Ballanor turned glittering eyes on Dornar, who continued to speak softly. “As Lord High Chancellor, I would strongly advise against a war with the Nephilim. Let them go… for now. I’m sure we’ll get them next time.”
Ballanor narrowed his eyes, but he was still listening. And Val knew he’d heard Dornar’s threat just as clearly as the Hawks had.
“Anyway,” Dornar lifted his voice, “Captain Lanval and Queen Alanna still have charges to answer to. They will not be going free with their friends.”
Ballanor nodded slowly, his eyes black with rage. “Do it.”
Dornar barked a command, and the Hawks were released to stumble away, carrying Reece to the side of the road, protected by the Nephilim. All except Val and Alanna.
“Ramiel, sir.” Dornar gave a small bow. “We recognize your wisdom and your authority here and have released the prisoners with our apologies.”
Gods. As much as Val had hated Dornar before, with every word the new Lord High Chancellor spoke, he loathed him more. Even Ramiel had a flicker of disgust cross his face before he hid it.
“However,” Dornar continued with a smug look, “Lanval is still guilty of treason. After all, he seduced the queen.”
Val looked over to Alanna. The deep flush from her frantic run had faded, and she looked pale and exhausted. She had clasped her hands tightly at her belly, as if she wished she could wrap them around herself.
He desperately wanted to take her in his arms and tell her that he would keep her safe, but it would be the worst thing he could do.
Instead he gave her a reassuring smile as he sent a quick prayer of gratitude up to the gods and the archangels of the Nephilim. The many months that he had suffered, unable to touch her, had just saved their lives.
“Never, at any time while the queen lived in the palace, did I ever put my hands on her.”
“Truth,” Ramiel growled, increasingly annoyed with Dornar’s games.
“Well, what about since then?” Dornar demanded, refusing to back down. “She’s still the king’s wife. And she has been living with Val for days.”
“No.” Val gripped his hands tighter, holding them behind his back with ruthless self-control before he gave in and throttled the asshole who continued to threaten Alanna. “He gave up his rights to her when he tried to have her killed.”
“Excuse me—” Alanna tried.
But Dornar cut her off. “Adultery is adultery.” He turned his body, lowering his voice so that only Val and Ramiel could hear him. “It doesn’t matter when she spread her legs—”
“Don’t you dare speak about her like that!” Val roared, Dornar’s words pushing him over the edge he had been teetering upon since the moment he’d left Alanna in the woods. He launched himself toward Dornar only to find himself gripped in the implacable fist of the enraged Supreme Justice.
Ramiel shook him roughly. “Stop it. Do you want me to find you guilty of murder? Can’t you see that this is what he wants?”
Val let himself hang for a moment in Ramiel’s grip, battling his desperate need to rip Dornar into tiny pieces. And then, still shaking with repressed violence, he took a small step backward.
“I’m sorry,” Val muttered, not meaning it at all and hoping the Nephilim wouldn’t call him out on it.
Instead Ramiel rolled his eyes as he released Val and turned toward Alanna. “Your Majesty, you wanted to say something?”
“Can I speak to you in private please?”
“Of course.” Ramiel and Alanna took a few steps away from the crowd on the road and turned their backs toward their audience.
Val could see the tense line of Alanna’s shoulders, hunched slightly in exhaustion and worry, as she whispered something, her hands gesturing earnestly.
Across from him, he could see the mottled rage on Ballanor’s face and the deep frown furrowing between Dornar’s eyes.
Ramiel glanced up at Alanna, as if in surprise and then nodded slowly before looking across to Haniel. “Can you help us here please, healer?”
Alanna chose that moment to turn and look directly at Val. She had bright patches of red blazing on her cheeks, but otherwise, her face looked so pale it was almost gray.
She cast a worried look at Haniel as he approached, and Val suddenly understood. The look on her face, the need for a healer… she had told Ramiel that she was a virgin. And now Ramiel was asking for verification from Haniel, over and above the truth he could hear in her voice.
Val knew all too well that a truth seeker could only tell if the speaker believed their words to be true. Not if they were objectively true. For something as important as the king’s marriage, he would ask for confirmation. But Alanna was terrified of strange men. For good reason. And now they were going to do gods only knew what to her.
