“Of course I’m upset! Corene’s the love of my life.”
“Then why are you letting the King marry her off to that
hillman? After all the ledgers you’ve stayed up until dawn fill-
ing out for him?” Thelia’s stopped Parlor Trick right in the
middle of the road. Halrendar halts and sniffs the white palfrey.
“Put up a fight for once.”
There’s no fight to fight. It’s already done. “Corene doesn’t
want that. She wants what’s best for the Kingdom.”
“My cousin has no idea what’s good for anyone,” Thelia
snaps. “She never has. Remember when she brought that mouse
inside because she felt bad for it out in the cold, and it got loose
and chewed Queen Laine’s favorite gown to bits?”
I bite the inside of my lip. “Yeah.”
“She made a commitment to you. She promised to marry
you
before the King gave her away to someone else.” As if a
secret engagement means anything in the face of the Kingdom’s
most valuable alliance. As if she had any choice in the matter.
“I know it’s hard for you to understand concepts like duty
or devotion,” I find myself saying. I’m angrier than I realized.
“My duty and devotion are all I have left.”
Thelia sneers. “I’m the one who doesn’t understand devo-
tion, when you won’t fight for the girl you love? You’ll just
watch as she’s dragged off to that wild hill country, never to
return.” Thelia nudges Parlor Trick and ambles off down the
road ahead.
What right does she have to act like this? She’s been a snot
to all of us, including Corene, ever since the spring. When the
Baron gave up their courtship and went home . . .
I stop myself. Baron Durnhal. Her mother. Two people
who’ve abandoned Thelia—and now Corene’s about to do the
same thing. No wonder.
23
