I bolt out of the bed with my heart hammering against my chest. My hands shake as I grab my robe and tie it around my waist. Doors open andslam closed, and hasty footsteps pound down the hallway. I rush out the door to more screams and gasps, echoing from the lower level of the palace. The mayhem around me is terrifying but I hurry down the stairs, stopping short of walking into the foyer.
“Raelle, no,” my father says, pulling me into his arms and burying my face to his chest. But it’s too late. I press my palm to my mouth and fight against my gag reflex. The ghastly image seared into my brain will forever reside there.
Hanging above the palace entrance is Lance. His arms are pinned to the wall with knives through his wrists and a sword impaled in his board chest. Blood trickles down his cheeks where something has pecked out his eyes, leaving black holes in his head. The most disturbing words arch over his head, written in blood.
Pliris is Ours.
I grip my father’s shirt and bury my face against it. The familiar scents ease my nerves, giving me the strength to pull away. I fight the urge to look again. Instead I concentrate on my father’s face.
“You should go back to your room.” He motions Zek over, but I shake my head.
“No, Papa. I need to stay.”
He hesitates for a moment, torn between protecting me and understanding my call to duty. He nods and pulls me in closer to his side.
The unsettling feeling of someone watching me raises the hair on the back of my neck. I look over my shoulder to find Kyron standing close with his eyes fixated on me. His hair is a rumpled mess, and the ties of his tunic hang loose, as if he threw it on in a rush. His brow is knit together and his mouth downturned. The urge to touch him has me reaching back and grazing my knuckles against his. A torrent of sadness and regret wash over me, the Eporri using his gift to relay his emotions to me. It takes me a moment to catch my breath and unwind his feelings from my own.
Kyron has always taken personal responsibility for those he oversees. It doesn’t matter that they chose to put themselves in harm’s way or that death is a price of war. He made it his job to protect them. And if he failed, he would pay the penance for it. His reaction to losing his personal guard proves that the crown has not changed that about him.
Esmeray pushes through the crowd. Her sheer black robe with furtrim billows behind her. She stops short of the arched entrance, glaring up at Lance and shaking her head. “Whose responsibility was it to guard the foyer?”
A warrior with ample curves and dark mahogany curls steps forward “It was mine, Your Majesty. I’d asked Lance to guard my post while I relieved myself.”
“If you called on the prince’s personal guard, who was seeing to the prince?” the queen asks with rage in her icy stare.
“I was only gone for a moment, Your?—”
She holds up her hand and scoffs, “Leave your uniform and return to your family. Thank the Statera that this is the extent of your punishment and that I don’t hang you in the center of the city for your neglect toward the crown.”
The woman bows her head with tears brimming in her eyes. “Thank you for showing mercy, Your Majesty.”
Esmeray sweeps her hand in a flippant gesture that screams her annoyance with her warriors. As if Lance chose to be nailed to the wall, his face bloody and disfigured. Or that the other warrior thought her actions would lead to such a horrific death. The queen is cruel and the example of everything I hope never to be.
The servants clear from the foyer, and Kyron releases my fingers, turning to the warriors who remain. He drops his voice and says, “Whoever did this may still be in the palace. I want every guard on duty now. Post archers along the wall and order them to shoot down every bird that flies over it. The palace guards are to sweep every corner. Any unknown animals bigger than a child are to be caged. Start with my mother’s quarters and then the Lucent king’s. I want whoever did this to be found.”
“No. My son’s room is to be searched before you move on to my brother,” Esmeray says, making clear her order of priorities.
“We will handle securing our own rooms,” my father interjects.
She glares at him and lifts one side of her plump lips. “I see you are happy to do my brother’s bidding again. Wasn’t life easier when I had you chained to my throne as a pet?”
“I prefer my freedom,” Papa says, keeping his tone calm and low.
“Do you, because I always got the feeling that you enjoyed our moments alone under the waters of the Posseda.”
My blood heats, and I clench my fists at my sides. This woman tookso much from my father. It wasn’t only his dormant power she stole, but precious time with his family. I hate her for every horrendous thing she did to him. Anger builds within me, and my hands shake as I take a step forward.
Micah reaches for my upper arm and pulls me next to him. “Don’t give her the satisfaction of luring you into a rash reaction. Your father can fight his own battles.” The king glares at his sister and smoothly says, “It is only a matter of time before the oppressed rise against their persecutors and demolish them.”
A humorless chuckle comes from Esmeray. “Spoken like a man who doesn’t have a tight rein on his kingdom.”
Micah sneers. “Don’t worry about my hold on Lucent.Allthe people under my rule will freely rise to fight what’s to come. Not because they want power, but they believe it is the right thing to do.”
The Stigian council members gathered around us mumble their disapproval for his attack on their character. They see nothing wrong with their elevated state and reaping the rewards from their unfair way of governing. These Khiros refuse to acknowledge the damage they’re doing to the Cyffreds, and the retribution the captives will one day demand.
Kyron releases a long breath and rubs his temple. “If we can move on to the pressing issue at hand, I’d greatly appreciate it. We need to come to a firm consensus and the Lucents must return to their kingdom to ensure they don’t lose ground there.”
“The prince is right. There’s no more time to waste. We need a clear picture of how the training of both armies will take place and to mobilize our units before we no longer have a land to defend,” Papa says.
