The Soulstoy Inheritance Read Online Free Page A

looked as fresh and alert as I wished I looked.
    “How are you feeling?” he asked as I moved to a chaise against the wall and sank onto it, not waiting for him to offer me a seat.
    “Terrible. I don’t think any of it has sunk in yet.”
    He frowned and moved to sit next to me, but seemed to change his mind, and stepped back to the bed, propping himself on the edge of it to face me. I wondered if Nareon’s words had changed his mind.
    “Hazen is the king now. He knows you haven’t done anything wrong, and I’m sure he is working to clear your name. You just need to wait until he sends word.”
    “But him and Rose… It was their father, and I’m just hiding out here like a coward while they do all the work, and face it all on their own.”
    “Going back there will only cause more harm to them than good right now. You saved Hazen’s life. You did all that you could. Now you have to do what you can from here.”
    “Do you think I should take the throne test?”
    “I think the idea has its merits.”
    “I’m sorry about what Nareon said.”
    He didn’t respond, and for a moment he didn’t even look at me. Then he let out a breath and stood, moving to sit beside me.
    “I can’t pretend to understand how you feel about Nareon. In your head, every line connecting to him is muddled, tangled. It’s something I just don’t understand. It seems a farcical thing to ask, but are you in love with him?”
    “ What ?” I laughed, the sound foreign and humourless. “No, I don’t love Nareon, at least not in that way. I feel connected to him, and I don’t think I could explain it anymore than you could. But no, I’m not in love with him.”
    “I thought as much.”
    “I’m sorry that you’re in this with me.”
    “I’m not. Your father and Fenrel both trusted me to look after you, and now both of them are gone. The way I see it, my orders remain until the new King declares otherwise.” His voice was flat, not smoothing over the harsh realities of the situation.
    I thought about that, and wondered why my gut twisted at his answer. When I had kissed him, he had kissed me back, but that didn’t mean I was anything more than his duty right now. I chased the thought away before he could see it, and leaned back on the chaise to look at him. His hair, a shade darker than burgundy, wasn’t quite tame, and there was something in his expression, a shadow in his eye that didn’t entirely allow him to be beautiful. He was raw, powerful, frightening—though the look he was giving me now had me convinced that the latter was a rare occurrence, though it was in fact the other way around.
    “It seems I lead people to trouble, no matter what I do,” I thought aloud, my eyes trailing across his features. “Hazen and Rose have lost their father, my own father was killed just to spite me, and you have tumbled from your solitary tower, straight into the synfee kingdom, which has lost it’s King—also because of me.”
    “There are forces at work that you can’t control, Bea.”
    I blinked; it was the first time he had called me that instead of Harrow .
    “I need to do something. I need to find who did this.”
    He nodded. “Whatever we can do from here, we will do. I promise.”
    Something occurred to me then, and I stood, looking over Harbringer’s clothes. He was dressed similarly to me, in plain, combative clothing, and the thought made me smile faintly.
    “I think there is something I can do today. How do you feel about a ride? It might take a while.”
    “Sounds better than sitting in here.”
    “I’ll wait for Gretal to wake up—I don’t want to leave without telling her—and then I’ll meet you by the stables.”
    He nodded and I moved for the door, feeling a little less defeated now that I had a clear purpose in my mind. I knocked again on Gretal’s door and this time she called for me to enter. She was dressed in the same clothes as the day before, staring at the new clothes that had been laid out