Page 120 of Sworn to the Shadow Throne

“I could execute you for treason instead,” I said coldly.

He shook his head once. With his knees buckling, my shadows were all that prevented the guard’s collapse.

“Your demotion is immediate. Once released, you are forbidden from entering the castle grounds.”

I didn’t wait for a response because I didn’t care. Such was my agitation that when I tried to dismiss my shadows, they appeared as ropes of smoke, twisting and curling unwillingly back into my skin.

Camrick clasped the unresisting Michen by the arm and hauled him toward the door. It shut behind them with a final, echoing thud. The remaining guards stood frozen.

“You will speak of this to no one,” I said to them. “Not the arrest. Not the reason. Nor the rumor. If word of specifics spread further, I will assume your complicity.”

They swallowed in unison. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“Dismissed.”

They fled.

Only when the chamber emptied did the tremor hit my hands.

I looked down at them. Hands that had just threatened four men, that had used my magic like a garrote, that had left a fracture in solid oak. The same hands that had, not long ago, steadied a woman who was trying very hard not to let anyone see that she was shaking too.

I pressed them flat against the table until the trembling stopped.

She would’ve hated seeing this, but I already knew I’d do so much worse to protect her.

Camrick returned several minutes later, brushing nonexistent dust from his shirt. “Michen is secured.”

I just sat there dumbly, still thinking about Lunette.

“When will you release him?” Camrick asked casually, as though inquiring about the weather.

I stared at the heavy oak table, at the fracture line my fist had left in its surface.

“I’m going to leave that up to you,” I said. “If I had my way, I’d let him rot.”

Camrick huffed a humorless laugh. “Ah… Exceptionally clear-headed thinking, Your Highness.”

“Careful,” I warned mildly.

“No, no,” he continued, voice syrup-thick with sarcasm. “It’s brilliant. Give the man time in a damp hole to contemplate his betrayal. Let him decide when he’s sufficiently remorseful. Very progressive of you.”

I shot him a flat look.

His hands shot up in mock surrender. “Hey, you didn’t kill him.”

“Don’t mistake restraint for mercy.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

A heavy quiet settled between us.

He leaned back against the wall. “You think it’s already reached them.”

It wasn’t a question. Camrick had a thousand reasons to hate and fear the Assembly as much as I did—and most of his were even more personal than mine.

I turned toward the narrow window slit. The sky beyond had darkened from purple to a shade of oppressive gray. Low clouds pressed toward the castle like an advancing army on the horizon.

The bond in my chest tightened painfully. They would send a delegation to assert their control over her. Claim that someone so powerful needed oversight.