Damn this traitorous body.
I snapped my eyes to him.He was sprawled in his throne, his legs splayed and fingers tapping leisurely against the armrest.Behind him, Azmik emerged from the shadows, gliding over the back of the throne before coming to rest against Dalkhan’s shoulder.The creature’s scales gleamed with flames that cast an eerie glow across the king’s sharp features.
Dalkhan’s gaze remained locked onto mine with an intensity that made my skin prickle with awareness.
It took all my willpower to tear my eyes away.I was not about to let him humiliate me again.I turned with deliberate confidence, grabbing Theo and Tavrik by the wrists and guiding them to our table.
This time I sat with my back to him.
Theo leaned in.“Was that a fuckingsnake?”His voice was a strangled whisper and his eyes wide with horror.
Theo’s fear of snakes was one he would never overcome.Once, back home, a harmless garden snake had slithered over his foot and wrapped itself around his ankle.He’d jumped and screamed with such force that he’d ultimately fainted.He had later claimed, that it had bitten him.
It hadn’t.
I shook my head, fighting the urge to laugh.
“It’s not like it’s on you,” I whispered back.“Just calm down.”
“Why is it onfire?”he hissed, face paler than I’d ever seen it.
Tavrik couldn’t resist the opportunity.He dragged a fingertip up Theo’s back in a slow, sinuous pattern, mimicking the movement of a snake.Theo jumped from his seat with a high-pitched scream that echoed through the hall, embarrassingly loud.
Tavrik and I dissolved into helpless laughter.Theo shot us both a lethal glare.
“Shut.Up,” he growled through gritted teeth, sinking back into his seat.
We settled down, turning our attention to the feast laid out before us.We filled our plates with the most mouthwatering foods, rich and heavily spiced, unlike anything we had eaten before.Theo’s eyes caught mine and I smirked, reminding him of the pitiful rabbit we had eaten before arriving here.
He gagged at the memory, holding up a hand.“Don’t”
I threw my head back and laughed.As I retold the ridiculous story, Tavrik’s deep laughter mixed with mine.For a precious, fleeting moment, I forgot where I was.Forgot the weight pressing down on me.
The food, the wine, the easy conversations—everything flowed effortlessly.Jinn sat beside us, not as enemies or captors, but as drinking companions, sharing their own tales.Even Jasila seemed at ease.Her posture softening, the sharp edges of her usual scowl dulled by the warm atmosphere.
Maybe this was how I would gain their trust.Not by scheming or forcing my way in.Just by being here.
I had forgotten about Dalkhan, leaning into Theo as he wrapped his arm around my waist.
Suddenly everyone deserted their plates, standing with their heads bowed.We shot up just in time, lowering our heads as well.
Dalkhan stormed from his throne, each step measured, deliberate, an unspoken warning that he dictated the weight of the world here.Not us.
The braziers shifted as he moved, their flames bending toward him, drawn to the heat that radiated from his skin.He passed us without a word—without even a glance.His anger was a silent snarl that burned in the air.
“What the fuck was that?”Theo whispered.
I had no answer.And worse, I didn’t want to find out.
I returned to my room alone, working my shoulders in small circles to chase away the knots.
It didn’t help.
The books remained untouched on the wooden table.Dalkhan’s name gleamed in the dim torchlight.I froze.Then, before I could talk myself out of it, I grabbed the heavy tome, its leather cover cool beneath my touch.
Crossing the room, I sank onto the bed, tucking my legs beneath me.The book loomed in my lap, heavier than it should’ve been, like the weight of everything I had yet to understand pressed within its pages.I brushed my fingers over the cover once more before finally prying it open.
The scent of old parchment and ink curled in the air.I’d always loved that smell, the promise of knowledge—of secrets waiting to be uncovered.But this wasn’t just any book.This washisbook, holding the truth of the man I was meant to kill.
