Filed To Story: Between Two Kings: A Split or Swallow Book PDF Free
The truth was she didn’t want to leave Caspen unaccompanied. Tem had no idea what he would do here in the castle, alone and angry, without her by his side.
Will you be here when I’m done?
I will.
Still, Tem hesitated. She was waiting for something-waiting for him to say-
Go.
At his command, dark disappointment twisted her stomach, and Tem realized she had hoped to hear another word-one that was the opposite of go. But the word didn’t come, so she went.
Tem half expected Evelyn to hook her elbow through hers as they crossed the hall. Instead, she proudly opened the door to Leo’s room, crossing to pour them drinks from the bar cart. Tem stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, trying not to look at anything. It was too intimate, too personal. And that was perhaps the point. Tem saw their bed, which was unmade. She wondered which side Leo slept on. Her question was answered when her gaze fell on the left bedside table. Tem’s heart performed a swoop when she saw the book there:
The Raven and the Swan.
“Please,” Evelyn crooned. “Sit.”
They sat in the armchairs before the fire, the same ones where Tem had sought refuge from Caspen before his quiver had given her their blessing. The same ones where she had come on Leo’s fingers.
So needy, he’d whispered.
What are we going to do with you?
Evelyn handed her a glass of champagne.
With a sigh, Tem downed it. There was no point in asking for anything else, and she was positive she wouldn’t survive this girl talk without alcohol.
“I’m so looking forward to the wedding,” Evelyn gushed. “Wait until you see the swans. They’re incredible.”
Tem resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Was this the reason Evelyn wanted to talk to Tem? To gloat? Evelyn had won the battle, and this was her victory lap. How Tem wished she could win the war. “Did you invite anyone from the village?”
“Oh, everyone is coming.”
“I didn’t mean this village.”
Evelyn stiffened. But Tem didn’t care. If Evelyn was going to insist on girl talk, then Tem was going to push her-to force her to acknowledge her time away. “Surely, you made friends while you were there.”
Evelyn shrugged. “Not really.”
“No? Shame. It must have been lonely.”
“I had a good reason to stay.”
The words seemed to just slip out. Tem leaned forward. “What reason?”
Evelyn seemed to be considering something. Finally, she said, “You were a chicken farmer before all of this.”
It wasn’t a question. Tem decided to answer it anyway. “Yes. I was.”
“Then you can understand how difficult life can be. You can understand that, when presented with a better option, it’s best to take it.”
Tem frowned. What better option? Evelyn hadn’t made any friends while she was away-she claimed she had taken no lovers. So why had she stayed?
A memory crept in:
She did not leave because of some ridiculous letter. She left because I offered her a higher price than what she could steal from me one fork at a time.
Tem had nothing to lose. It was the eve of Leo’s wedding, and she was at the end of her rope with Evelyn. If she didn’t get the truth now, she never would.
“How much?” Tem asked before she could stop herself.
Evelyn raised her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
“How much did Maximus pay you?”
The rest of her question hung unspoken in the air between them: to leave Leo?
Evelyn was watching her thoughtfully. She did not look like an animal cornered in a cage. She was perfectly calm as she said, “Plenty.”
There it was. The truth.
All the suspicion Tem had harbored for so long was finally laid bare. Lilly had tried to tell her. Maximus had tried to tell her. But it took hearing it from Evelyn’s mouth for her to actually believe it was true. Evelyn had known exactly what she was doing when she left Leo. She’d jumped ship-moved on when she’d realized that Maximus would never accept her and his payout would be more than she’d get if she stayed. She’d only returned when he was no longer king and she could infiltrate the castle the way she’d always wanted.
It was then that Tem understood she had underestimated Evelyn. Now she could see her for what she really was-the worst kind of predator, the kind that looked like prey. Evelyn possessed power indeed. It might not be the kind of power Tem was used to-brash and loud and destructive-but it was power nonetheless. Her sly, wide-eyed innocence was nothing more than an act. She was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A lie.
“You’re despicable.”
Evelyn pressed her lips into a thin line. “Wouldn’t you have done the same?”
Tem recoiled. She thought of how Maximus had tried to scare her off-how he told her to remember her place. There was no price high enough that would have tempted her to leave. He could have offered her anything, and she would have refused. Revulsion swept through Tem. Evelyn was someone who could be bought. It was a disgusting quality, and one that Tem found shameful. Basilisks gave and received in equal measure, and accolades were earned through actions. The only thing basilisks cared about was power-the only thing that swayed them was influence. Money meant nothing to them; they could create gold from their blood. There was no value to something with an unlimited supply.
“No,” she said firmly. “I wouldn’t have.”
Evelyn shrugged easily, as if she didn’t believe her. “Anyone in our position would’ve.”
“Our position?”
“We come from nothing, Tem. We have to take the opportunities that are presented to us. We owe it to ourselves to be smart.”
But that wasn’t true. Tem knew what it meant to have nothing-to wish for a wealthy benefactor to come in and fix everything she’d thought was wrong with her life. She knew how it felt to want. And yet, when faced with such a benefactor, Tem wouldn’t have given in. Evelyn had taken the easy way out-the coward’s way. And Tem, like Leo, hated cowards.
Leo would not forgive such a sin. He valued authenticity and integrity. Evelyn had neither. She was a facade-a pretty painting with an ugly canvas underneath. To be one village over and never reach out, to never give Leo closure-Tem couldn’t think of a more horrible thing to do to him.
Or perhaps she could.
Nothing was more horrible than what Tem herself had done to him. Tem had caused this. She may not have paid Evelyn to leave but she was at least partially responsible for her return. Guilt and horror threatened to swallow her. The only thing left to do was to try to make things right.
“You have to tell him.”
Evelyn had the nerve to let out a sharp laugh. “Absolutely not.”
“You can’t lie to him.”
“It’s too late.”
Tem shook her head emphatically. “He deserves to know who you really are.”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed. She leaned in even closer. “Why do you care, Tem? You left too.”
Something about Evelyn’s challenging tone reminded her of Vera. But unlike Vera, who wielded her cruel words like a sword, Evelyn used hers as a shield, to hide who she really was.