“Can we wrap it up more?” Emmeline gripped her dress as if she meant to tear it up for more fabric. “Hide the light somehow?”
The light was nearly shining through the leather itself. Nothing short of a metal box would hide it, but at least the initial burst of heat had lessened. I could carry it without getting burned.
“We’re almost at the passage,” I said. “We need to get out of sight.”
We set off at a run.
Our backup plan (the first of three) was the Midnight Passage, a secret passageway with an entrance inside a suite of bedchambers in the guest wing. Legend stated that an old princess had used it to sneak away to visit her lover, a priestess who was forbidden from marrying. The passagewaydidexit near the temple district, so perhaps the legend held some truth.
Only the queen and a few of her inner circle knew of the passage’s location. Most people doubted it existed at all.
We hurried down the ornate hallway. A faint, echoing murmur of voices drifted from unseen rooms, not loud enough to drown out the tap-tap-tap of our footsteps. The jewel’s light glimmered off the polished marble floor around me and reflected off mirrors decorating the walls. I could feel it vibrating inside the pouch, still emanating heat like an ember. Unease prickled at my skin. I wouldn’t quite call my plan a disaster yet, but it was close.
And then disaster struck. We rounded a corner, and a man was waiting, blocking our path to freedom.
Drudon.
Chapter 38
Valen
Drudon stood at the far end of the hallway, his massive frame filling the space between the gilded columns. His blade was already drawn, catching the light from the crystal chandeliers above. A savage grin split his face as his eyes fixed on the glowing pouch at my belt.
“Well, well,” he drawled. “The perfect knight, caught red-handed like a common criminal.”
I stepped protectively in front of Emmeline, my hand finding the familiar weight of my sword hilt. “Stand aside, Drudon. This doesn’t concern you.”
His laugh was as bitter as winter wind. “Doesn’t concern me? My dear brother, do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment?” His gaze slid past me to Emmeline, and his grinturned ugly. “And your little accomplice is here, too. Tell me, was seducing her part of the plan, or just a pleasant bonus?”
“You are such a slobbering, swag-bellied shithead,” Emmeline said, but I heard the tremor in her voice. She had no weapon, no way to defend herself if this went badly.
Drudon surged forward. “I’m going to cut that filthy tongue right out of your mouth.”
I drew my blade. “You won’t touch her.”
“It’s a little late for threats,” he growled.
“It’s not a threat.” I shifted into a fighting stance. “It’s a fact.You won’t touch her.”
Something in my eyes made him pause, four feet still between us
“Walk away,” I said, hoping against hope that this could end without violence. “You’ve seen nothing here.”
“Oh, but I have.” Drudon’s knees bent, sword raised as he prepared to strike. “I’ve seen enough to hang you both. Though perhaps I’ll save the executioner the trouble.” His eyes glittered with malicious joy. “Look at you: the queen’s favorite, the noble knight. Let’s see how noble you are when you’re bleeding out on the floor.”
He lunged without warning, his heavier blade cutting through the air where my head had been a heartbeat before. I parried his next strike, the clash of steel ringing through the hallway like a bell. I hadn’t fought him—truly fought him—since we were children. He attacked just as viciously as he had back then, but his technique had vastly improved. I dodged his hacks and slashes, and each time his blade impacted mine, the force rattled my arms up to my shoulders.
Rings glimmered on his beefy fists: lunar onyx for power, lightning quartz for speed. I wore the same gems, so that alone wouldn’t give him an advantage. But he was stronger than me—had always been stronger, even when I wasn’t recovering from the roses’ toxin.
“Still playing the honorable knight?” he snarled, raining blows down on my guard. “Still thinking you’re better than the rest of us?”
I gave ground, hating every inch that he drove me back. Emmeline had backed away from us, but she wasn’t far enough behind me to be safe. She wouldn’t be safe until we escaped the palace, and every second I spent on this fight was a second we couldn’t afford to waste.
His blade scraped along mine as he pressed his attack. “Everything came so easily to you. The knighthood, the women, the respect of the court. While I scraped and clawed for every scrap of recognition.”
Our swords locked at the hilts, and for a moment we were face to face. His breath was hot against my cheek, his eyes wild with years of suppressed rage.
“You got our mother killed,” he hissed.
