Chapter 12: What the Prince Knew

The water jug hit the stone wall an inch from his head.

It burst into a hundred pieces, and he did not even flinch.

"Nine days," Aveline said.

Her voice was ragged.

She had been pacing the round room for hours, and the jug was the third thing she'd thrown.

"Nine days, and you sat in that chair like a statue."

"You said, 'Your Majesty,' in that polite voice, and you let her do it."

"Yes," said Torin.

"Say something else!"

"I will."

He shut the door behind him and turned the key.

He set the key on the chair, where she could reach it, and stepped back from it.

It was the strangest thing she had ever seen him do.

"Pick it up if you want," he said. "Walk out if you want. I won't stop you. But I think you should hear this first."

Aveline stared at the key.

She did not touch it.

"Hear what?"

"Who you are."

The room went quiet.

Outside the window, a night bird called once over the river.

"I know what you are," Torin said, very low. "I knew the minute you set that cup down."

Her heart missed a beat.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You do."

"Torin..."

"The woman I was betrothed to never changed her mind."

"She hated Perdita on schedule, and she cried on schedule."

His mouth twisted.

"She was supposed to throw that wine. All of Hallowgate knew it, and so did I."

"It was the first move of a plan, and the plan was hers."

"A plan."

"Aveline Varrick was never a fool."

He said it so gently that it took her a moment to hear it.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Her Journey Beyond the Script from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.