Draevyn’s stomach dropped as he took in the sight. “Holy Irah,” he whispered.
Bodies. So many bodies were scattered across the yard—the otherhalf of Esmyra’s crew. Their limbs were twisted as their blood soaked into the dirt.
No.
They were dead. All of them. Every mortal ofThe Night Wraith’screw met their fate at the edge of a blade, or a?—
“What a godsdamn disappointment.” Atlas’s voice sounded, and Draevyn’s attention whirled in his direction.
Across the yard, still alive but forced to their knees, were Sam and Tommy. They were bruised and beaten bloody, their weapons scattered in the soil in front of them. Their heads were bowed as they knelt before Atlas.
Draevyn clenched the reins so hard his knuckles went pale.What the fuck am I going to do?
“I don’t know what’s been going through my brother’s head lately, but I expected better from you, Samwell.” Atlas turned slowly, eyes sweeping the scattered bodies of the prisoners. “Let this be a lesson to those who betray their new king—to those who aidmonstersand dare to choose treason over loyalty.”
“Atlas, stop!” Draevyn bellowed, and all eyes in the yard turned to him as he leapt down from his horse.
He barely registered the guards as they took a step toward him, blades unsheathed.
Atlas’s gaze darkened in the moonlight. “This doesn’t concern you, Draevyn.”
“Doesn’t concern me? These are my men!” Draevyn’s chest heaved as he came to a halt a few feet before him. “And youslaughteredhers.”
“They weretraitors,” Atlas snapped. “Pirates who were prisoners of the crown. A crown they defied.”
He waved his arm behind him, and when Draevyn’s stare followed, he noticed it was Varis wiping blood from his blade.
“At least Varis understood that when he got here before I did,” Atlas boomed. “He may be a sneaky prick, but at least he’s loyal to Lephyrin!”
Fucking Varis.
Varis’s eyes widened, irritation creeping across his face. “Your Majesty?”
Atlas waved him off, ignoring him.
Embers burned at the edges of Draevyn’s fingers. “You didn’t have to kill them.”
“Oh, but we did, Brother,” Atlas said, stepping forward. “Youmade this worse. Your crew aided them. And now, they’ve earned the same fate. They will face the noose by sunrise tomorrow.”
The guards raised their weapons.
Fucking hells.Flames licked up Draevyn’s arms as he stepped in front of Sam and Tommy, who remained kneeling on the ground.
“Touch them,” he growled, “and IswearI’ll turn this entire yard to ash. Your men with it.”
Hurt flashed across his brother’s face, but then shadows swarmed in his dark eyes. “Then you’re truly lost,” Atlas hissed as he took a step toward him.
“They werepeople!” Draevyn bellowed, barely recognizing the man staring back at him. “You didn’t even give them a trial. How are you any better than our father after doing this? You’re becoming him faster than he even fell into the role himself, Atlas!”
His brother sneered, taking a step into him. “They’re bloody fucking pirates, Draevyn! And the worst of them. Let’s not forget what put us in this little predicament in the first place. They kidnappedyou.”
The guards surrounding the scene watched, shifting on their feet as the silence stretched.
And then a high-pitchedscreechsplit the night air. Every head snapped up as an owl, ghost-white and wide-winged, cut across the midnight sky. The wind picked up, whistling through the trees and rattling the leaves above.
Draevyn’s lip twitched upward then.
Jak.
