We had evolved. Though I wanted to make a bloody example of Kaan, a warning for all those who threatened House Kaalium, I couldn’t. We would settle this the diplomatic way…but I would ensure that I cut him off at his knees so he would always remember what he’d done.
“You can save face among the nobles,” I nearly spat. “You can keep your House. You can keep one Guardian, so that you will always remember the loyalty and honor of your ancestors, to give you something to strive for again, considering how low you’ve fallen.” He flinched. “But if youeverthink to rise against House Kaalium again, I will take everything from you and destroy your family’s name so that no living soul of our future generations would even dare to speak it. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Kaan choked out softly. He didn’t meet my eyes. He kept his head lowered, his jaw tight. “Yes, I understand.”
One Guardian would allow him to retain appearances among the nobles, but his abundance of wealth would dry up. Most importantly, one Guardian wouldn’t give him enough power and influence should he try to selldravato our enemies, especially when war came.
“Where is the deed?” Kaan asked quietly.
Azur shoved two copies over the side of the desk, and I unsheathed the blade at my hip. The contract was already drawn up. Simple in its wording but thorough. Kaan’s unseeing, vacant eyes scanned the words. I handed him the blade, and he took it without hesitation.
“There is a clause at the end,” I informed him cooly. “Should you betray House Kaalium again, the Third Guardian will be forfeited to my House. You would lose everything, and we would expose your crimes publicly.”
Kaan’s lips pressed together, but he only inclined his head in acknowledgment. He didn’t have a choice. He knew it. The clause had been added in as insurance. While I didn’t think Kaan would try to make deals with our enemies fordravabehind our backs, I certainly hadn’t believed him capable of trying to assassinate mykyranaeither.
Slicing his palm, he dipped the tip of the blade into the droplets of blood before using it to sign his name at the bottom. He did the same with the next one, the contract identical to the first.
“What will happen to Hanno and Lesana?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said, rising swiftly from the floor and rolling the deeds, careful of the drying blood, before handing them to Azur. He would make sure one was filed within the public archives and one was deposited within our own family’s vault in Laras. “As long as you adhere to your end of the contract. But know that House Kaalium will be keeping a careful watch on the third Guardian and on RaanaDyaan. Yes?”
“Yes,” Kaan rasped.
“Good,” I growled. “Now, get up and get out of my sight.”
The male didn’t need to be told twice.
When he was gone—likely being escorted out by Vadyn, who’d been waiting in the hallway outside my office, I found Azur studying me.
“I like this change in you,” he commented casually.
“What change?” I asked, narrowing my gaze on him.
“She makes you more bloodthirsty. It suits you.”
CHAPTER42
MILLIE
“What is this?” I demanded from Kythel, pushing the device I’d had clenched tightly in my hand since the market close to his face.
Kythel’s jeweled gaze briefly dipped down before his eyes caught mine. If he was surprised to see me at his keep, he didn’t show it. Vadyn had told me he was out in the gardens, and I’d found him walking among the hedges and blooms that evening, though he wandered in a restless way. It twisted my heart when I had the stray thought that he looked a littlelost.
“That appears to be a Halo orb, my love,” he said smoothly. It didn’t matter if my heart stuttered in my chest atmy loveor if there was a part of me that enjoyed when he was being facetious. “One incredibly out of date.”
“Don’t get smart with me,” I warned. “What’s this number here?”
His lips pressed together when he finally peered at the flickering number projecting up.
“When did you do this?” I breathed.
“Before the fire,” he answered, not denying it.
“Before the…” I trailed off. He had deposited nearly a quarter million credits into my account, and I’d not even realized it until today in the market, when my eyes had nearly bulged from my skull when I’d gone to pay for a bucket of old tools from the secondhand vendor.
Kythel waited, crossing his arms over his chest as he studied me. The sunset was beautiful tonight, casting bright streaks of lilacs, ceruleans, and fiery oranges through the sky.
“I don’t want your money,” I finally said. “I never did. Do you have any idea how this makes me feel?”
