“Send four guards,” Trew barked. “I want them to collect Aryn, Kess, Valen, and Sira. Retired warriors, here for the bonding ceremony. I want them in the throne roomnow.”
The cinderhawk left his shoulder, flying down the hall.
Trew’s grip tightened around my wrist, and he set a brutal pace through the twisting corridors of the castle. My steps pounded, and despite being tall, his strides had to be one-and-a-half as long as mine. I could barely keep up.
He didn’t stop as we approached a set of enormous wooden doors. Guards scurried to yank them open in time for Trew to sweep through with me in tow.
The throne room resembled a cavern of power. Unlike my father’s that he’d decorated with too much gilt and not enough sophistication, Trew’s was made up of smooth, vaulted ceilings and carved pillars lining the outer walls. No gilt in sight, just tapestries depicting various beasts hanging on the walls between the pillars. And a deep blue carpet stretching from here to the elevated platform beyond holding two large wooden thrones.
He took me up the steps and across the dais, not stopping until he reached the larger of the thrones. The hawk perched on the top.
Trew studied my face, the tic in his jaw still snapping.
“Go behind my throne,” he finally said. “Remain there and besilent. Do not let anyone know you’re here.”
“So I’m your dirty secret now?”
His low laugh trickled across my skin. “You’d be safer as my secret.”
“You mean yours to protect.”
He gave me a long look. Half warning, half admission, then latched onto my arm again and urged me behind the throne.
“I don’t like hiding like a coward,” I said.
“You’ll thank me later.”
“You’re assuming I’ll ever thank you for anything.”
His mouth twitched. “Noted.”
I slipped behind the carved wooden structure and for a moment, I thought I was going to stand there, unable to see what was happening. Then I spied a narrow peephole carved discreetly into the back. I pressed my eye close and watched as Trew sat, as the heavy doors groaned open again. Guards ushered in four older adults, tense wariness lining their faces.
And as I studied them, I remembered the attack in the hallway after I’d arrived. A cold thought crept across my nape.
Once could be seen as a random attack. Twice shouted attempted murder.
A warning or a message.
I could be playing a deeper game here than I knew.
Swallowing hard, I kept my gaze fixed on the scene.
Crey had died in my place, a man I barely knew, and the thought of anyone else suffering instead of me made horror rush through me.
The guards urged the four forward, bringing them to a halt near the dais stairs. All bowed and greeted their king.
“You were in the viewing room during the sparring session?” Trew’s voice cut through the silence that followed.
The tallest man nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty. We wanted to watch a bit of the sparring. Last night’s ceremony brought back many wonderful memories, and we couldn’t leave this morning until we’d?—”
“Was anyone else with you four?” Trew snarled.
A flicker of hesitation passed between them, and the other man spoke. “No, my king. It was only the four of us.”
“We leftbefore the sparring started,” the taller of the two women said in a respectful tone.
Trew leaned forward, bracing his palms on his knees. “Why?”
