Nikolai was saved from responding by the arrival of Camilla Dodd. The Caersan woman wore a thick blue wool cloak thatcovered her long winter dress completely, the hood of which was pulled up, effectively hiding her short gold curls. A fur muff wrapped around her hands as she stepped into the snow. Her eyelashes fluttered half-closed to prevent the flurries from entering her eyes as she turned her attention from Loren to the distant battle.
“Why have you brought me here,Your Majesty?” Camilla asked, her voice dripping with molasses-like sweetness. “Would it not have been less trouble to keep me locked in my room back in Laeton?”
Loren’s mouth curled. Gods, he had missed her fire, and it was an excellent distraction from the urge to throw Nikolai over the icy embrasure’s edge. “Far less trouble, indeed, but then you would have missed all the fun.”
“I see nothing fun about this.” Camilla kept her face stony as she looked out at the soldiers below.
Somewhere down in the thick of the battle were the people she considered friends. Ariadne. Emillie. Revelie. Even Madan and Azriel, perhaps. More than Loren could even begin to comprehend. It appeared that everyone would be short offriendstonight.
“Ah, but that is where you are wrong,” Loren said and gestured for her to join him. As she stepped closer, keeping a padding of distance between them, he turned to look back over the battlement. “You see, from here we can observe precisely what is happening in real time. It would not be fair to you to have to hear about this second-hand.”
Camilla, though, did not follow his gaze. She pivoted away from the show of violence and spoke with an oddly even tone. “Displaying your war is not your intention; do not lie to me,Your Majesty.”
The way she stressed his title almost made Loren giddy. He could take everything from her, and still she would not bendto his will. There was nothing else to it: he had to respect her hardiness. “You misunderstand, Miss Dodd. I wish for you to see all of it. I wish for you to watch as I crush every single one of those monsters.”
With a snort, Camilla shook her head. “The only monster here isyou.”
“Hmm.” Loren’s upper lip curled in disgust. “Your friends are down there, you know.”
“And they will endure.”
Loren cocked his head to study her as she carefully avoided eye contact with him. “You had better pray to any god listening that, at the very least, Ariadne survives.”
“No need,” Camilla hissed, though her voice sounded tighter now. “Keon is already with them.”
“So confident.” Loren closed the distance between them and took Camilla’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, angling her face up to his. “If my wife dies out there, I will need a new Queen.”
Clicking her tongue, Camilla jerked her face back, but Loren held fast. Still, she glared at him as she said, “I hear Hyacinth Hooke has become something of a plaything to you. Clearly, she is desperate for the position. She would be thrilled to accept your hand, no doubt.”
A slow grin spread across Loren’s lips. “Oh, Hyacinth has been fun, it is true. But she is not nearly as fun asyou.”
A green tinge took to Camilla’s cold-flushed cheeks. She swallowed hard. “I would rather die.”
“You would make a magnificent Vampire Queen,” Loren crooned, angling his head as he shifted closer so that their lips were a mere breath apart. “After I destroy these monsters, I will make all of Myridia kneel at your feet.”
Camilla’s russet eyes fluttered to meet his, her golden brows lowering. “You are revolting.”
“Then get on your fucking knees,” Loren snarled, shoving her to the ground with a cry, “andpray. Or I will put you there as my wife.”
From his periphery, Loren took note of the way Nikolai jerked forward as if to help Camilla. How had he been so blind before?
When Camilla merely glared up at him from where she knelt, Loren could no longer withhold the inferno that exploded in his veins. The heat of pure fury for Nikolai’s betrayal and her stubbornness poured forth. Losing all control, he bent at the waist, leveling his gaze with hers, and yelled, “Put your face in the snow and pray for your traitorous friends’ lives!”
True to form, Camilla inhaled deep, then spat in Loren’s face. “Fuck you.”
Loren’s hand flew but never connected with his intended target. As Camilla flinched, preparing for the inevitable blow, a strong hand wrapped around his wrist and yanked him back. No longer to his surprise, he found Nikolai to be the one restraining him.
“Traitor,” Loren hissed, twisting his arm free. Looking to the soldiers who now watched the scene unfold in pure shock, he pointed to Nikolai. “Strip him of his blades, his armor, and let it be known that he has committed treason of the highest form.”
Soldiers surged forward, following the commands as they forced Nikolai to his knees and relieved him first of his sword, then began cutting free his armor. All the while, the bastard merely glared at Loren as though it werehewho did something wrong. As though the gods-sanctioned King of Valenul could be misguided.
“To the dungeons, Your Majesty?” asked a soldier binding Nikolai’s wrists.
A long moment passed as Camilla turned her russet eyes from Loren to Nikolai and back, waiting for his response. He couldhave the Caersan killed then and there. Slit his throat and been done with it.
But no. Then how would Nikolai learn?
“Put him on the battlefield,” Loren declared. “Give him nothing but the clothes on his back and let that be the only mercy I allow him.”
