A Dirge for Princes. Морган Райс

all he did was lead half the royal army to hunt you. Even if he didn’t stab you, he did nothing to try to save you.”

      “You can’t blame him for not having the magic to heal me,” Sophia said. She reached up for Kate, pulling her close. “I don’t want to fight, Kate. You saved my life, and we’re traveling together now to find our family. I love Sebastian. Can’t you just accept that?”

      Kate wished she could, but as far as she could see, loving Sebastian had brought her sister nothing but pain. She took the ring from the chain around her neck, pressing it into Sophia’s hand with bad grace.

      “You should have this,” she said. “If it were me, I’d take it and throw it into the ocean, or sell it for extra coin, but you’ll probably take it as a promise.”

      Kate saw Sophia nod, and knew that her sister was thinking in those terms. She really thought that the prince whose hands had been covered in her blood would come to her and be the perfect husband. Kate saw her slip it onto her little finger, holding it there almost reverently.

      “Why do you want him so much?” Kate demanded. “Why is it so important that things work out with him? You have a whole life ahead of you. You’ve just told me that we have a chance to find our family. You’ve told me that… goddess, I’m a princess, aren’t I?”

      “You’re a princess,” Sophia said with a faint smile, “and you will have to wear pretty ball gowns from now on.”

      “Not in a million years,” Kate said. “And you’re avoiding the point. You’re not some Indentured girl anymore. You could have any man you wanted. So why him? And don’t just tell me that you love him.”

      “Is love so stupid?” Sophia asked.

      Kate found herself thinking about Will, but didn’t say anything. If this was the way love made people think, then it was stupid.

      “Kate, I need him,” Sophia said.

      “Why?”

      “Because I’m pregnant with his child,” Sophia said.

      Kate stared at her. “You’re pregnant?”

      She hugged her sister again then.

      “Of course, you realize what this means?” Sophia asked. “You’re not just going to be a princess, Kate. You’re going to be an aunt.”

      Kate hadn’t thought of it like that, and just the thought of it was mildly terrifying. There were other, bigger, fears though. The two of them were heading off to a place Kate had never been to find a man they didn’t know, all while her home was in the middle of an invasion.

      She didn’t know what their trip to Ishjemme would involve, but she suspected that it wouldn’t be easy.

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      Sebastian shambled into the palace like a dead thing when he arrived, and not just because Rupert had made them ride hard on the way back south, apparently enjoying his discomfort.

      The fact was that the world seemed too empty for anything else now that Sophia was gone.

      “You should go get cleaned up,” Rupert said with obvious amusement. “I’m sure Mother will want to speak to you as soon as she hears you’re back.”

      He was clearly looking forward to the thought of what their mother would have to say, but he was still quick to leave Sebastian to it. Maybe he was that eager to get back to his carousing and his cronies. Maybe he was just certain that Sebastian didn’t have any reason to go anywhere else now.