Eyes Like Eastbrone Forest

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.