Page 88 of Hollow Court

“When I arrived here, I found out about the things he inflicted on his servants, the things he would come to inflict on me.”

Her navy eyes locked on mine in the mirror. “Tell me, do you think a man like that deserved my loyalty?”

I didn’t need to think about my answer. “No.”

“But he was my husband, and I had sworn obedience.”

“But…he gave up that right when he hurt you.”

The words sunk in just as soon as they left my mouth. Had Jocelyn seen the moment’s hesitation as I digested them. Did she realize just how much they applied to me, as well?

“And what of my loyalty to my kingdom?” she continued. “Do you think Oliver deserved to have his son kept from him for the sake of his people?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted after a short consideration.

She shrugged one delicate shoulder. “I don’t, either. Even now. I know that I have loved Oli for as long as I can remember. I loved him then, but I was not as loyal to him as I was to the things I had been brought up to be loyal to.”

She waited until I nodded to go on.

“See, love can be blind, and often is.” A soft smile crept on to her mouth. “You can’t always choose who gets your love, but you get to decide who is deserving of your loyalty.”

Those words struck a chord I hadn’t been ready for, strumming along my mind and down into my chest as I allowed them to resonate fully.

“And you think my uncle isn’t deserving?”

“That’s not a choice I—or anyone—can make for you.” The smile died from her lips. “But I will tell you this. I know what it is to be a captive in your own home, and it’s not a life I would wish on anyone.”

I wasn’t sure how much she knew or had guessed about my relationship with Alexei, but it was like she was seeing straight through to my nightmares of endless years spent behind the towering walls of Wolf Estate, his shadow looming over me until I withered away to little more than a specter haunting the halls of the place that would never be a home to me.

“What if I have no choice?” I spoke the fear aloud before I could stop myself.

Jocelyn put the final pin in my hair, moving until she was standing directly in front of me.

“Let me be very clear about something.” Her voice was pure, unrelenting steel. “As long as you are in Lithlinglau,no onewill take you from this estate without your explicit consent. Not your uncle. Not the man who believes he holds some claim over you. The king of Lochlann himself would have to go through me to get to you, and trust me when I say, he has no wish to do so.”

I blinked, not sure what to say to that. What to think.

“So if you wish to stay,” she continued, “you don’t need to marry. And if you choose to go, no one will force you to stay here against your will.”

My lips parted, but still, no words came out.

“Do you understand?” she asked in a gentler tone.

No,I wanted to say.

I couldn’t begin to understand why a woman I barely knew would stand between me and her own king for something that no one had ever offered me before.

But I had been raised to be obedient, so I cleared my throat until I could speak in a voice that didn’t tremble.

“Yes. I understand.”

Her shrewd gaze once again locked on mine.

“No,” she said a bit sadly, “you don’t. But in time, you will.”

THIRTY

Davin