There was a collective grunt from the akadim who’d surrounded her. I could feel their dissatisfaction at the command, could feel her fear. She was blonde, with pale skin. Pretty blue eyes. Eyes that had never seen such horrors before. At least, I could spare her from seeing more.
“Come,” I said, extending an arm out to her.
Shaking, her eyes roaming wildly around the room, as if expecting to be struck down at any moment, she stumbled forward in torn, ragged clothes.
You’re no better, Parthenay thought.You still command over them. They have their ways. They have to eat.
They have to do what I say!I snapped. Then out loud, I looked out over my monstrous court. “I’ll take breakfast in my room. Alone. She’ll need a meal, too.” I took the girl’s hand, glaring at Parthenay. And then left, without looking back.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LYRIANA
The pine trees and the horizons of Glemaria were still cloaked in the black shadows of night, but the snow tipped mountain caps were just beginning to glow beneath the red-orange light of sunrise. I looked over Gryphon’s Mount, my entire body sore and aching. We were still flying. I’d spent the entire night awake.
Rhyan’s still head lay in my lap, his breathing labored and loud through his twice broken nose. Both of his eyes were blue and purple with bruising, and an inflamed cut above his left eye had begun to scab. I ran my fingers through his hair. His curls were soft, but had elongated into waves from my stroking them all night. I’d been hoping some of the Valalumir’s magic would escape my binds, but my magic had been stuck inside of me.
Beside us Meera sat, her bound body stiff while one of Aiden’s conjured fires floated between us. It had kept us from freezing all night. Not long after we’d escaped the cave, we’d landed at an outpost. Three sentries surrounded the gryphon, their swords pointed at us as Aiden and Dario went inside to relieve themselves and make their reports.
But once we were airborne again, we hadn’t stopped. I expected we would have arrived hours earlier. But theakadim attack had left the gryphon’s wings injured, and our flight had been slow and laborious.
A sudden drop of my stomach told me we were descending, and sure enough, the gray towers of Seathorne came into view, rising above the mountain. I shifted my hand to Rhyan’s chest, my fingers grasping at the strap of his sword belt, desperately trying to keep him close. And to keep myself from panicking. With the appearance of the turrets protruding from Imperator Hart’s fortress, all lingering hopes of escape were dashed.
I squeezed my eyes shut, the wind blowing snow into my face, until the gryphon’s paws hit the courtyard, offering a clear view of the stone promenade of Seathorne.
Rhyan stirred from the impact.
“Lyr?” he murmured, one eye barely opened.
“Hey,” I said, trying to smile.
He struggled to sit up, and forced both eyes open. He looked awful, and I knew he was in far more pain than he was willing to admit. His fingers wiggled at his sides beneath the crisscross of ropes around his arms, as his jaw set, his expression fully alert.
“You okay?” he asked, his eyes already scanning the scene before us.
I shook my head. “How are you feeling?”
“Don’t worry about me,” he said gruffly, then stilled, taking in the towers before us. His mouth tightened, the muscles in his jaw twitching as he watched Dario and Aiden. They were huddled together by the gryphon’s shoulders, staring cautiously back at us. Aiden’s hand was on his stave, the point aimed in our direction. But they were too far to hear our whispers.
“Fuck. We don’t have time,” he said urgently. “Listen carefully. You cannot trust my father. Whatever he wants from you, you must refuse. Whatever kind of deal he tries to make, Lyr swear to me, you will not accept.”
I bit my lip. The last time I’d seen his father he’d tried to force a bargain. In exchange for the key to Asherah’s tomb, the key to my magic power, he’d wanted me to come to him here, to bring Rhyan back under his authority. And he’d wanted me to marry Arkturion Kane. When I’d refused Imperator Hart’s offer, he’d nearly crushed my hand.
Now we were here, exactly as he’d wanted.
Fighting wouldn’t be an option. Not a fair one, anyway. The battle would be political, and steeped in legalities. I was still a noblewoman of Ka Batavia. But that was worth less than it ever had been while my father’s murderer sat on his Seat. My only other political advantage came from my forced engagement to Viktor Kormac—Imperator Kormac’s Heir Apparent. I was only a ceremony away from becoming the grand-niece by law to the Emperor. Imperator Hart couldn’t interfere with that. But the only way I could use it in my favor would be to surrender myself to Imperator Kormac.
Then I’d be married to Viktor.
Over my dead body.
“Lyr, please,” Rhyan begged. “Swear to me. A bargain with my father is worse than one with the Afeya. You don’t …” His throat bobbed. “You don’t know what he’s capable of. He’ll separate us, and he’ll hurt you. It won’t just be physical. He’ll come after you with any ammunition he can find.” He sighed. “He’ll use me and Meera against you.”
I shook my head. I already knew that. “I might have no other option. What am I supposed to do if your life’s at stake?”
“Let me protect you. And protect Meera. Let me be the one to keep you safe. Remember, I escaped before. I will do it again, and I will make sure you’re both with me. I will get you both out, I swear I will, even if it’s the last thing I do.”
“No,” I said. “Don’t talk like that. We stay together. We leave together.”
