All ofthis.
His voice was wavering, but his eyes held all the hate he had ever felt as he watched me. “You need to die with your demon lover!”
“Even the devil finds love,” I hissed.
Savion never saw my sword move.
His head rolled to a stop at the twins’ feet.
“CUT HIM DOWN!”
I ran toward the stairs, but Rilen caught me by the waist.
“Hold on,ilati,” he said.
Roran was racing down the stairs to where Aiko had raced to the ropes and pulleys.
“Cut him down!” I screamed again.
“They have to lower him, take it easy.” Rilen pulled me against him. “Take care of your sword, Kimber. There’s blood on the blade. You can’t leave it like that.”
I looked down, and there was not only blood but also a few pieces of gore.
…to the south…
Twisting my lip, I looked around for something to clean the blade with. I walked back to the body of my father, the dead king, and wiped the sword off on his pants.
A flight of soldiers crowded onto the balcony, grabbed the body, and tried to grab the head.
“No!” Rilen snapped.
The soldiers were all startled, and I held up my hand to relax them. “No. Don’t take the head. Leave it here.”
“The blood, Mistress Breaker,” one of them pleaded.
“No more of that,” I said. “Take his body out to the sun and let the scavengers have it.”
“Mistress?”
“Listen to her.” Kane dropped down the stairs, looking harried and worried like he had been running from stables. “Take the body outside and drain the fountain. We’ll have no more of that.”
…to the south! Hurry…
They bowed stiffly and moved like lightning.
Dorian slowly lowered from the rafters, more awake than I had hoped. He looked at me and whispered something. I pulled away from Rilen and ran down the stairs to the back end of the fountain where Roran and Aiko were waiting for him to be lowered enough for them to grab him.
As soon as he was, the two of them took his shoulders and laid him flat on the floor.
“Donotmove, Dorian,” Roran said with no room for disobedience.
I knelt next to him, and without saying a word to him, kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his lips… I just wanted to taste him.
Smiling, I put a hand on his cheek.
“Kimber,” he finally managed. “Don’t bury Savion’s head. Put it in a sack. Wrap it.”
And here I was expecting some words of endearment. “Missed you too, asshole.”
