Read Online The Tears of the Rose by Jeffe Kennedy - Free Book Online

tail between your legs, do you?” If that insult struck home, Ursula didn’t show any sign. She stood at attention, her spine rigid. Because it was court, she wore a gown, dark and severe in cut, but well made. Had she dragged it with her on the long campaign? Someone had trimmed her shaggy hair, too, and attempted to make it look put up like a proper court lady’s instead of just short. She wore the simple gold band across her forehead that proclaimed her heir to the High King’s throne. Despite myself, a thrill of pride ran through me. Ursula was nothing if not admirable.
    â€œYes, my King.” Ursula curtsied deeply, keeping her head bowed. “I bring grave news indeed.”
    He flicked an irritated hand at her. “We have already heard your news. Every damn person in the Twelve Kingdoms and beyond the Wild Lands has heard the news. You can explain your many failures to me in private.”
    A susurrus of speculation ran through the assembled court. I’d never seen Uorsin so mightily, so fulminously and broodingly enraged. Not even when we first received the message from the Tala. It did not bode well for Ursula. Then he surprised me again by stepping down from the throne and calling my name. He opened his arms, as he had when I was a little girl.
    I couldn’t possibly embarrass him by not responding, no matter how odd his actions for formal court, so I did what he expected of me—and ran to him, leaving Erich to lean on his valet and brushing past Ursula, who’d stepped aside to clear my way. Uorsin embraced me in his bear hug, nearly crushing me. He rubbed his bristled chin on the top of my head and held me tight.
    â€œMy flower, my precious rose. Always you have been the best of us. The sweetest, most innocent, and most beautiful of my daughters. It is a tragedy beyond speaking that you should be the one to suffer for your sisters’ many sins. First, one betrays me; then the other fails me. You alone have been all that a dutiful daughter should be.”
    He finally released me and I drew a long breath, feeling more than a little dizzy. Uorsin smelled as if he hadn’t been bathing enough—and like the greasy meats he ate for breakfast. I concentrated on breathing through my mouth as Marin had taught me, to master the sickness. It would not do to hurl on the High King’s shiny boots.
    â€œYou will stay in Ordnung with me,” he declared. “I have need of a proper hostess, as my heir seems to be useful neither as a woman nor as a man.”
    I winced for Ursula, though she did not reveal a flicker of expression on her face. Meanwhile the Avonlidgh contingent behind us began muttering unhappily. Old Erich came forward and bowed to the High King, then put a hand on my shoulder to steady himself.
    â€œKing Erich.” Uorsin acknowledged his obeisance and assumed a concerned expression. The smoldering scent of lies tinged the air. “My deepest sympathies on the loss of your son—my heart-son—and Avonlidgh’s heir. It must be a grave blow in your old age.”
    If the insensitivity of the remark bothered Erich, he didn’t show it. For all that he was terribly old and frail, he was a shrewd man. Hugh had often spoken of how much he admired his father’s wisdom and strategy. I’d never given it much thought, but I marked it now, how he gathered a regal air around him—and showed with his arm around me that he, too, called me daughter.
    â€œMy gratitude, High King. Your grace and bearing in this time of Avonlidgh’s trial simply demonstrates yet again the wisdom of your leadership over us all. Truly, the Twelve flourish under your evenhanded and just rule. I feel confident we can trust in you to right the many wrongs we’ve suffered and restore peace, bounty, and lawfulness to our lands.”
    Uorsin frowned, that beefy anger seething below the surface of his skin. He didn’t appreciate being taken by