Free Her Dangerous Visions (The Boy and the Beast Book 1) by Brandon Barr

mockery when you speak to King Feaor’s envoys?”
    “Answer my question! What would you do?”
    She froze for a moment. If she told her father her true plan—that she intended to give the unquarried foothills of Pyrrh to the Verdlands as a peace offering, that she would promise to supply the wood and labor to rebuild the farms that had been razed by her father’s soldiers, and that she intended to do all this only asking in return a restored friendship and fair trade between their two kingdoms—if she said all of this, she feared her father wouldn’t give her another moment’s thought.
    Meluscia finally met her father’s waiting glare. “Has the King committed some great evil that I am unaware of? If so, tell me of it. Because the solution seems too simple. Stop the raids. Confess to our wrongs. And give adequate recompense as a gesture of goodwill between kingdoms.”
    “Whether you are Luminess or not, swear to me you will never confess to any wrongs. Every act committed by the Hold is fitting and justified.”
    “Surely we could apologize for the raids and the burning of farmers’ houses?”
    “We are not a kingdom of weaklings!” he growled angrily.
    Meluscia tried to retain a dignified stance, stuffing down her emotions at having her father shout at her over the singers, for all to hear. She nodded slowly. “I’ll never apologize,” she lied. “I promise.”
    “Go on your way,” he said wearily. “I need more time to consider the matter.”
    Meluscia nodded in thanks and turned to go, then stopped. One last wave of bold words passed from her heart to her head. “I would see our people thrive—have faith in me, Father. Send me as your delegate to King Feaor. Declare me Luminess Imminent, and I will bring peace to the Hold.”
    Her father stared out at the waiting courtiers as if they were not there at all, his eyes like clouded marble, swirling with choices. The way he stooped, hands clutching the side of the throne, he looked almost dead. Only his eyes held life. Meluscia stood there a moment longer, but his face was like a stone statue, unable to see her.
     

CHAPTER 7
     
    MELUSCIA
    Meluscia slipped past the large wood doors of the throne room. Her father still wanted the little girl who came and sat on his knee during hearings. Not that the little girl who loved her father didn’t remain in her. She did. But if attaining rule of the kingdom meant she show him only her calluses, then so be it.
    Outside the throne room, the entrance hall glowed with torchlight. Eight soldiers stood casually, leaning against the rock walls or conversing with one of the royal staff. A servant boy was making his rounds, handing out bread while another boy held a tray with a silver bowl of broth for dipping.
    “There’s always a long line of problems when your father returns from patrol,” said Crocido, a lean, sharp-eyed man who was one of her father’s record keepers. He stood by the door, a pen in hand to log the names and list needs and complaints of those seeking a hearing with the Luminary.
    Meluscia nodded. “May I see them?”
    “Of course.” He handed her his parchments. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Complaints from the outer mountains for more milk and grain. Squabbles between the Luminar’s officials, another breech of your father’s borders. The troubles never end.”
    Meluscia scanned over the first list, her heart aching. It was a daunting task her father performed. How would her handling of each problem affect the Hold? Though she believed it would be for the better, it was still imaginary. Her own convictions were unproven, and they would always be unless tried on the reality of her father’s throne.
    The weight of kingdom politics, as her father said, was a heavy load. She felt the investment it would take on her life more heavily than ever before. She was so close to the possibility of becoming Luminess that the very real demands were all the more tangible.
    Including the demand that