章 312: The Grave You Dug – Part 2

~ DAVID ~

Shit.

Shit.

What the fuck had Erik been thinking? And why hadn't he told me?

"Lizbeth," I said breathlessly. "I know I've been a bit erratic lately. I'm sorry if I gave an impression… I never meant—"

"Bold was the word you used, I believe," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "That you needed a Queen who could be bold. As I thought of it, it made me understand better why you'd Chosen Zara. I was confused before at what made her so… compelling for you. But now I think I know. Because she was that, wasn't she?"

I couldn't make a sound. Couldn't move. Other than Stark, no one had spoken her name to me in the weeks since she'd died.

Hearing those two syllables spoken so baldly hit me like an arrow, burying itself between my ribs and stopping my breath.