Epilogue II #2
“But it would make your life easier if I just accept this arrangement,” Raina said to him.
“It will make everyone’s life easier, including yours,” Cyra said seriously.
“Glenora’s child may also have a claim to the Triumvirate seat, but if you marry this Kernish prince, that will quash any notion of trying to ascend the child over you.
Any attempt to overthrow you would also be an attack on a Prince of Kern, and Kern would react accordingly. ”
“So you think I should accept,” Raina concluded.
Cyra’s hand twitched, as if she meant to reach out, but she didn’t, and Raina felt a twinge of hurt. This new version of Cyra was colder, more emotionless than the friend she’d known.
“I know this isn’t ideal,” Cyra went on, “and I’m sure your desire for independence is screaming at you to turn this down, but if you want to be the Triumvirate Lady of Polaris, this is the option that makes your claim the most secure.
Yes, it will definitely help us in the war to have Kern as an ally, but having Kern at your back helps you as well.
It’s your decision, though. Bressen and I will support you either way. ”
Raina was silent as she considered this. “You don’t think Kern will use this prince’s position as my consort to try to take over Polaris and eventually Thasia?” she asked finally.
Bressen smiled. “You continue to prove my faith in you. There’s always a remote chance Kern might use this alliance as a way to gain territory, but if you agree to this match, we’ll do some investigating to be sure Kern has no hostile intentions.”
“You plan to read their minds,” Raina said, surprised. Cyra had told her that she and Bressen tried not to invade people’s minds unless they needed to, but apparently this counted as a ‘need to’ situation.
“Among other things, yes,” Bressen confirmed.
“We’re not just going to hand you over to this prince without making absolutely sure he means no harm to you or Polaris,” Cyra said. “We won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”
There was a hint of compassion back in Cyra’s voice that eased Raina’s mind, and she was quiet as she tried to wrap her head around the offer.
“Can I have some time to consider?” Raina asked. “How soon do you need to know?”
“Soon,” Bressen said, cutting off whatever Cyra had been about to say. “You need to be wedded and bedded before Glenora has her baby to be sure your position is secure.”
Both Raina and Cyra glared at his bluntness.
“Sorry,” he said, “but I’m giving you the unpolished truth. Considering what’s at stake, Kern won’t consider the alliance to be final until you’ve consummated the marriage. They may even expect you to stop taking a contraceptive to ensure an heir as quickly as possible.”
“What?” both Raina and Cyra said together.
Bressen sighed deeply. “You can still say no to this union,” he reminded her, “but if you say yes, you need to understand everything it entails. Kern will expect this to be a real marriage with everything that goes along with it, including heirs.”
Raina had been leaning toward saying yes to the arrangement, but the prospect of becoming pregnant almost immediately brought that to a screeching halt. She didn’t want to ascend to the Triumvirate only to have a child so soon after. She wasn’t ready for that.
Luckily, she’d inherited all of the benefits of her perimortal half, including the highly irregular menstrual cycle. Maybe, it would be years, even decades before she conceived…
On the other hand, her luck hadn’t been that great lately.
Then something occurred to her. “Has anyone seen this prince?” she asked. “How old is he? What does he look like? I’m not marrying anyone who looks like the ass end of a horse, and I’m certainly not fucking anyone like that.”
Bressen’s brows rose, but he shrugged. “If you let him take you from behind in the dark, it shouldn’t matter,” he suggested.
“Bressen!” Cyra snapped at her husband incredulously. He only grinned and gave her a quick wink.
She returned it with a scathing look before she turned back to Raina.
“Neither Bressen nor I have seen the prince, but Axenus has. We’re told he’s handsome,” Cyra said. “I believe he’s almost fifty, but he’s perimortal, so he looks to be in his mid-twenties by mortal standards.”
“We can make it a condition you won’t accept the betrothal until you and the prince have met to be sure you’re…compatible,” Bressen said.
Raina stood up. “Well, you’ve certainly given me a lot to think about.”
She turned to Cyra, but her heart sank at Cyra’s uneasy look.
“There’s more?” Raina asked.
“Not about the betrothal,” Cyra said, “but there’s something else you should know.”
Raina crossed her arms. “What else?”
“Bressen and I went to see Glenora in Revenmyer a little while ago,” Cyra said carefully. “As we were leaving…she mentioned your mother.”
Raina uncrossed her arms slowly. “What about my mother?”
“It was nothing specific,” Cyra said, “but we took it as a threat.”
“Have you heard from your mother at all lately?” Bressen asked.
Raina shook her head. It had been almost two years since she’d seen or spoken to her mother after they’d fought about her coming to Callanus to meet Ursan. She still loved her mother, though. If Glenora had done something to her…
Bile rose in Raina’s throat, but she swallowed it back down.
“What did she do to my mother?” Raina asked softly.
“Nothing so far as we know,” Cyra said, “but Bressen and I have been trying to locate her, and we haven’t been able to find her yet.”
Raina’s knees gave out, and she thumped back down into her chair.
“We’re doing everything in our power to find her,” Cyra said, “but we figured it was time to bring you in.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Raina asked, her stomach in knots.
“At first we thought Glenora was just trying to get under our skin, and we didn’t want to worry you needlessly,” Cyra said.
“We looked into your mother’s whereabouts to assure ourselves she was fine,” Bressen said. “She no longer lives where she did when you came to Callanus, so we cast a wider net, but we’ve come up empty so far. We finally had to consider that Glenora’s threat wasn’t idle.”
Raina blinked away tears. It had been so long since she’d seen or spoken with her mother.
She’d thought hundreds of times about reaching out to mend their relationship, especially now that Ursan was dead, but stubbornness always got in the way.
Would she have known her mother was missing sooner if she’d stopped being childish and reached out?
The thought sent a wave of nausea through her.
Her first thought after considering the betrothal to the Kernish prince had been that she needed to make amends so her mother could attend the wedding. Three hells, she’d already been imagining how to tell her mother she was going to be Lady of Polaris.
None of that mattered now as the possibility that Glenora had done something to her mother sunk in.
No, it wasn’t Glenora’s style to simply have her mother killed. She’d want to twist the knife first. Raina’s mother was still alive but likely in grave danger, and Raina would do everything in her power to find her.