Will’s announcement still shivered in the air as the three of them—king’s brother, sorceress, and child—left the castle. The sun stayed hidden, so they went in search of the dragon alone; Lily snuck glances at Will, and worried.
William would be a good king. She knew he would: he’d be better than anyone suspected, she thought, with that unexpected kindness beneath cynicism and scandal, with the resolve and commitment that’d lead him to search for a sorceress in a storm and ask for aid.
But Henry wasn’t a bad king, either; the realm prospered. And any civil war or rebellion or even quiet replacement of one monarch with another would cause upheaval.
She knew Will had said no. She hadn’t had to ask; he’d told her as much, tone wry and frustrated and spiky as castle defenses. He wanted to b
