Page 252 of Onyx Cage: Volume II

A fair question. But the Duke of Elk let out an irritable breath as he rapidly lost his patience, his rose-colored glasses obviously dimming a little where it came to his view of my wife.

I wondered how he had imagined he would spend the rest of his life with her exceptional obstinance if he could barely manage this conversation, but in fairness to him, she had at least made an attempt at being agreeable in his midst. And he was notoriously a bit gullible.

“No,” he told her flatly. “Where I can ensure that he is sequestered and unable to act again. Besides, it took him years to garner support for this, and once he is dethroned, he will not be able to again. He will see that.”

I had every doubt that he would see that. On the other hand, I had no intentions of giving him the opportunity to plot. There were plenty of measures we could discuss after the war was won, even if he was imprisoned on Elk territory.

“You have not historically been the best person to recognize when Iiro is scheming,” my lemmikki said after a moment. Her tone was quieter, but no less firm.

She drank down the rest of her vodka before refilling all of our glasses, even topping off Korhonan, though he still hadn’t braved taking a drink.

He gripped the cup, running his fingers along the grooves of the crystal. Defeat settled further into his shoulders, and when he met my wife’s gaze once again, I almost felt…pity for him.

“Rest assured, Rowan, the days when I was able to harbor any illusions about who my brother is or the things he would do are far behind me.”

She let out a soft sigh, the fight in her dissipating at his admission.

I glanced between them, then at the clock, noting the hour. Korhonan had undoubtedly had a difficult journey getting here, and it was getting late.

“I assume you’re staying at least until the morning?” I asked, and he gave a resolute dip of his chin.

“Then we can discuss this over dinner,” I said, standing and gesturing for them to join me.

“We can, though, you should know these are not terms I will negotiate on.”

My wife let out a small, irritable sigh, but didn’t argue. And neither did I. Not because I didn’t think he was being short-sighted, but because we all had lines we weren’t willing to cross, people we were bound to by blood. He was already going against everything he had ever believed in by coming here to offer his support.

And as much as I wanted Iiro to pay for his crimes, I didn’t want my own personal vengeance more than I wanted an end to the bloodshed.

So I met Korhonan’s gaze and gave a single dip of my chin.

“Understood.”

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TEN

In order to limit the amount of people who knew about Theodore’s presence, we took dinner in our private dining room.

The servants only looked vaguely uncomfortable when I requested they prepare a Lochlannian-style meal—one that would allow us to serve ourselves.

Because my wife was homesick, of course.

Once it was ready, I escorted Theodore from our study into the dining room connected to our suites. That is where our plans to end this war unfolded, across a table laden with beef stew, warm bread rolls, and tall glasses of dry red wine.

None of us were interested in more than the necessary bloodshed, and fortunately, Theodore had a plan that might just spare us from that.

“You need a way into the palace, and I can convince Iiro to invite you,” he said, grabbing another roll from the basket before dipping it into his stew.

It really was perfect. If he could persuade his brother to give us another chance to honor the treaty my father made, it would be a prime opportunity to pretend at making peace.

He went on to tell us about how Iiro was still utilizing Elk soldiers for his guard, slowly conscripting them into his personal army, and how many of them were unhappy with this. How it would be easy to get them to look the other way to make room for our soldiers.

The more we discussed a plan of action, the more I wanted to know what came next.

Theodore had said he wanted to send Iiro back to Elk, did that mean he would take his place as king?

Now that the Obsidian Palace was restored, now that his brother had proven the throne wasn’t cursed, did he expect to take up the mantle?

Part of me understood that he would be a better alternative to Iiro, but I wasn’t interested in ending one useless monarchy to establish another. Arès was unlikely to sign off on it either.