"All I'm saying," Richard tried again, this time speaking slowly, "is that I will go to the King's castle and find out what is going on. Just give me until morning."
The lords exchanged glances, one by one nodding in turn. Even Mason, after a long pause, gave a stiff, begrudging dip of the head.
Richard bowed his head in silent prayer.
This was not good.
This wasn't good at all.
******
If Thessa agreed to Morvakar's plan, and the child died, the order she had pledged herself to would never forgive her.
Not in a hundred years. To lose him was to lose the fragile thread holding together centuries of hope. And in Blood City, hope was worth more than gold, more than blood, more than life itself.
But the queen merely sat there, unmoving, her posture regal but her mind a whirlwind.
Luna's gaze was locked on some far-off point beyond the walls, her thoughts tangled. Morvakar's words swirled in her mind, curling into the cracks of her resolve.
