Free The Emerald Prince by Kayci Morgan Page B

Yes. My father told me.”
    “Then why did your father agree to the marriage?”
    “Because the alternative would have been an all-out war. A war both sides would have lost when either the Ghas or Enem swept in. If you had married my sister, Tannis would have been the one that had an accident, and you would have been made Governor of the colonies.”
    “Ruler of nothing but three colonies between a desert and an ocean. No one could claim he was doing anything but honoring me with the position and I’d be very much out of the way. A good plan. Poetic even.”
    Elliot nodded. “Thanks. I came up with it. But I have no idea why Father agreed to let you marry me instead.”
    Zariya. Blaine had no idea how she’d done it, but it was all her doing. She did the impossible when she got Blaine and Elliot together. His father said something about a new plan. He meant to ask him about it, but oddly enough, all concern had vanished until now. When he returned to Raven’s Flight, he’d find out his father’s new plan and if it included hurting Elliot, or anyone Elliot cared about, he’d put a stop to it.
    Mother was right. For him, I’ll fight.
    Blaine sat down next to Elliot. “But what I don’t understand is how you can forgive me so easily.” Elliot had recently equated hatred to passion. Did the prince’s ambivalence to his plans of betrayal mean he felt nothing for him?
    Elliot shrugged. “It never really bothered me because it’s the way of things. Ever since the first king.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “When you were a kid, no one told you the story of the first crown and the first man to become a king?”
    Blaine’s father didn’t believe in letting him learn unimportant things. He was busy studying tactics and combat while other children were playing games and listening to stories. The few times we was allowed to do child-like things were precious and far apart. “No, I’ve never heard of it.”
    “My nursemaid used to tell it to me all the time. It’s one of my favorite stories.
    “Back in the distant past, when the gods walked among men and no one grew old or sick. Niklas fell in love with a woman who was brave and bold and took her for his wife. They had a child together, a son name Laius.
    “Laius was the bravest man the world had ever known. An unmatched warrior that crushed anyone that stood against him. He not only became the ruler of his tribe, but he conquered the tribes that surrounded his and forced their leaders to name him their better.
    “But he was wise as well as strong, and under his rule the people prospered. There was peace and joy throughout the lands he claimed for himself.
    “Niklas was so proud of his son, that he gave him a gift, a golden circlet he called a crown. When Laius asked what the crown was for, Niklas explained, ‘This signifies how you sit above all others. How no man that walks this earth is your equal.’
    “Soon, people became envious and jealous of Laius’s crown. They had nothing nearly so fine and beautiful. And even though he had ruled over them for years, that ring of gold stated explicitly what they knew implicitly and couldn’t be tolerated.
    “While no one man could defeat him, working together they could kill him and they did. But there was no clear ruler after that. So they fought and killed each other like animals, trying to decide who among them was the best.
    “The Earth God came and saw what had happened to his son, and in his misery, he cursed mankind to wither and die. An eternal punishment for his eternal loss.” Elliot stared into the fire, distant and alone. “And even after all this time, when it comes to that stupid piece of metal, we’ve learned nothing from our suffering.”

Chapter Nineteen
     
    Victoria leaned against her desk, throwing her arms up in disbelief. “How can you say that? Stryvor is the father of modern philosophy.”
    “Forgive me, Mistress. It’s not that I disagree with his arguments on virtue. I just find