Chapter 120 - 121
Hearing her tone take on a note of concern, Alistar placed the clothes that he had collected into the wash basket near her four-poster bed and then returned to the table. He detailed what had transpired in Caedmon’s study with careful words, avoiding specifics when it came to the truth of his lineage. Even after all this time, he still hadn’t explicitly told any of his friends that his mother was the fourth child of King Glenden, since he had promised his uncle that he would keep his parentage a secret.
Lessa spoke after directing a tepid glance at the door, her voice barely above a whisper. "So, you can’t tell them who your parents are, and because of that they both might think that you’re their son? What a difficult situation."
"When I first moved here, Uncle Caedmon told me that if our relatives ever found out about me then they would try to use me for their own benefit. I think he was right."
Anice leaned back in her chair, balancing herself on its hind legs like an absentminded student. "You think our uncles are trying to use you? What could you possibly do for them?"
"Nothing, at least not yet. But the fact that they also want to keep me a secret from our grandfather sends a pretty clear message."
"I don’t get it."
"That’s...it’s probably better that you don’t."
Alistar might have been young, but he was no fool. Once he reached adulthood, so long as his grandfather remained ignorant of his existence and thus never forced him to undergo the curse of compulsion, then he would be the only Silverkin in the kingdom that could openly challenge the man for his throne. If it were anyone else in their house, then the king could simply order them to commit suicide and be done with it, but such a thing wouldn’t work against Alistar. How his uncles might manage to place him into such a position was difficult to determine, but he felt in his heart that the two men weren’t worthy of his trust and that he had to remain wary around them in the future. Antoine especially, for he seemed to have high ambitions hidden behind his analyzing eyes.
"To think that the dukes are planning to send an expedition into that dungeon," said Lessa, trying to steer the subject away from Alistar’s predicament. "Wait until Zech hears about this. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to tag along with them."