“They aren’t,” Camilla pleaded. “She tied her will to his. It’s a curse and a deadly one. He can’t be in her vicinity because if he hears her command, he must comply.”
Vincent held my gaze, his jaw clenching. I could tell by the look in his eyes that Camilla wasn’t lying. I knew Vincent, or so I had thought. He’d never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him. He saw it as a weakness, something Nismera had taught him from the beginning. I had spent eons trying to show him another way, but I now knew that only those who truly wanted to be helped could.
“I have no more sympathy or remorse for you,” I said, letting him go. He fell to his knees, his hand rubbing at his throat. “Are you with us or against us? Because I need an answer, and if I think you’re lying, I’ll gut you here and now.”
“I am,” he coughed, “with you.”
“Bow,” I said, the tension in the room growing. Oblivion sang to life the wisps of it curling and writhing around my hand until a blade formed. I turned to each and every person in this room. I hated people bowing to me, and I had never demanded it before, but this was not about me. This was about the one person I could not live without. I needed blind, utter loyalty for her. There would be no exceptions. “Kneel and pledge your loyalty to Dianna, the one true queen, or die for the false queen here and now.”
One by one, the assassins stepped from the shadows and knelt. Then Cameron, Kaden, and Isaiah followed. Vincent looked around the room before holding Camilla’s gaze, as if he had pledged his sword to her and needed her blessing. Camilla tipped her head in a slight nod, and they both sank to their knees.
I walked toward the assassin queen as everyone in the room remained on their knees. “Stand,” I commanded, and she met my eyes as she pushed to her feet. “Now tell me, how is it that now, after eons, you and your guild can find Nismera’s palace?”
She lifted her hand, and darkness coalesced on her palm. It swirled and then dissipated like smoke, leaving an envelope in its wake. She handed it to me, and I broke the red wax seal, keeping it closed. It was an invitation, and as I read the overly intricate and fussy writing, my heart began to thunder.
“Because it’s not a secret, my lord.” The assassin queen said. “She’s sent word to every corner of the realm to come watch the execution of the Would-Be Queen.”
82
DIANNA
Two days later
Iswallowed the blood that had gathered in my mouth, and the pain of even that simple movement made me wince. I was thirsty, but I had zero hope she would even give me water. My eyes stayed closed, bloodied and ruined, yet I struggled to push myself up.
“She has to be the stupidest ruler I’ve ever met. She sends her lackeys down here to beat me into submission as if I’d ever tell her anything.”
“Stop taunting them,” Unir said. I flipped him off with my good hand, managing to pry my eyes open.
The guards ignored him, one of them cracking his blood-stained, armored knuckles before slamming his fist into my face again. I fell back to the floor, my cheek scraping against the stone. The burly guard flipped me over and pulled me up by my shirt, backhanding me this time. The fates wailed, and the guard glanced behind me, a grin curling his cruel mouth
“The fates like you,” he said.
“What can I say? I’m a people person,” I said, with a bloody smile of my own.
He sneered and punched me again. “I think you talk too much,” he sneered, pulling me close.
I mustered what little power I could, hoping he could see my eyes flare red for even a second. “And I think I am going to drain you dry, but first I’m going to rip the arm you keeping hitting me with off and shove down your smiling girlfriend’s fucking throat.” I let my fangs grow and snarled at him, putting the horror of them on full display. “Call my bluff, I dare you.”
His eyes flared wide, exposing the whites, and I knew I had done exactly what I wished.
“Don’t listen, Tortie,” the female guard said, pressing her thumb on the small device she held. My body bent in pain, but I clenched my teeth so hard to stop from screaming that I worried they would break. If they weren’t using their fist or feet, they were using that godsdamn collar. She stopped, and I took one ragged breath, then another. “See. It’s false bravado. We both know neither she nor the fates will be in this realm much longer. Not once Nismera is finished with that medallion.”
Her words hit deep, the apprehension draining from his features, but this time, when he hit me and I fell, I knew it was more to shut me up than to continue the abuse. He spat on my crumbled form before I heard their boots stomp away.
I lay there for a moment, focusing on my bruised and battered body, my aching bones, and burning cuts. I willed the pain away, trying to convince my mind that we were past it. The chains that held me were the same ones Samkiel had bound me with while at the guild, and that damn collar around my neck was probably a gift from Milani’s broken armada. I just had to be stronger than their magic. Which, given the blood that was pooling beneath my head, was easier said than done.
“You take too much.” Reggie’s voice was soft in the cold, dark dungeon.
“That part I agree on,” Unir said.
“It’s all part of my master plan,” I said, weakly holding up my good hand and giving them a thumbs up without bothering to lift my head or otherwise move. “Trust me, guys.”
A snort came from my father-in-law. “That’s your plan? To be beaten within an inch of your life?”
“Listen, one of the brutes has to have a key on them to these damn chains.” I took a shuddering breath. “I just need to piss them off enough to meet that guy.”
“And what then? Flee?” Unir said. “With the condition you and the fates are in, I fear that may fail.”
