect you.”
Amelia looked between Clover and Amos. “I don’t understand. You’re a human, and he couldn’t leave the Desert Kingdom until he was twenty-five.”
Clover pushed her hair behind her pointed ear. “Glamour. I’m from the Desert Kingdom.”
Amelia gaped at her. “What about your family?” she asked. “Did they die?”
Clover glanced at Amos. “They’re alive. They came to visit as often as they could.”
Clover had seen Amelia frustrated, but she’d never seen her mad until now. Amelia whirled on Amos and slapped him across the face. Clover flinched and tried not to laugh at the look of shock on Amos’ face. They both deserved to be slapped, if Clover were being honest.
Rennick pushed Amelia behind him, and Amos stood open-mouthed, holding the side of his face.
“You forced a thirteen-year-old girl to leave her kingdom?” Amelia shouted, lunging at her brother. Rennick held her back, and Clover’s jaw dropped. Well, if there was any question whether Amos and Amelia were related, that cleared it up. She was a little terrifying.
“How dare you? She was a child,” Amelia snarled.
“It’s okay,” Clover insisted, trying to calm her friend down and failing miserably.
Amelia stopped struggling in her mate’s hold and stared at Clover. “Did you want to leave your family?”
Clover opened her mouth, then clamped it shut. She wouldn’t lie to her more than she had to, but neither would she throw Amos under the carriage.
Amelia bent over, removed one of her slippers, and launched it at her brother’s head.
Clover slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing as Amos deflected the blow with his forearms.
“Enough!” Amos yelled, clenching his fists.
“Yell at her again, Desert King, and you won’t have a voice box to yell with,” Rennick warned.
Amos threw his hands up. “You don’t think I know what I’ve done?” The pain in his voice and devastation down the bond had Clover moving closer.
“I didn’t seek her out to send her away,” Amos told his sister. “She was training when I found her, and she was more skilled than I was at the time. So, I had a stupid idea to send her to you.”
“Why?” Amelia demanded. “I’d been fine up until that point.”
Clover had asked him not to tell them about duping her into going. It was humiliating.
Amos stepped toward Amelia. “Because when your mate came looking for you, I knew you’d have a bigger target on your back if anyone found out who you were to not only the Desert throne, but to him.
” He ran a hand through his messy hair. “Clover was talented and young; no one would suspect her.” He looked crushed beneath his guilt, and Clover wanted to wrap her arms around him.
“I was a kid, and I made a foolish decision.”
“And when you wised up?” Amelia asked. “Why didn’t you tell her she could go home?”
Clover couldn’t let him continue to take the brunt of this. “He did,” she interjected. “When we were sixteen, he asked me to come back, but I told him no.”
Amelia rubbed her forehead. “And you were okay with that?” she asked Clover. “You didn’t stay because you thought you owed something to the future king?”
Clover pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I had no desire to be in the Desert Kingdom, and I owed him nothing.”
Amelia glanced at her brother. “I know you were only a child,” she told him, “but that was a cruel thing to ask of her as her future king, and while I appreciate the sentiment, I’m forced to carry the guilt too.”
Gods, Clover and Amos were going to hell. At least they’d be there together.
“No one regrets my decision more than I do.” The deep sadness in Amos’ voice reminded Clover of his letters all those years ago. He had to forgive himself, but she didn’t know how to help him do that.
A bell next to the door rang in a merry pattern, and Rennick removed the steel beam to open it. Callum popped his head in. “Is everything all right?” He took stock of the room, pausing on Amos’s red cheek.
“You three go ahead,” Amelia told Clover, Rennick, and Callum. “Amos and I will be there shortly.”
Clover hesitated, not wanting him to face Amelia’s wrath alone. He tipped his head toward the door, signaling for her to leave. Against her better judgment, she followed the others back into the dining hall.
Amos knew his sister was upset, but for fuck's sake, she didn’t have to hit him. “I don’t need another—”
Amelia wrapped her arms around him, cutting him off mid-sentence. He froze with his arms pinned beneath hers, unsure what to do.
“I know you meant well,” she said, releasing him. “All I wanted growing up was a family. I used to dream someone would show up to claim me. Knowing Clover was made to leave her own because of me is a hard bite to swallow.”
Fuck. What a way to make him wish she’d hit him harder. “I regret it every day.”
If only she knew how much.
“We’ll make sure she and her family are set for life,” Amelia promised, with an awkward pat on his shoulder.
Amos almost laughed. Clover wouldn’t even let him buy her dresses. “I tried. She refuses every time, but she and I will work it out later. We need to discuss our situation.” He motioned between them. “You’re the only family I have left, and I’d like to get to know you better.”
Amelia hugged him again, and he stiffened under her affection. He hated hugs unless it was Clover.
“You’re not a hugger, are you?” she teased.
He tried to move, but she held on tight. “I despise them.”
She laughed and let him go. “I’d like to get to know you, too.” He smiled then, and she returned it tenfold. She pushed him toward the door. “Let’s go eat before my mate hauls me over his shoulder in front of everyone.”
Amos followed her into the dining hall, feeling just a little lighter.