Knox’s POV
We had a long discussion about my trip, the state of Erupting Eclipse, and a lovely apple crop in Winter Harvest before King Olwen meandered the conversation to the reason I was there. I did my best to hide my contempt as Olwen talked to me about Aira as though she were a good, honest person.
“Aira will be so happy to see you,” he said. “She’s been pining for you all this time.”
Maybe pining for the title of future queen, but not for me. But I smiled and nodded. “How nice.”
“Did you receive the letter she wrote?” he asked.
I resisted the urge to crumple it in my pocket. “I did. It arrived just as I was leaving for Winter Harvest.”
“Ah, so you’d already realized your mistake.” He nodded and patted my knee. “We all make mistakes, son.”
Calling me ‘son’ made me want to retch
