Page 108

I pushed myself upright. “Enough to pull my body towards you, but not enough to silence me or make me hurt you. He worded the order as if taking you to the Crown would protect you, and the restraints recognised the destination. If he tries again with a stronger claim on the regency, I may have less time to resist.”

“He tried it because Lenora has the guards. He needs me crowned before the witnesses strip his authority.” Bryony threw my trousers at me. “We show the outer court Harrowmere’s memory and take that power away.”

“Adrian will have to answer in person or abandon his claim. He’ll choose the Crown if he can reach it.”

“Then we make sure he can’t. Get dressed.”

A deep bell rang beyond the sealed gate.

Once. Twice. A third strike shook the glass in the lamps.

I knew that signal. Every vampire who answered to Harrowmere knew it.

The witness room had opened.

Bryony was already reaching for her clothes. “Looks like Lenora beat us to it.”

28

BRYONY

The wardrobe opened while I was reaching for my bloodstained green jumper.

A clean black top and matching skirt slid from the rail and landed across the nearest chair. The top had long sleeves and a low neckline, while the skirt had enough stretch to let me move properly.

“Harrowmere has opinions about my clothes,” I said.

Stellan buttoned a clean black shirt over his chest. “It has excellent judgement.”

“You’re agreeing because it chose black.”

“I’m agreeing because it wants you out of the stained clothes.” His gaze moved over me. “Although I support the neckline.”

I changed while he pulled on boots. The red bands around his ankles showed for a moment before the leather covered them. His wrist restraints remained visible under his open cuffs.

The witness bell rang again.

Stellan crossed the room and opened the door. The garden waited outside, but another doorway had appeared beside the spring. White light marked its frame, and voices came from the other side.

“That room sits across Harrowmere’s inner boundary,” he said. “The accused and the witnesses enter from the outer court. The Crown and Blood King enter from this side.”

“I’m not wearing the Crown.”

“Then the room will decide whether it accepts your blood without it. Don’t let anyone rush you across the dividing line. Adrian may still have guards in the outer passage.”

“You felt what he just tried to make you do. You don’t have to warn me about him.”

Stellan caught my hand before I could pass. “I’m warning you because the blood cuffs won’t let me follow if he reaches you on the other side.”

The humour left the room. I turned my hand and held his properly.

“I’ll stay where you can reach me until we know who’s waiting.”

We entered together.

The witness room was long and narrow, with bare stone walls and no furniture. A white line cut across the middle. Stellan’s side held a carved raven set into the floor. The outer half had five shallow bowls built into a waist-high ledge.

Lenora stood beyond the line with the four surviving guards. Their armour had been removed, leaving the blood marks over their hearts visible through torn shirts. The dead vampire lay under a black cloth near the outer door.