“What is it you’re keeping from me as you sit there so quietly?” My throat closed up, the mark burned into my palm, and I only had a single moment to reach deep. “I’m thinking you’re incredibly condescending—verging on patronizing. I’m wondering if it’s a trait you were born with or one you grew into as you ruled for so long.” Conreth stared at me, as if I were a new kind of bug he’d never seen before. My cheeks burned as if they’d been set alight. He threw his head back and laughed. I hadn’t expected it from the cold king, and I jolted. “I can see why Lorian is so amused with you,” he said.
