The King sat in an empty solar.

He asked to be alone. He needed to be.

Isla was leaving...

He forced himself to stand, shuffling to the nearest window with his loose black robes slithering on the floor. The King squinted at the rays of the sunlight bleeding through the opening. He raised a feeble hand, giving himself a clear view of the bailey.

He smiled at the horses drawing Lady Sumner's carriage. The Akhal Teke was a rare breed known for the lustrous sheen of their coats. If he were a hale and hearty man, he would have asked to ride one. If he were a brave man, he would be down there waving farewell to his daughter. His smile dipped into a frown when he saw her, creasing the well-worn grooves of his face.

Isla...

It was painful enough leaving her locked away in a townhouse for most of her life, but this? Dahlgesh?!

What is a King but a collector of poor decisions? Each one worse than the last yet better than the alternative.

He pressed his palm against the glass pane of the window, reaching out as if to hold her.

Isla... My Isla... So much like her mother...

"Careful..."

The King stiffened.

He was supposed to be alone...

He turned to a woman dressed in red, reclining in his chair.

She sat sideways, one leg dangling over the armrest, her elbow propped up on the other to hold her hooded head.

"Falling out of a window is no way for a King to die," she said, flourishing the crooked knife in her left hand.

The King sighed, the tension leaving his body.

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"Sin, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

She swung her leg off the armrest, springing to her feet with an easy grace.

"It's been a busy couple of days. I wanted to check in... Are they leaving?"

"Yes, Isla and your Jacob."

The King turned to the carriage below. In a heartbeat, Sin was next to him, leaning with her back against the wall on the other side of the window. Even in the privacy of his solar, she was wary of being seen.

"Good. And he got rid of that jacket… The boy can follow instructions."

The King frowned.

"Can we you trust him? He already betrayed us once."

Sin crossed her arms.

"He betrayed us twice. And yes, you can trust him... He loves her. The fool."

The King let out an exasperated sigh. The last thing he needed was a half-elf marrying into his family.

"You should know, he told Isla about you."

"Oh?!"

"He told her that you wanted to destroy Luskaine."

Sin giggled. It was a low and terrible thing.

"Well, he's not wrong. Rooting out the Sanctifiers could easily destroy the country."

"You don't have to sound so pleased about it."

"How can I not be?! Suffering is like food to me, and I've spent so many years starving."

The King raised an eyebrow.

"So you say... Well done by the way. Eliminating Alden proved to be one of my better moves. It distracted from my scandal and showed the Sanctifiers what happens when you attack my family."

Sin shrugged.

"I don't need a reason to kill a Sanctifier, and Alden has been a thorn in both our sides for years."

She pushed herself off the wall.

"If there's nothing else, I should go before the Castle gets more crowded. I'll have someone else pick up the list of weapons you need from us."

The King nodded.

"Send them to Caf. It's a large order, Sin. Can you deliver?"

She cocked her head to the side.

"In all our years working together, have I ever failed you?"

"No... No, you haven't."

She bowed with a flourish, spinning on her heels and disappearing into an adjacent room. It was one of many rooms connected to Castle's network of secret passages.

When he was sure she was gone, the King slouched.

Sin was exhausting to deal with. A constant reminder of another poor-

The King blinked, turning back to the window. The horses, the carriage, and Isla were gone.

He missed it!

His one chance to see her off...

A spasm of pain made the King clutch his chest. He shuffled back to his chair on weak knees, collapsing onto the hard surface.

Isla...

He tilted his head back to breathe in deep mouthfuls of air.

Isla!

He let out a deep shuddering breath.

The pain subsided.

The King ran a hand through his damp hair, leaning forward into a familiar hunched position to hide the tears rolling down his face.

Between sobs, he whispered the words he rehearsed but could never bring himself to say.

"Isla... I need to tell you why I killed your mother."

End of Volume One.

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