Rage swells in me so hot and fast that I can’t contain it. I stride forward and shove him in the chest so hard that he falls back a step, but he grabs hold of my wrists, and we scuffle.
“Enough!” he barks. “Stand down!”
The part of my brain that spent years as a soldier almost has me snap to attention.
The part of my brain that’s colored with fury is already swinging a fist.
I nearly catch him in the jaw, but he blocks, shoving my arm wide. It leaves me open, and I don’t even see him move. I just feel a blow, and then I feel the ground. Blood and dirt are bitter on my tongue, and for a wild moment, I can’t breathe.
I really didn’t expect him to hit me.
He caught me in the side, just under the base of my rib cage, and it takes a minute to force air into my lungs. It doesn’t matter. My fingers curl into fists in the dirt, because I want to go after him again.
“Don’t do this, Tycho.”
Is that a warning? A threat? A plea? I can barely process the words. My heart keeps twisting, rebelling against the fact that he won’t let me leave. I might as well be a prisoner. Jax went to Ironrose, and now I’m stuckhere.
He’s taken so much from you, and I don’t think he’s even aware of it.
Jax was right. Maybe I do hate the king.
I finally shove myself to my feet. Grey is watchful, ready for me to come at him again. We’re both fully armed, and it’s obvious that I’m not the only one carrying around a chest full of anger. Stars flicker in my vision, magic flaring, responding to my emotion.
Grey is watching me steadily, his eyes narrowed, and I know he senses it.
But a cool breeze whips between us, full of power. Nakiis’s voice reaches my ears, carried by the magic.
—Not yet, Tycho. Not yet.
The words wrap around me like a warning and a promise, the wind swirling away as quickly as it came.
Somehow, it takes some of the tension with it. I choke out a breath and force my hands away from my weapons. My fingers unclench. When I blink again, those sparks and stars scatter. Just me and the king on the field.
The silence between us is suddenly very loud.
“I don’t want to fight with you,” Grey says.
“Oh, you don’t?” I say, and my voice is rough.
“I’m keeping my people safe, Tycho.” He’s so still, so quiet. “That includes you.”
“Is that what you were doing thelasttime you forced me to stay here? Keeping me safe?”
His mouth forms a line, but he says nothing.
I don’t want to look at him now. “How will you send word to Rhen?”
What I really want to know is if I’ll be able to send word to Jax.
“I won’t,” he says. “Not yet. There are many things in motion that I cannot stop, and I will not cause more alarm and unrest. You were sent to take residence in Emberfall, and then you showed up in the middle of the night. There’s already enough gossip aboutthat.”
I scowl but keep my mouth shut.
“And if you’re here,” he adds tersely, “you would do well to stay out of the public eye. Definitely avoid use of your magic. As you know, things at court are . . . ?very uncertain right now.”
I glare at him. “Stop acting like all of this is my fault,” I growl. “Ididn’t break your marriage. You did.”
Sudden rage flares in his eyes, and I almost regret the words. We’re both a little too angry, a little too raw, and I just struck back with equal force.
