Read Online The Swarm Trilogy by Megg Jensen - Free Book Online Page B

with her mean words and nasty glances. She’d become even more intolerable since my birthday, asking where I was at night and why I never came home anymore. I wanted to rub her nose in the fact I was sleeping with Kellan every night, but I didn’t.
    True to her word, Mags didn’t ask about Kellan and me. While I still considered her my closest friend, our relationship was strained. I couldn’t confide in her. I didn’t know how much to trust her. The king’s wife, best friend of the enemy. Where did her loyalties ultimately lie and could I ask her to choose?
    I stacked Trevin’s clothes in the wardrobe, delighting in the fresh clean smell. He was a fussy baby and spit up a lot. He only smelled good after a bath and his clothes suffered the same fate. Sour smelling stains dotted them even though Mags tried cleaning him every time he erupted. It was never enough, though. Trevin was cute and stinky.
    The king burst in the door.
    I fell to my knees, forehead to the floor. Albree did the same across the room. Adopted or born here, all bowed to the king. Except Mags. She never bowed to him while in bed.
    I heard Mags back up against the headboard. The sheets rustled as I imagined her scooting backward, the wood bumping against the wall from the pressure of her pushing up against it.
    “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” Rotlar roared, his resounding bass causing the glasses on the bedside table to rattle. Trevin’s screams flooded the room. He wasn’t used to loud noises and he didn’t like them. His older brothers never seemed bothered by anything, but Trevin was sensitive.
    “Find out what?” Mags asked. She didn’t sound afraid, but by the tone of the king’s voice I wondered if she should be.
    “Trevin isn’t mine.”
    I gasped. It couldn’t be true. Mags hated him, but she’d been faithful. How could she have had time to be otherwise? She’d either been pregnant or caring for her kids. It was impossible.
    “I will not give an ear to rumors like that,” Mags said. Most people cowered before the king, like me, but not Mags.
    “I don’t care what you do or do not listen to, woman. I have irrefutable proof.”
    I saw his boots stride toward the door. My breath released as I realized he was leaving. But he paused at the door, standing with it opened.
    “You and the boy will be executed in one week’s time.”
    He walked out and slammed the door behind him.
    Mags dismissed me without a word. She waved her arm in the air and refused to meet my eyes or answer my questions. I ran to Kellan as fast as my feet could carry me. I couldn’t be there for Mags now, especially if all she wanted was to be alone, but I knew in my heart that if the king was dead first, Mags would be safe.
    My anger flared with each pounding step. Mags was the most trustworthy person I’d ever known. Trevin was obviously the king’s son. He looked exactly like his brothers at this age and his oldest brother looked more like his father every day.
    I couldn’t figure out who would do this to her and what kind of proof could they have. And poor Trevin. Only a monster would kill a baby. I couldn’t do it, no matter how much anger I had after my Awakening. None of this was Trevin’s fault, or Mags’ for that matter.
    I burst in Kellan’s house, my stomach churning with anger. I didn’t care if Aric was home or not. I ran into Kellan’s room and lay down on his bed. I smelled him in the blankets, burying my face in the rough fabric. My anger calmed slightly as I relaxed into his bed.
    A few minutes later Kellan ran into his room. When he saw me on his bed, he ran over and took me in his arms.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Someone said they saw you running this way. I made an excuse to Aric and left bow practice. But I can’t be away long. I have to clean up afterwards.”
    “The king thinks Mags cheated on him. He thinks Trevin isn’t his son.” I took in a deep breath to steady myself. The anger mixed with the fear,