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“Are you sure about that? If I’m lying, I’ll end up in the dungeon anyway. But if I’m telling the truth, and you don’t inform the king about it, you’ll end up holding your own severed head in your hands.”
“If you are lying,” Lord Gareth said, narrowing his gaze, “you won’t even make it to the dungeon.”
With a nod from the grand kingsliege, a guard brought the heavy hilt of his sword down against Felix’s head, and everything went black.
• • •
When Felix came to, he had only one thought: The dungeon didn’t smell nearly as bad as he would have expected it to. As he pried open his eyes, he realized that was for a very good reason. He wasn’t in the dungeon.
He was in the throne room, lying flat on his back at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at the royal dais. And there was the king seated upon the golden throne he’d stolen.
Or won, depending on what side one was on.
This throne room was nearly identical to the one in the north, only where the Limerian one was dark and gray and hard, this one was gold and bright and . . . hard.
Felix pushed himself up to his feet and bowed deeply, ignoring the pounding pain in his head.
“Your majesty.”
Standing to the right of King Gaius was Lord Gareth. His arms were crossed, and his lined expression was dour as he peered down his sharp nose at Felix.
“Felix Graebas,” the king addressed him. “I’ve been very disappointed not to receive word from you in all this time. Many believed you to be dead, which would have been a loss for both the Clan and for Limeros. But here you are, alive and well.”
o;I don’t save kittens, lady,” he growled.
Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Oh, please. There’s no one else around to help right now. Please do this, in Goddess Cleiona’s name. She loved animals—all animals, big and small.”
“Yeah, well, I’m Limerian and our Goddess Valoria only liked animals if they ate kittens for breakfast.”
A hawk passed overhead, its shadow crossing Felix’s path. The woman shielded her eyes from the bright sun as she looked up at it with panic.
Felix wasn’t sure if it was a real hawk or a Watcher, but it did look rather hungry for small felines.
Cruel and uncaring, remember?
He glanced at the woman who looked up with him with such hope that he might help her.
Damn it.
It didn’t take very long at all to climb the tree, grab the cat, and return to the ground.
“Take it,” he said gruffly, shoving the furry handful away.
“Oh, thank you!” She gratefully took the kitten into her arms and kissed it multiple times. Then she grabbed Felix’s face and noisily kissed both his cheeks. “You are a hero!”
He just glared at her. “I am most definitely not a hero. Now, do me a favor and forget you ever saw me.”
Without another word, he began walking away from the old woman, her cat, and the stupid tree of shame.
• • •
He reached the city late that afternoon, when the sun had begun to slip behind the horizon, painting the sky with streaks of red and orange.
Felix took a deep breath as he approached the first palace entrance. Two guards crossed their sharp spears in front of him, stopping him from taking another step. He sized them up. Both massive men made Felix’s own tall and muscular frame look puny in comparison.
“Greetings, friends,” he began with a grin. “Lovely day, isn’t it?”
“Go away,” the mountainous guard on the left said.
