I go still. No one is speaking. No one’s mouth is moving. I look up. The young man with the golden hair who stands behind thewoman meets my gaze. To my surprise, his eyes are golden like mine.
He winks.
“Who the fuck is this?”I think.
Your cousin,the voice answers easily.Your mother’s brother’s son.
My attention narrows. "Why are you in my head?"
"Because you’ve made it easy. And because I don’t speak."
"Ever?"
"Ever."
"By choice?"
"That is none of your business. As you can see, I'm not missing out on much."
"You must wish to be in this dreadful room forever."
"I do not," is all I manage.
"Then hurry up,”he continues, amused.“If Aunt Petunis decides to start waving that staff again, I promise you won’t enjoy it.”
I narrow my eyes slightly, adjusting my expression before anyone else can notice."Aunt Petunis?"
"Yes. Try to keep up. The woman in the throne who just screamed at you. That is our Aunt Petunis."
“Balkton.” Her voice cuts through everything again, rising, the staff beginning to lift?—
The doors burst open. “Death to all!”
The words tear through the chamber, breaking whatever order had just begun to form.
CHAPTER 16
Snakes and Vermin
The doors swing open before Aunt Petunis can strike her staff again, and instead of order, something entirely different bursts into the room.
A small child charges through the threshold with two wooden swords raised high, his movements wild and triumphant, as though he has just claimed victory over an invisible army. He swings them in broad, uncoordinated arcs, then plants his feet and points both blades toward the gathered court.
“Death upon you all, royal vermin!”
One of the swords answers him. A bolt of light shoots from its tip, cutting cleanly through the air toward the nearest courtier.
“Oh my?—”
The man jerks backward just in time, the light striking the place where he had been standing and scattering across the floor in a harmless burst. No one moves at first. I look toward the young man with the golden hair. He is choking back a laugh.
“I am a snake,” the child continues with complete conviction, “and I will use my venom to destroy you all!”
Before I can make sense of it, a female child appears at my side so suddenly that I nearly startle. “I am the one bringing death. Snakes are worthless,” she says, sticking out her tongue.
"Better a snake than a fucking puff cloud," the first child glares at the girl, then drops his swords. His body collapses inward, reforming until a snake coils where he stood, its length winding rapidly around the legs of the pale man who had just ordered me to leave.
“Get off me!” Balkton shouts, his composure shattering as he tries to wrench himself free, his movements sharp with something dangerously close to panic.
