“I know you did. And I also I know you went to see Elena just before her death,” he said, his voice quieter now. “You were troubled by thoughts that I’d return to her, despite her never replying to any of my letters. But you intercepted those letters, didn’t you? She never received a single one of them.”
Cleo couldn’t move, could barely breathe. She knew what she witnessed was not meant for her ears. Still, she couldn’t turn away.
Selia looked down her nose at Gaius as if he were a ten-year-old boy trying to argue logic with a scholar. “I have always tried to protect you from making poor decisions that would threaten your power. And yes, I knew you planned to go to her, as much of a fool at twenty-five as you were at seventeen.”
He nodded slowly. “Was it grape juice you offered her too? I remember she liked cider the best. Spiced apple cider, served warm.”
Selia didn’t reply to this.
“You didn’t have to poison her. I didn’t plan to go to her, not then. My heart had already become far too black and cold to think she’d ever take me back, especially with her perfect life and perfect family. But it wasn’t any vengeful witch’s curse that killed her that day. It was you.”
Cleo found she’d begun to tremble violently, everything she heard hitting her like physical blows. “You poisoned my mother,” she whispered. “You murdered her.”
“The poison should have ended both her life and the life of the child she carried.” Selia shook her head. “But she was too far along in her pregnancy. Her death did seem natural to many, given how difficult her pregnancy with Emilia had been. I know Corvin believed it to be a curse, his fault for slaking his lust with a witch. And yes, it was apple cider. How strange . . . I hadn’t remembered that until now. However, I assure you that she didn’t suffer. She simply . . . slipped away. Peaceful.”
“Lies,” Gaius said through clenched teeth. “I’ve heard accounts of how greatly she suffered until death finally claimed her.”
“Rumors only.”
The cold hatred in his dark eyes chilled the room. “I want you to leave. And I never want to see you again.”
Selia shook her head. “You must be able to see that I did what I thought was best. For you, Gaius. Because I love you, and I always have. You are my perfect boy, born to greatness. Together we will rule the world, just as I always told you we would.”
“Leave,” he said again, “or I will kill you.”
“My darling, no. I can’t leave you. Not now. Not like—”
“Leave!” he bellowed and slammed his fist down upon the breakfast table so hard that Cleo was certain it would shatter.
Selia raised her chin. “You will forgive me when you see there’s no other way for this to end.”
The king shook from head to toe as his mother left the room.
Cleo was dumbfounded, utterly unable to think clearly after such an argument.
“My mother was poisoned . . .” she began. “Because your mother thought you wanted to renew your relationship with her.”
“Yes.”
“And that would . . . destroy her control over you.”
“Yes.” It was not much more than a hiss this time.
“Selia told me that you beat my mother almost to death, that she hated you.”
His eyes widened. “My mother is a liar. Elena was my world, my weakness, my suffering, my one and only love. I didn’t lay a hand on her in anger and I never would have.” Gaius cast a dark look at her. “I want you to leave here as well.”
“What?”
“My mother was right about one thing: You are a danger to my son, just as Elena was a danger to me. I won’t have it. I will protect him from harm whether he wants my protection or not.”
“But I . . . I thought . . .”
“What? That I’d begun to redeem myself in some small way by stopping you from drinking that poison? That wasn’t about you, princess. That was about me and my mother. Magnus would be better off if you were dead and no longer a problem for either of us.”
The ache in her heart she’d shockingly begun to feel for this man and his horrific past quickly turned to stone. “I think Magnus should have a say in this decision.”
“He is young and stupid when it comes to such things, just as I was. I don’t forgive my mother for what she did, but I do understand why she did it. I will do you the favor of not ending your life here today, but only if you leave this very moment. Go back to your precious Auranos. Better yet, leave Mytica entirely. Elena’s family hailed from western Vaneas. Perhaps you could build a new life there.”
“I want to speak to Magnus,” Cleo insisted. “I need to—”
“You need to leave before what little patience I have left disappears. And know, princess, I do this not for you but in the memory of your mother, who should have lived instead of her worthless child, who’s brought nothing but misery to my world. Now go, and don’t return.”
Cleo finally turned away from him, blinking back tears.
The first person she came across was Enzo, standing just outside the room.
“You heard?” she asked.
“Not all of it,” he admitted.
She hesitated. “I know you’re Limerian, and despite any promises you’ve made, you’re loyal to the king, not to me. But I must ask you anyway . . . will you come with me? I’m not fool enough to think I can go out there in this world, as it is right now, unprotected.”