“We had an argument earlier and he needed some space. He’ll return soon, though.” Syrus closed the door, the handle slipping from his fingers at the last second and slamming into the frame much harder than he’d intended.
Kien frowned, taking a step back to put another foot of space between them. “You don’t know Eiri as well as you pretend to if you believe he’ll come back so soon after an argument.”
“I’m not pretending anything.” A sharp warning laced his words, a reminder of their positions. He didn’t enjoy doing it, but after everything Kien had done to sabotage his relationship with Eiri, perhaps the man needed a reminder.
“Of course,” he said smoothly. His eyes remained flat and hard, though, belying his calm words. “The two of you believe you can make this work.”
“We do and we will, no matter what anyone else thanks. Thinks,” he amended. He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake thesudden exhaustion creeping through his bones. He was no stranger to long nights, and he had to keep his wits about him to deal with Kien C’Marlo.
Kien frowned, tilting his head ever so slightly at Syrus’ fumble. “Your own family openly mocked your husband tonight and you said nothing.”
“Because we had a plan!” Anger gave him the surge of energy he needed to push away from the door and take a step toward Kien. “A plan that you ruined when you called him a traitor. You say you’re here to protect Eiri, but all you’ve done is break him down with your poisoned words.”
For one moment, Kien’s eyes flitted to something deeper inside the room. A strange look crossed his face, there and gone so quickly Syrus wasn’t even sure he’d seen it at all, then the ambassador turned his full attention on Syrus again.
“I am here to protect Canjir and her people. That included Eiri C’Dari until he desecrated our history and whored himself out to you.”
Syrus saw red. Literally. The edges of his vision went dark and crimson and he surged across the remaining space between them, grabbing Kien by his collar. He stumbled and sent them both crashing into the wall, but the other man didn’t so much as flinch.
“Don’t you dare call him that!” he hissed, heart racing as fury unlike any he’d felt before coursed through his veins. His whole body burned with it, a fire that spread with every ragged breath he took. “Eiri is a better man than you’ll ever be!”
“Eiri didn’t even last two months here before he broke and spread his legs for you,” Kien sneered. For all the venom in his words, his eyes remained sharp, locked on Syrus’ face.
Syrus punched him.
Kien’s head barely moved at all, the blow glancing off his jaw and leaving Syrus stumbling to the side. His legs were ironweights dragging him to the ground, his arm heavy and aching. The red in his vision spread, the room going hazy around him. Fire ate through his veins and he couldn’t catch his breath, his chest clenching every time he gasped for air.
This isn’t normal. Something is wrong. What did he do to me?
The thoughts flickered through his mind and disappeared before he could grasp them as fog crept over his mind.
“What’d you do?” he slurred. He tried to take a step toward Kien and stumbled again, going to one knee on the plush carpet. The man simply moved back, watching Syrus dispassionately, all his sneering derision gone.
“I told you. I am here to protect Canjir. This was not the plan, but plans can change. There is more than one way to win a war.”
Syrus’ response died on his lips, coming out as a wordless groan as the fire continued to burn him from the inside out. His strength fled and he sagged to the side, collapsing on the floor at Kien C’Marlo’s feet. His chest heaved, desperately trying to draw air into his starved lungs, but none came. The room faded around him, red fading to black, and the last thing he heard before the darkness took him was Kien’s voice calling out in false panic.
“Guards! Help! Your prince has been poisoned!”
Chapter 24
Eiri
Over a decadeof raiding and never once had Eiri seen the inside of a prison cell. The closest he’d come was when the council locked him in a room while they argued his fate after he’d killed Vonyers. Even that had been bearable, though, thanks to Akari. She’d stayed with him the entire time, despite not fully understanding what had happened.
But now, an ocean separated him from Akari, and he was entirely alone.
Thick manacles circled his wrists, left in place by the guards who had literally thrown him into this cell. The sharp edges bit into his skin through the thin shirt he still wore, now torn and ragged. Abrasions littered his hands, arms, and face where he’d hit the unforgiving stone. His left knee ached. His head throbbed. The cell they’d picked for him lay deep underground, and not even a torch remained to battle back the freezing cold that sank into his bones.
Eiri didn’t feel any of it. The pain, the cold… it was all distant, not even worth a second’s thought. All he saw as he stared at the stone wall was Syrus.
There had to be a mistake. Syrus couldn’t be dead. He’d just seen him a few hours ago. Or yesterday? Time seemed to halt in his dark, windowless cell. No one had come to tell him what was happening. No one had said a word to him after they’d accused him of murdering Syrus. His questions fell on deaf ears, and the last thing he’d heard was the cell door slamming shut, locking him in.
“This is impossible,” he breathed, voice raspy and weak. His breath misted in front of him before disappearing into the shadows.
Impossible. Syrus couldn’t be dead.
If he said it enough, it had to be true.
