The King's Sons (The Herezoth Trilogy) by Victoria Grefer Read Free Book Online Page B

at some point, though.”
    Valkin’s
face grew hot. He felt tempted to throw a punch, and probably would have, if
anyone but Neslan had spoken those words. “I’m not avoiding Father. He wouldn’t
blame me, you know. It’s not as though he enjoys ruling.”
    Neslan
agreed, “He wouldn’t storm at you, you’re right. He’d explain why he persists
in ruling while he, in fact, does not enjoy it, until he makes you see why you
must do the same. That’s what you’re avoiding: him convincing you to accept the
crown. It’s delusional, and unhealthy, when the fact of the matter….”
    “The fact of
the matter?” retorted Valkin. “The fact is I could abdicate, and what then? You
want to be king?” Neslan’s face paled, and Valkin smirked. “Stop pretending my accepting the crown isn’t in your
interest. Listen, I’ll speak with Father when I speak with him. The
conversation will help me rule—because yes, I’m going to rule. I wouldn’t
throw that kind of responsibility on your shoulders.”
    Neslan’s
color did not return. He said, “I wasn’t meaning to…. I’m not being selfish
here. I don’t imagine for one second you would abdicate. You’re too stubborn
and you’ve too much pride. Valkin, you won’t be alone when your time comes to
take over. We’ll be at your side, and that’s something Father never had. Who
was with him, starting out?”
    Hune finally
spoke, saying, “Hardly anyone. He spent years fighting for his life against
Vane’s uncle, and then, when he turned things around…. He had courage to spare,
he must have had. And a broken heart, having lost so many people: his whole
family, Vane’s parents. He didn’t even have Mother at the beginning.”
    Neslan said,
“He had the army’s support. And he ruled successfully from day one, though God
knows how. Valkin, you’ll do just as well in your day.”
    Would he?
Valkin couldn’t be sure which he dreaded more, the prospect of never coming
into his own as the crown prince and future king—of never finding peace
with the role he was literally born to play—or that of buckling beneath
the pressure of his brothers, his father, of everyone around him who was
pushing him step by step, day after day, to accept his birthright. He longed to
forge a different life for himself. Even lacking a clear idea of what that life
could be, he felt that his desire to leave the Palace was somehow the most
genuine part of him.
    “Hang it
all, I’ll be ruling after Father. After Father, Neslan. I’ll never match the
standard he’s set with the people. He’s accomplished so damn much, and entirely
by himself, that if anything I’ll be expected to exceed him. How could I
possibly?”
    Neslan
insisted, “You won’t have to. You’ll have your own crises to confront. You
won’t relive Father’s. Such things don’t beg comparisons.”
    Hune,
looking hesitant, told the crown prince, “It explains a lot to hear these
things weigh on you. You’ve changed since you started shadowing Father, you
know. These last two years…. You’ve grown more sullen. A bit more brooding.
You’ve been trying for so long not to alert Father to your worries that the
strain is eating your patience away. You’ll talk to him?”
    “I said I
would, didn’t I?” barked Valkin. With that, he stormed from the library to his
chambers before his brothers could say more. He was not in the mood to bother
with them. He needed to decide how to broach the topic of his ruling with the
king.

 

 
    CHAPTER
THREE
    Partsvale

 
    August,
Vane’s wife, was shorter than she would have preferred. Though she was almost
thirty, her blonde hair curled as tightly as it had at eighteen, when Vane had
convinced her to elope, and she twisted her index finger in her tresses while
her husband spoke of Gratton’s race to Podrar.
    Vane told
August and Kansten together of Gratton’s tidings, hoping the girl’s presence
would strengthen his wife. He took them to Oakdowns’s parlor,