130 Truth - Part 3

ETAN

Etan was about to move for his sword, the fury on her face was so dark. But then the Queen blinked and sat back, measuring him with her eyes.

"Those were the thoughts I had then. But because you were both gone, there was time to consider the entire picture," she said carefully. "Time to think about both my daughter's well-being, and the potential implications for our people. I was not going to let you—or her father—ruin everything we had built, and trained Ayleth for. I have tried to teach Ayleth and prepare her to rule, to mother, and to wife since her birth. Her father may see her marriage as a political pawn, but I sought to find her more than that. To make her more than a jewel in some other Kingdom's crown. I sought to make her a strong, capable human being, female or not."