Tanner stumbled back. “Wait—”
“Enough,” I said, blood in my mouth. And then I sent the earth hurtling toward him like a plague of locusts.
It blinded him first, invading the crevices between his closed lids, wheedling into the ducts and sockets. The rest funneled through his nose, passed his lips, and he was gagging, choking, scratching at his eyes and throat. Lords and soldiers who rushed to his side quickly found themselves similarly inflicted and stumbled away. They left their Head of House on the ground, ears weeping, mouth spewing earth and root and weed. My mind could feel the way it distended his stomach, his lungs, filling him up, but I wanted it in his blood, in his heart.
My hands shook, and my fingers curled inward.
The ground gave way beneath Tanner. It bowed as though it were a breathing creature, its hands rising to draw Tanner in. Slowly, I bid it devour him, and he sank and sank, heeding its grasp.
And the lords could do nothing but watch. They were weak and fearful and ordinary. They knew nothing of the earth and how it longed to devour them, too. I could make it so, if I wished.
I turned to all the navy blue swimming before my eyes. Rage made my hands into claws.
“Nina!” Theo said. He took my hands, then my face, but he was navy, too.
“DON’T TOUCH ME!” I shouted, shoving him hard. And the ground shook again. A fracture split through the floor of the courtyard.
There were suddenly many hands on me. Guards gripping my arms, my neck. Only now appearing, far later than they should have.
The ground shuddered violently.
And then there was a flash of steel, and for the second time, my arm was slashed and brilliant blood cascaded.
My breath caught at the pain. My heart stuttered, and the earth stilled.
Somewhere beyond, I heard Patrick shout. I saw him buck and kick and free himself from his own wave of guards, throw his fists into their jaws.
I felt the power trickle from me, slowly at first, and then all at once. My vision swam.
A puce-faced lord rose from the ground. “Shackle her!” he roared, pointing a demented finger at me. “Summon the jailer!”
There was an uproar of accession as the other lords recovered, realizing the danger had passed. They rose from the ground with gritty eyes and slack mouths. They looked at the fresh mound of earth where Tanner had been moments ago. Then they looked at me with outright horror. With revulsion.
“She should hang!”
“No, she shall rot in a cell!”
“No,” called Lord Shop, stepping into their midst, his eyes hungry. “No sentence will yet pass down to the earth Charmer.”
The lords brayed. Some wept. The puce-faced lord stepped forward, his chest heaving. “And who are you to decide?” he spat, eyes pulsating. “Who are you to determine the fate of anassassin?”
“I am Lord Tanner’s successor,” Lord Shop said, and it rang out too loud, too final, the other lords becoming quiet. Realization doused fury. The brays and barks tumbled to a halt.
“I am the Head of House Belavere,” Shop said, louder still. “And the earth Charmer will not be touched by a single Artisan or Crafter without my say so.”
CHAPTER TWELVEPATRICK
The guards brought Patrick along to what was once Tanner’s quarters— a mistake.
The second he entered and laid eyes on Lord Shop, he sought to wrap his bound hands around the new Right Honorable Lord’s thin neck and squeeze the life from it. As it was, the soldiers were prepared, and Patrick scuffled fruitlessly.
“He’s rabid, my lord!” one guard panted, wrapping his arm around Patrick’s throat. “We ought to put ’im behind a locked door.”
“No,” Lord Shop said, standing behind the ornately carved oak desk as though it had been his all along. He fingered the whorls on the wood grain with one finger, but his eyes were on the clock. “He’ll tire himself soon.”
“You fuckin’ son of a bitch!”Patrick roared, rearing back. His head connected with a guard’s. More howling. “I’ll kill you!”
“But then you’d have no authority with which to negotiate, would you, Mr. Colson?” Lord Shop said. “Calm yourself.”
