If Karvek killed the usurping general, he’d have to fight to regain control of the fort. Enough soldiers had come with them, she realized. He’d been prepared for that. For being too late. If he failed, Iryana could try to help—but was she prepared to kill a man for Karvek? Even in the interest of helping her family? And if it wasn’t a usurping general that Karvek was sneaking up on…
Before she could decide what to do, Karvek reached out, and a curved, metal-forged sword formed in his hand. It was impossibly dark.
Iryana froze as her heart beat faster. She stared at the blade, unable to wrap her mind around what was happening.
The floorboards creaked again, and this time the man must have heard. He bolted upright, turning to face Karvek.
His face twisted into surprise, and Iryana saw tanned, aged skin, rough stubble covering a square jaw. He didn’t look like anyone special; just the type of face Iryana would picture if someone was talking about their uncle.
Karvek moved toward him, and the man reached out—but before any of his magic could form, Karvek drove his sword upwards into the center of the man’s torso.
Iryana stiffened, eyes widening. Karvek wrapped his arm around the man as if in an embrace, holding him close. His hand clamped over the man’s mouth, muffling the groans. Iryana did nothing but watch as the man tried to push against Karvek, slowly crumpling. Karvek lowered with him.
Iryana did nothing.
“You made a joke of my father’s legacy,” Karvek seethed, his voice like ice. “You are too soft to stand in his place.”
Those words caught Iryana’s attention, but she couldn’t focus on the fact that Karvek had lied to her. Couldn’t focus on anything but the man’s face. Anything else Karvek said was drowned out by the sound of Iryana’s own heart beating.
The man stopped moving, his eyes blankly staring up at Karvek.
She knew men killed each other, but she had never seen it before. When dakii killed, it was ferocious, wild but impersonal. The frozen look on the man’s face spoke of betrayal.
The scene was so still, as if they were all trapped in that horrific moment that was never going to end.
Then Karvek opened his hand, his magic rushing back under his skin, and the man began to bleed. Red poured out of his chest and onto the thick woven rug. The puddle grew until Karvek was kneeling in it, the crimson leaching up his pants.
Karvek had killed the general. She had helped him kill someone, stage a coup. Her breaths were turning to gasps, and she couldn’t make them slow down.
Iryana’s hand slowly rose until it was covering her mouth. What had she done?
She backed away, finally realizing how bad it would be if Karvek found her there. He could never know what she saw. What she knew.
Karvek’s head snapped toward the far door. There were noises coming from deeper in the keep and Iryana felt dread rise in her. They were taking Midmarket by force, weren’t they?
She tried to piece it together—which part was lies and which the truth—but her mind felt sluggish. This was related to Karvek’s father. Vaneshta had told herabout him. He had been in charge of the brigade. Karvek just killed his father’s successor.
Karvek started turning back toward Iryana, but she was frozen. Unable to move. Unable to process. He would see her if he took one more step forward… and she still wasn’t moving.
Just before Karvek would have seen her, Iryana was yanked to the side. A hand clamped over her mouth.
“Don’t make a sound, or he’ll find you.”
Her whole body surged into action, pushing out with her magic shield and shoving the hand away from her. She couldn’t call for help; she couldn’t let Karvek find her.Don’t make a sound, or he’ll find you—Iryana processed those words as she spun, facing the man hiding in the shadows with her.
Pyetar glared at her, water running in rivulets down his face. He must have just come inside, but how did he know where to find them? Had Pyetar been following them the whole time? Or was he here for the same reason as Karvek?
Perhaps they were working together more closely than she had thought.
Or perhaps Pyetar wanted to take over the brigade, too, and Karvek had beaten him to it?
Iryana pulled her magic back in. She could hear Karvek’s boots against the floor, coming closer. She needed to hide. Pyetar pulled her back toward the balcony, looking urgently toward the other room.
Not having a better idea, Iryana followed.
After slipping outside, they both pressed against the exterior wall of the keep, arms pressed together in the small space.
She worried Karvek would come out onto the balcony, that he would notice the extra footprints on the floor, but Pyetar stayed still and he seemed to know what was happening far better than she.
