Reid rolled her eyes. Because that would have been too simple. “On my mother’s deathbed, he swore to her that he wouldn’t remarry.” Reid tossed the pebble into the flames. It hit a log, sending a few sparks into the air.

“How did he foresee that working out?”

“Apparently, my father assumed one of my sisters would marry and have a son. Once that happened, he would change his heir from me to his grandson. Except, somehow, my sisters only gave birth to girls.” Reid wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling her knees to her chest.

“What changed?” Gytha’s brows crinkled as she observed Reid, as if seeing her for the first time. “How did you go from being raised as a boy to being here, dressed as a woman, about to marry Prince Dexter?”

It was a good question. Reid had pondered that very thing since the king announced her engagement. “My life took a drastic turn on my eighteenth birthday.” She explained how Prince Gordon and Prince Ackley had shown up at her house to recruit her father’s soldiers only to discover Reid wasn’t a man at all, then about the bargain she’d struck with Ackley.

“I take it things did not go as planned.”

“No, they did not. After I was taken to the City of Buckley and introduced to the court as Lady Reid, the king sent me on an errand. He told me that if I snuck into Axian and stole a box for him, he would not only pardon my father from treason, but he would also grant a proclamation which allowed him to choose either a male or female heir to inherit his title and land.”

“Did you do this errand?”

“I did.”

“Then why are you here?”

Again, another good question. Reid squeezed her knees tighter. “Because the king did not find what he’d expected in the box. The next thing I know, King Eldon said he and my father had come to an arrangement. He pardoned my father, allowing him to pass his land and title to anyone in his family, regardless of gender. In return, my father signed a contract agreeing to a marriage between Prince Dexter and me.”

The fire crackled as they each sat there, lost in her own thoughts.

After a moment of silence, Gytha asked, “The king sent you back here to find the missing item, didn’t he?”

“He did.”

“Do you plan to steal it from the royal family?”

“No, I do not.” Because Reid had already stolen the letters once. They’d just somehow managed to disappear in the process. Although, she was fairly certain Ackley had them. As to what he planned to do with them, she couldn’t say.

“If you harm the Axian royal family in any way, I’ll kill you.”

Reid chuckled.

“Why are you laughing at me? Do you think I’m lying?”