King Liam—POV
The threat hanging over my people—people who had already suffered enough under my father's rule—weighed heavily on me. Every soul in Eastbrone had known torment, thanks to my stepmother, who shamelessly exploited the poor to line her own pockets. I had once wished I'd killed her. But her influence among the nobles was too valuable to cast aside. I needed her—at least for the time being—to hold on to the alliance with the Southern lands while I continued fighting my father.
And yet, my father proved harder to kill than expected. What kind of sorcery had brought him back to life? I hated him—the man who drove my mother to her death with his obsession and madness. She ran from him out of fear, and in a fit of rage, he took her life. That bastard. He always found something—or someone—to obsess over. One woman after another. All of them died... except Lady Marget. She endured his madness, stayed alive long enough for us to join forces and finally bring him down for good.
