Page 168 of Ashborne Forged

I rolled my jaw. I took another deep breath and straightened from leaning on the door. I knew Kham was right, but it burned.

But I did as he bid, and turned my mind to solving problems.

I had already located a passageway that allowed access to her rooms without crossing the hallway—though it required different risk, since I’d be forced to sneak through Breckon’s chambers.

There was a satisfaction in that, though.

When the day came that I did face the man down, I’d make certain he knew that I’d used his rooms to reach her and her soft, warm body that—

‘Voski.’

Rolling my eyes, but grateful for my dragon’s gruff rumble, I turned around in the narrow passage to start back toward the main halls of the castle. But just as I did, a new voice rose in the little room and I froze.

“He won’t give her up, she’s too valuable.” The feminine murmur could only be the queen. No others had joined the men in the king’s study.

“He’ll do whatever he’s told if he believes he gains something more valuable in return.”

“He’s taking her for the offspring. He won’t allow any competition.”

“He will if he believes he begets the heir and gains the world as well.”

The queen’s voice was tight when she spoke. “Or you could just kill him—after the ceremony. The vows will spark her power, whether he uses it or not.”

My heart began to thud, then leaped into my throat when a second, feminine voice—one so familiar it turned my stomach—rose alongside the other two.

“You’re assuming she hasn’t been ignited already.”

I froze at the sound of my mother’s voice. What the hell was she doing there? How had she entered? Had Breckon known she was there? There were no peepholes into the king’s study, though I’d discovered this access to the anteroom on our last visit to the castle. It only offered entrance to the study through the normal door—not ideal when a man was spying and wouldn’t know if there was another exit, so might be trapped if the occupier of the room returned while he was there.

So, I hadn’t infiltrated the study itself. Hadn’t yet found a way.

Had my mother hidden there? Or did this mean there was a second entrance to that room after all?

The king grumbled. “She’s spoken no vows, you said yourself you’d sense it if she had.”

“I thought so. Yet the rumors persist. I could be wrong,” she said casually.

“Stop playing your games, Ava. I won’t be fooled. You told us what she could be. You said even if Breckon achieves the union, he will not outlive her. Don’t try to seed fear for me now—I know the ass is full of himself, but we can weather that for a time if it brings her womb alive.”

“You don’t weather him, you puff him up! You offer too much! Breckon is so full of pride, he won’t see beyond the swell of his own cock. If he believes he gains your throne on a leash, he’ll decide he can keep her as well.”

Barely breathing, I leaned my ear against the door, listening intently.

“My dealings with a man of my choosing are none of your concern,” the king muttered gruffly.

“I beg to differ.”

“Why would you care for his pride, so long as you get your wish?” the queen sniffed in a tone of disdain I would bet coin my mother rarely heard.

“The man is a beetle. He steps above even what your friendship should mean to his…”

I cursed as they turned back into the study and closed the door, cutting off my ability to hear them. As quickly as I could keep my feet silent on the stone, I hurried back along the passage. There was no entrance to the study from this space, but perhaps with them speaking I could find a point where the walls were thin enough…

Keeping my breath as silent as my feet, leaning toward the wall, but never allowing my body to brush it in case the sound could be heard within the study, I hurried along the long wall of the study, praying for a crack, a peep hole I’d missed, something that would allow me to hear what was being said inside.

But I reached the end of the study and took the turn east with a sinking heart, knowing there was only the short side of the study to go before the stone chimney of the study jutted out, and the passage turned right, away from the king’s room, feeding into the immense maze of passages and spaces in these castle walls.

Please, God. Please… just a whisper of—