And Aidon stood on his uncle’s right, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword, Peter just behind him.
Enzo was nowhere to be seen.
Perhaps he’d argued with the king one too many times. Or perhaps it was simply that the pecking order had changed; or would, when the prince took Aya’s power.
Tala will seek retribution for this. It should have brought Aya some comfort. But war was coming whether they died or not. The king had chosen Kakos. Conflict between their kingdoms was inevitable.
The guards left Aya and Will in the center of the room, anchoring their shackles to the floor, before stationing themselves at each exit. Aya glanced at Will, her heart sinking as he met her stare. There was no way out.
‘Josie refuses to join us,’ Aidon said to the king. ‘I suggest we begin.’
Dominic let out a contemplative noise. ‘Perhaps, like her father, she’ll come around.’
Aya watched Zuri’s face for some sort of reaction, but the woman’s gaze was stony as she kept her eyes fixed on the throne-room doors.
‘Very well,’ Dominic sighed. ‘Bring the Saj.’
Natali did not struggle, not as the guard dragged them in by their shackles, leading them directly to the king. They dipped their head in acknowledgement to Dominic, and Aya couldn’t help the sting of betrayal that ripped through her.
‘Start with the Enforcer,’ Dominic commanded.
But Aidon didn’t move. His eyes remained fixed on Aya, none of the usual warmth in his stare. ‘No,’ he said slowly. ‘Let him watch. I can’t think of anything more fitting for Gianna’s Second, can you?’
Aya’s hands curled into fists as her stomach turned.
‘By all means.’ Dominic waved his hand. ‘Start with the saint.’
Slowly, as if he were counting every step, Aidon approached her, Natali trailing behind him. Will wrestled against his chains, the rattling filling the room, the sounds of his threats a distant rumble under the pounding of Aya’s pulse in her ears.
‘It’s as your uncle instructed, Your Highness,’ Natali was saying. ‘It will work better if she’s indisposed. There’s less chance of retaliation. Once she is, push your affinity into her, the same way you pull your flame to the surface. Latch on to her power …’
Aya tried to listen, tried to make sense of what the Saj was saying. But the words were a distant hum as she stared at the prince – herfriend– his knuckles tightening on the hilt of the knife he drew from the sheath at his side while Natali continued on.
‘Do you remember what you said to me about inner wounds?’ he murmured, his brown eyes boring into hers. She blinked, her mind trying to process the question over the screaming inside her.
Fight. Fight. Fight.
In one smooth motion, he rammed the knife into her chest – right over the scar that marked home.
Will was dying. He was on his knees, and his chest was on fire, a mirror to Aya’s pain, and he was screaming because his heart hurt more than the phantom wound on his chest that he could not shield against, tonic or no.
He would kill him. He would kill him and this entire godsdamn court.
Aya wheezed as she sagged in Aidon’s hold, her breath coming in wet rasps. Blood soaked her chest, the black fabric of her dress unable to hide the rich crimson as it spilled from her. He was still screaming, still straining against those godsforsaken chains.
He had felt this before – the cold that crept across him now.
Aya was dying, and the pain of it would kill him before Aidon’s knife ever could.
Aya hardly registered Aidon’s arm around her as she panted for breath. The blood was leaking from her at an alarming rate, despite the knife embedded in her chest.
Dominic was shouting something. Will was screaming. Natali was murmuring instructions under their breath. And beneath it all was Aidon’s smooth baritone, repeating something she couldn’t quite make out over the agony coursing through her.
And even with that knife there …
A gaping, outside wound.
It’s the inside wounds I struggle with more.
