Page 14 of A Veil of Gods and Kings

“With the express desire for him to follow the king’s predetermined course,” Fen cut in, his hazel eyes taking a glint.

Joden frowned. “Precisely. The prince is too young to take over the kingdom on his own and—”

Eliga swiped his hand over the papers in front of him. “His father never would have left him in charge if he didn’t think he was worthy.”

Emrin’s features darkened. His mouth dropped open like he might speak, but I cleared my throat hard and shot him a look. We don’t play on their level. Emrin scowled but rested his elbow on the filigree arm of his chair.

I wanted to scream or maybe just sigh. All my life I had trained for this, sat by my father’s side, and worked to earn the men in this room’s respect. And they talked over me like I was a child playing games. Anger bubbled its way up my chest, but I took a deep breath to still it. Father had taught me well, after all. It wasn’t the heat of irritation that garnered people’s esteem. No one wanted a leader who had emotional outbursts. I needed to be calm but authoritative. I could do this.

I smacked my hand on the table and waited until the group grew quiet enough that a bird’s chirping from the gardens trailed to us. “In case you all have forgotten, I am right here.” I paused, letting the words hang in the air, crisp and heavy for a moment. “Let me make a few things clear. My father did leave me in charge, and everyone in this room will heed that despite their personal feelings, or”—I tapped my fingers on the table, my rings glimmering and splashing crystal reflections across the wood—“I’ll dismiss you without hesitation.”

Eyes brightened, and I met each of their gazes. “Now, this meeting will continue in an orderly manner, and you’ll show the same respect for me as you do the king.” I shifted in my chair, my robe tangling in a puddle of rich colors on the seat. “Is that clear?”

Joden cleared his throat. “Of course, Your Highness.”

“Then let’s begin.”

Asher’s thick eyebrows drew together. “We’ve received reports of another village decimated.”

I sucked in a breath. “Within our borders?”

“No, Your Highness, in Carens. But on the fringe of our country’s boundaries.”

The southeast regions of Carens rested in a mountain pass very close to our country. I’d honestly not expected any issues of that sort while Father was away. Never let someone say I didn’t have some optimistic tendencies. “Move a unit of soldiers there. Hopefully it will comfort our citizens that reside in that area. And increase the number of scouts in the mountains.”

Asher nodded and scratched something out on a parchment. Fen raised his chin and began discussing a potential change in record keeping. And so the meeting rolled forward.

Once I made it through the grueling hours of arguing out the finer details of managing the kingdom, I locked myself in Father’s office and dropped into his chair. I took the crown off and set it on his desk. The room glowed golden, the sun giving one last performance before sweeping away with the night.

I had spent part of my childhood playing with wooden chariots on the floors in this room while Father had worked. He’d slip his gaze over to me and chuckle, dropping to his knees to have a race before returning to his desk and piles of paperwork.

Four days of him gone and my body already weighed with exhaustion. How would I manage multiple months? It pressed on my shoulders like a boulder weighing me down. And this was my whole future. One day Father would be gone—my heart stopped at that, already aching at a loss that hadn’t yet happened—and the weight of every decision, the future of every citizen in this country, the well-being of our entire nation would rest on my choices.

I swallowed hard past a lump in my throat and thumbed through the stack of letters. My fingers stilled on the one with the lightning bolt cut into the wax seal.

I groaned and shrugged down in the chair.

4

Apollo

I lay in bed, blanketed in a pastel light that trailed in through a slit where the two curtains didn’t quite meet. Birds chirped.

Thunk, thunk, thunk. Someone slammed their fist against the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.” Temi’s voice came muffled.

I sighed. “Come in.”

She opened the door, and I rolled over towards the window. Dust motes glittered and branches of a tree outside clattered together. The mattress dipped as Temi sat. “Enough of this. You’ve been in your room for two days. It’s time to get up.”

“I haven’t even been home two full days yet.”

Her lips smacked. “You went straight to bed when you got home and stayed in here all day yesterday. Enough with this laziness.”

I turned, easing around her and dropping my feet to the floor. Temi swept her eyes over me and sucked in a breath. In the mirror, the bruise reflected as a darkened patch of plum and burgundy swallowing one side of my face. Temi grazed her fingers over my arm. “Hades’ realm, did your father do that?”