Full of Briars Read Online Free

Blind Michael’s lands
and
gotten him shot. Like, with a bullet that came out of a gun and put a hole in his shoulder and everything. He’s not in more danger now than he was when I agreed to take him on, and Duke Sylvester Torquill told me, in so many words, that his parents approved of me standing as his knight. So either my liege lied to me or you’re ignoring the part where he’s
always
been in danger because he’s in my company. I’ve never pretended otherwise.”
    â€œShe hasn’t gotten me killed yet either,” I piped up, earning myself a glare from Dad and a concerned look from Mom. It was like they’d just realized I wasn’t kidding when I wrote home about the dangerous stuff Toby and I did together—and that Toby had been serious when she’d said basically the same thing.
    I decided it was better to be hanged for something I’d actually done than something they were assuming, and pressed on. “When I came to the Mists, I thought I was better than everybody. Changelings weren’t as good as purebloods, Cait Sidhe were beasts pretending at having a monarchy, and I was going to be the best king ever, because I knew what the hierarchy was. And now I know it’s not what you are, it’s what you do. Changelings are just as good as anybody. Cait Sidhe are loyal and smart and will die for the people they care about. Raj and I met in Blind Michael’s lands, and he’s my brother now. What we saw there, what we went through together? He’s my
brother
. Even if you take me home right now, you can’t change that. I would have been a terrible High King. I thought most of the people who are going to be my subjects were less than I was. That’s not how you lead. That’s how you start a revolution.”
    Dad started to speak, and stopped as Mom reached over and placed a hand on his arm.
    â€œHe’s right,” she said gently. “You know he’s right, so don’t embarrass us both by arguing with him. When we agreed to send them into blind fosterage, it was to protect them, but it was also to show them a world outside the castle. We wanted them to mature enough to be good leaders someday. He’s doing exactly what we sent him here to do.”
    â€œHe’s revealing himself,” Dad said.
    â€œI’m not twelve anymore,” I said. They both looked toward me again. “I know five years doesn’t seem like much when you’ve been alive for centuries—”
    â€œTell me about it,” muttered May.
    â€œâ€”but for me, five years is more than a quarter of my life. I’ve been here for a quarter of my life. I’ve learned a lot. I’m still a kid, but I’m not a little boy. When I told them who I was, I knew it was going to change things.” Those words couldn’t encompass how much I hated the way Toby sometimes looked at me now, like she was afraid of saying something that could be construed as treason. How much I hated knowing that Arden would never see me as anything
but
the Crown Prince. Sometimes, things have costs. “No one forced me. No one knew what I was going to say. I made my own choices.”
    Raj had known, of course; Raj had known who I really was for years. A cat may look at a king, and it turns out a prince will recognize his own kind, no matter how hard that second prince is trying to hide.
    I took a steadying breath. “I’d be in danger at home, too. Maybe more, because I’m not old enough to be an adult. I still need training. Duke Torquill says my blood magic and illusions are improving, but they’re not good enough to keep me alive. Sir Etienne has been helping with my fencing lessons. I’m not good enough there, either. I’m doing really well for a seventeen-year-old boy, but for a prince on home ground with all the rest of the nobility in the Westlands gunning for me? I’m not ready.”
    â€œAnd there’s one