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That further incenses me. How like her to be worried about others when she should be worried about herself. I slam the door behind me.
Downstairs, as soon as I emerge from the Great Hall, I’m inundated by questions, claims, and requests. “Silence!” I roar. There are a few lingering yammers but most take me seriously. I start with my most pressing concern. “Where are the men who stayed behind in the stronghold?” I search those around me, surprised to find Gray front and center.
“In the holding cells,” Eldon says grimly, handing me the knife I gave to Rina. “I took this off of Dumfries.”
“Son of a twisted womb.” With so much fury riding me, I’m sorely tempted to go down there and end the man, but there are more important things to contend with. Namely, my cousin. Is it reasonable to expect Eldon to continue as my Second after I’ve ended his sire? He must follow the direction of my thoughts because he inclines his head more deeply than usual, causing a small flutter in my chest. His support is key to my ruleandmy sanity. It always has been and it always will be. I give him a terse nod and move on to the next issue. “The horses have been brought in?”
Noé, blistering with his own barely contained rage, grits out, “Yes, Deve.” When we arrived at the gates, instead of forcing the guardsman – who was clearly relieved to see us – to begin the process of re-opening them, we came in the hatch door.
“Where’s Elsy?” I demand.
A path is cleared, letting me see the woman crouched with Kata on the cobbles. “See to the a’deve,” I order as the women stand. My eyes zero in on the little maid.Is that blood along her collar?The pitch of my gut at the realization that she took a lash for Rina is almost enough to make me wince. But I can’t think about that right now, I have much to get through first.
And so the day goes. Piece by piece, what transpired in my absence is assembled into a grisly picture of betrayal and disloyalty. The need to do violence sits like a nagging crone on my shoulder, constantly pushing me to act out. But I am the deve, not a spoiled child. Plus the thought of Rina being disappointed in me is enough to keep myself under control. I’ve already failed her enough for an entire lifetime and adding to the tally against myself is unappealing in the extreme.
By the time we gather in the map room, the sun has long since set and my patience has dwindled to near non-existent levels. But I need to hear my men’s thoughts before tomorrow comes.
“How is it possible that DumfriesandGore were left behind when we headed east to answer the Wolves’ call?” I grind out, pacing from one end of the room to the other, only stopping to throw a glare at Noé who, as Warrior Commander, is in charge of managing the men.
He’s defiant. “It wasn’t my idea to leave so many men behind. Dumfries and Gore were not among those clamoring to come along.”
“This is not useful, Luka,” Eldon says, sounding about as content as I feel. “If anything, it was my mistake to defer to my father’s wishes this morning. He duped me into letting the three of them stay behind to defend the stronghold against savages that did not even exist.” He pounds his fist on the table. “I was such a fool.”
Bron, who is finally well enough to speak with some sense after the blow he took to the head, sighs. “None of this could have been foreseen. Teo actually supported the match with Rina. That he cooked up this scheme and then actually went through with it is beyond comprehension. And it was me who failed to convince Rina to hide. The blame is mine.”
The wordhidechafes, but Bron is right, he should have done more. “Tell me, how exactly, she managed to defy you.” My sarcasm-laden tone has him smoothing a hand over his bruised face before he meets my eyes.
“She thought facing Teo might help to earn her a place here, that maybe –”
I snatch a candleholder off the sideboard and hurl it at the hearth. “Damn her into the Abyss! It’s not her place tothink.She should fucking obey.”
The sudden quiet is broken by Eldon’s sardonic, “Luka, you like herbecauseshe thinks. And so do the women of this realm. You saw how they lined up to defend her. That is true loyalty.”
I throw myself into my chair at the head of the table as Noé sets his mug of ale down. “The women did make an impressive display today, but in general, they are . . .” His hand circles in the air, trying to find the right word.
“They are crucial,” Bron supplies. “They make up more than half of our population.”
“Not what I was going for,” Noé fires back. “I was going to say they’re of little consequence.”
That sets Eldon off, and he and Noé get into an argument about the value of women to my rule. I finally cut them off with a much more pressing question. “What the fuck are we going to do with Dumfries, Gore, and CrionbloodyCyrun?”
Ion, who’s been quiet up until now, pain-induced sweat on his brow from his recently-set dislocated shoulder, answers plainly, “They die.” He was found unconscious and tied up in this very room. He’d been on his way back to Rina when he was attacked by the four traitors.
“Fuck me,” I bitch, thinking we can’t afford to keep losing trained warriors at this rate.
“He’s right,” Noé affirms. “They must die. There can’t be any room to maneuver within the ranks. It’s follow or challenge. Full stop.”
Eldon is nodding. “Agreed. And this underhanded bullshit shouldn’t be rewarded with a chance to restore their honor either. Fuck them. They go to the block.”
My brows lift. “You’re usually the most level-headed of us.”
“They’re nothing but cowards,” he retorts. “If they wanted to challenge you to combat, they would have.”
“You know it’s not that simple,” I tell him. “There are factors –”
“No,” he cuts me off. “It’s possible my sire thought he was doing what was best, but most likely, he was just a bitter old man who overstepped, same as Dumfries, same as Gore.”
“What about my brother?” Bron asks miserably. “He’s only twenty-one.”
