I shook my head, placing my goblet back on the table. ‘You are my mage, not my conscience. Stop peeking into my mind.’ The sweet wine’s aftertaste lingered on my tongue when I dismissed them, a gentle tingling reminder of my woman. With most of today’s issues handled, I had one more thing to resolve. Afterthat, I planned to lock the bedroom door and use all my charm to divert her worry for the missing fae courtesan.
I needed her father’s blessing. Well, not needed, but Sana loved Boyan, and I respected the old fox. For her happiness, I would submit myself to the old-as-time lecture:“Treat my daughter well or else…”
I smiled at my thoughts and called for my valet, intending to dress for the occasion. I enjoyed the giddiness it caused. I had a war to win and enemies to outsmart, but tonight, all that mattered was a dying criminal’s opinion on whether he deemed the King of Dagome worthy of his daughter.
The Chapter House was muted. From the guards’ grim faces to the hushed voices whispering in dark corridors, the atmosphere was sombre. I heralded my arrival with a brief note, making Irsha aware of my presence. Now, walking behind a guide, I was close to enquiring about the situation. I refrained. Asking intrusive questions in a place like this would be instantly seen as hostile.
‘The Grand Master awaits your pleasure, sire.’ My guide bowed his head respectfully, leaving me at a heavy oak door. I knocked, and when no one answered, I pushed the door open. The pungent smell of salve and nivale root made me wince. The room was dark, with heavy curtains drawn tight, the only light present the soft glow of candles and fae lamps.
Several faces turned towards me, but I saw only Roksana, my heart aching for her. She nodded, wiping tears from her pale face. The other men drew back, giving her space when she rose from the bed, revealing the dying man behind her.
‘You can come closer. It’s the graveyard cough, and the stubborn… Father refused my help.’ Her broken voice was calm, but I heard the pain. I crossed the room without caring about protocol, taking Sana into my arms. The sob she released against my chest was her only surrender to sadness, hidden from everyone else in the room by my embrace. With a slow, shuddering breath, Sana straightened. ‘Can you… order him to let me help?’
A single tear rolled down her cheek before she wiped it away.
‘I can’t, Viper.’ I looked at the husk of a man who’d helped depose a tyrant. We each observed the other before coming to a silent accord. ‘I respect your father and won’t betray him by ignoring his decision. His death, just like his life, belongs only to him.’
Boyan nodded to me, his lips pulling back into a blood-stained smile. ‘You wanted to see me, King of Dagome? Be quick and tell me what I can do for you while I’m still breathing.’
I pulled away from Sana and approached her father’s bed, kneeling before him. My earlier happiness felt inappropriate in the face of his impending death. However, this would likely be my last chance to talk to him.
‘I’m marrying your daughter.’ I wasn’t asking for permission, and the smirk on his face told me how it amused him. ‘I came to inform you that everything I do is for Sana. I want you to know that her burdens will be mine to carry, that her smile will be my guide…’ I paused when a racking cough shook his body, and more blood-stained sputum frothed on his lips. ‘I’ll make her happy, Boyan. I swear on my life I’ll do whatever it takes to make Roksana happy.’
‘But you’re taking her from the Brotherhood,’ he said, and I paused, unsure how to answer. I wanted to say yes, but I couldn’t. It was Sana’s choice to make.
I turned my head, feeling her behind me, close but not touching, and I reached out to take her hand. ‘I can’t tell her what to do. Don’t you know your daughter? Some birds can’t be caged… and some women will never be pushed into following others’ expectations.’ I brought her hand to my lips and kissed it. ‘Sana will decide where and whom she wants to be.’
Some of the tension left his body when Roksana moved closer, placing her other hand on my shoulder. ‘Let me heal you one last time. I want my father to see my wedding.’ She was haggling with death, and I bet she’d hold the wedding tomorrow if her father indulged her wish. Regret and determination entered Boyan’s eyes. The look of a man who knew he was going to die and had decided to go on his own terms.
‘No, child. I miss your mother. There isn’t enough aether in the world to heal me.’
Sana’s hand tightened on my shoulder. She exhaled slowly, turning away from the ailing man. ‘I’ll bring you something for the cough. If you don’t want my magic, you’ll drink my potions,’ she said, rushing out of the room, leaving me alone with him. Boyan’s gaze followed her until the door snapped shut, then it returned to me.
‘My desk, behind the second drawer – and be careful of the poisoned needles,’ he said, and it took me a moment to realise he’d commanded me to retrieve something for him. I needed Irsha’s help, but soon, I returned with a small box. Boyan’s breathing was even more laboured. He nodded for me to pass him the box, and when he opened it, the smell of pine and moss filled the room.
‘You promised, yes? That it will be her choice?’ Boyan’s voice grew stronger as he stared at me. ‘Swear on your soul that you won’t keep her against her will.’
‘You know I will!’ I said, unsure where this conversation was going and offended that he didn’t believe my words.
‘Her mother left this.’ He pulled out an emerald with a light trapped within. ‘No, not left. I stole it from her. I clipped Dobra’s wings.’ He watched the light swirl like a man possessed. ‘I couldn’t let her leave.’ He pushed the gem into my hand, and it pulsed like a slow-beating heart. ‘Give that to Sana; be a better man than I was. Dobra…’ The coughing started again, leaving him breathless. I wished I could push the jewel into his throat for burdening me with a task he wasn’t strong enough to carry out.
‘You can do it yourself,’ I said, but he shook his head.
‘No. I couldn’t bear to see the hatred in her eyes when she realises I trapped her mother on the mortal plane. That she had to die here because of my greed, because I loved her more than I feared the gods. Please…’ He couldn’t speak any longer, but his gaze held the plea that forced me to push the damned gem into my pocket. I listened to Boyan’s death rattle as it grew more pronounced when Sana rushed in with a small vial.
‘Drink it!’ She rushed to the bed and pushed the rim of the vial between his lips. ‘Drink it, you stubborn son of a bitch.’ Boyan turned his head, and the liquid splashed on the pillow, mixing with the spots already marked by his blood. ‘No, that’s it. You’re not thinking clearly.’ I felt the aether shift, and an emerald haze coated Sana’s fingertips.
I took her hand and pressed it to my chest. ‘No, my love,’ I whispered when she struggled in my grip. ‘Please let him have a dignified death.’
She struggled until, with a silent step, Irsha stood by her side. The assassin wore a black tunic and trousers, but I frowned at the long dagger reflecting the candlelight each time he moved his hand. The weapon was crudely made, but the simple steel blade was deadly sharp. The handle was thickly wrapped in countless leather strips. I wondered why he carried such a bizarre weapon when I heard her gasp.
‘Irsha… please, no. We still have time.’ She pulled free from my arms, grabbing Irsha’s wrists, but he shook his head. More people poured into the room, silent dark witnesses waiting for the end.
Irsha cut a leather strip from his belt and wrapped it around the dagger’s hilt, then leaned over the Grand Master. ‘He requested this, Sana.’ Blade’s voice was flat, his eyes fixed on Boyan. The old man smiled, radiating contentment despite the bloody froth on his lips. When she reached for the strap to pull it away, he snapped. ‘I am following the Grand Master’s command. Step away, poisoner.’
The inhuman sound that escaped Sana’s throat covered my skin in goosebumps. Even worse was the raw pain in Irsha’s eyes. I knew this feeling all too well. Blade was seeing to the will of his master, following him to the bitter end, even if it shattered his heart. He looked at me with eyes dark as the pit, begging for my help. I reached for Sana, but she pushed forward, leaning over Boyan and taking his hand.
‘I love you, and I forgive you… I wish we’d had more time as a family, but if it cannot be, know that in my heart you will always be my father,’ she whispered, and I had to swallow hard to push the lump down my throat. ‘Vivere Mori; to live is to die. Do it, Irsha.’ Her words circled the room, repeated by others and spread down the corridor, building to a crescendo. It was a wave that threatened to drown us, repeated by the unyielding voices of the Dark Brotherhood harmonising in wordless grief.
