My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 112

Lyra

"You are a monster," I said.

"I am a King," my father stated. He leaned back in his chair. "And look where she is now. She is sitting at the right hand of the Butcher. She wears the colors of the most feared pack on the continent. I did not ruin her, Lyra. I forced her into greatness."

He actually believed it. He justified the systemic, chemical abuse of his own daughter as a masterstroke of strategy.

"She will find out," I threatened him. My voice shook with a toxic mix of adrenaline and raw hatred. "I will tell her. I will send a courier to Ironmaw. I will write down exactly what you did—"

My father let out a soft, dry sigh. He looked past me. He fixed his eyes directly on Nadia again.

"No, you won't," my father said.

Nadia flinched. She grabbed the back of my shirt, trying to hide.

"You are a very emotional girl, Lyra," my father said, his tone turning cold and entirely practical. "You let your passions dictate your logic. You break into my study. You drink my private reserve. You soil my desk with a scribe's daughter. But you are not entirely stupid."

He pointed a single, heavy finger at Nadia.

"Nadia," my father said.

Nadia let out a tiny gasp.

"Your father walks to the lower archives every morning at six to begin his cataloging, correct?" my father asked.

Nadia nodded her head in a quick, frantic motion.

"It is a long walk from your quarters," my father noted casually. "Lots of blind corners. If a raven leaves this tower for the North... he won't make it to work. And your mother won't make it to the market."

The heavy doors clicked shut behind us.

We stood in the middle of the empty hallway. Nadia collapsed. She slid down the stone wall to the floor, pulling her knees tight to her chest, and buried her face in her hands. She shook violently, letting out quiet, broken, ugly sobs.

I stood in the center of the corridor. I looked at the heavy oak doors of the study.

My father had won. He had completely isolated Sera in the North, and he had trapped me in the South. He held all the chains.

I looked down at Nadia crying on the floor. I crouched down and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. She buried her wet face into my neck, her tears hot against my skin. I held her tight, staring blankly at the stone wall opposite us.

I couldn't write to Sera. I couldn't tell her the truth. But I swore to the Goddess right then, if my father ever slipped, if he ever gave me a single opening, I would burn his entire kingdom down to the foundation.

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