The glow bubbling up inside her died, though, when Lucas grinned.
“All I have to say,” he croaked through cracked lips, “was that the little slut enjoyed it.”
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Ciana’s mother paled, swaying slightly on her feet.
Sebastian moved first.
He was back in Lucas’s face, just like he’d been the other night. He gripped the front of Lucas’s shirt, lip pulled back in a sneer, normally neat hair falling forward across his brow.
“She wastwelve, you fucking animal,” he growled. “Achild. And all you have to say for yourself is that sheenjoyedit?”
Lucas blinked, then shrugged.
Ciana was fairly certain Sebastian was about to gut him right then.
She couldn’t say she would be upset about it. Her stomach was turning, her blood pounding in her ears. She wanted nothing more than to run and hide away from all this, just like she’d done when she was younger.
Before the monster had dragged her back out, kicking and screaming.
“Thank you, Sebastian.” Mariah placed a hand on her Armature’s back. After three beats of Ciana’s heart, Sebastian finally relaxed, letting go of Lucas’s shirt and shoving the boy away. He staggered into his father, who caught him with a look of disgust.
Ciana knew it wasn’t disgust at his son’s confessions.
It was disgust at being caught.
“Leon Blaise. Lucas Blaise. Marion Blaise.” The wind swirled through Mariah’s hair. “You are hereby banished from taking refuge here in Kreah. I don’t care where you go, but it will not be here. You can keep your lives, and you will consider it a blessing. But I will not allow you to enjoy the sanctuary I have bargained for my people.” Mariah paused, focusing her attention solely on Leon.
“Things are changing in Onita, Sir Blaise. Monsters will no longer be allowed to hide behind privilege and wealth. Take your family and leave.Now.”
The watching crowd was silent, waiting?—
“You cannot do this!” Leon erupted. “We are valued members of this society. If you cast us out, you will regret it!”
A sense of cold dread entered Ciana’s veins, but Mariah appeared unfazed. Instead, she turned to the crowd.
“If you allow the Blaise family to stay amongst you, none of you will be permitted to make camp. You will be sent back across the desert with them, country-less and queen-less. The choice is yours.” Mariah spun on her heel, Sebastian following silently.
They both stopped before Ciana, towering over her. That cool, slimy feeling still crept through her, but as she met Mariah’s gaze, it melted a touch.
Mariah might have just created enemies—not just of the Blaise family, but of everyone who’d traveled all this way. She may have lost some of her people’s trust, may have instilled fear in their hearts rather than love.
But she’d done it anyway. For Ciana.
Something cracked in Ciana’s chest. She reached out a hand, gripping Mariah’s.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Her lips tilted up in a soft smile, and the wind chilled the single tear rolling down her cheek.
Mariah squeezed Ciana’s hand. “For you? Always and anything, Cee.” She glanced at Sebastian.
“We need to get back to Amasis’sserekah. The others are waiting. There’s a lot we need to discuss.”
Chapter 22
Mariah was silent as her court settled around the dining room table in Amasis’sserekah. Ciana watched her curiously, unruly curls wild around her face and shadows under her amber eyes.
Mariah still fumed over the confrontation with the Blaise family. Maybe she could have handled it with a bit more tact, but she didn’t care. She meant what she’d said: people like that had no place in the world she wanted to build, and they certainly wouldn’t enjoy the safety she’d so riskily bargained for.
Besides that, what was even more curious to Mariah wasSebastian. He’d always been protective and supportive, but never violent. In fact, he’d always been the one to push Mariah toward peace and diplomacy instead of something rash.
