The Heir Boxed Set by Kyra Gregory

Author:Kyra Gregory [Gregory, Kyra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-01T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

SPRAWLING HIMSELF OUT ACROSS one of his father’s dusty couches, he cast his gaze towards the fire. His father sat on a stool beside it, staring into the flames as though they were somehow the most interesting thing in the world. Tired, a shell of the man he once knew him to be, Riffin didn’t have to dwell on how much time his father must’ve spent this way. Swimming in his own thoughts, his eyes glistening with memories of the past, he couldn’t begin to imagine what it must’ve been like in his own head, or what it was his heart endured at the time. He needn’t wonder how difficult so much as existing must’ve been for him without the woman he loved. Tearing himself away from the home they shared together was, perhaps, a start, but nothing could seize the memories from him. Just looking at him, hunched beside the fire, Riffin half expected his mother to join them soon. She would walk up beside him, place her hands on the hunch of his back before moving to wrap her arms around him. Those thoughts couldn’t be ignored—not with the persistence of memory.

“Whatever the Alliance Council’s next move,” his father said, cutting through his thoughts, “you cannot bow to them.”

“They make it increasingly difficult,” Riffin said. He rubbed at his eyes, hours worth of travelling and heightened emotions leaving him reeling with exhaustion.

“They would,” he said, “for that’s the only way they hold their advantage over you.”

Riffin’s eyes narrowed, staring at the stone ceiling, “The swiftness with which they asked for Neyva to be married... It’s unnerving,” he said.

“Though perfectly within reason,” he replied, sighing as he rose to his feet.

Riffin glanced over, brows twitching in confusion, “Why so?” he asked. Although Riffin had gone over absolutely every possibility, it wouldn’t have surprised him to know that his father realised something that he didn’t.

His father lowered himself in the seat across from him, distance once again placed between them. “Your mother put Neyva in the line of succession, should you have not survived, either in infancy or...”

Or in his venture to save Malia.

Riffin rolled onto his side, resting his head on the crook of his arm. “Who would know of this?” he asked.

He pursed his lips together, propping his head up in his hand, “Who would be explicitly told?” he asked, thinking aloud. “No one but your mother and I would’ve known—perhaps she would’ve confided the possibility to Gyles, but nobody else would’ve been told such a thing.” He cocked his head to one side, clearing his throat, “Now, who could’ve deduced the possibility? Absolutely anyone and everyone.”

“Even though she was illegitimate?” he asked.

His father shrugged, “Your mother didn’t care for legitimacy, certainly not personally, neither politically—unless it could be used to her advantage,” he said. “If her kingdoms needed an heir, she would’ve seen to it that one was made ready.”

“Do you think they’ll use Neyva to take the throne?” he asked, brows twitching together. The possibility

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