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“Convenient, is it not?” asks Malin Normund. “Bring us all here only to wipe us out and have the throne to yourselves?”
“The throne is not available.” Elden peers quizzically at him. “We have a queen... Queen Thae.”
“Until you poison her milk,” yells an unknown woman somewhere in the crowd.
Oh boy. I take a deep breath. This party is about to turn ugly.
Chapter Fifteen
Backup Plan
The most vexing thing to me is that no one really had a villain meltdown.
In the aftermath of the failed poisoning, I observe the following:
Sansha Galahir ‘can’t even.’ She’s overwhelmed, crying, and seems to have lost the ability to speak. I can’t tell if she’s frightened for what might be about to happen to her and her brother or if she’s horrified people almost got killed.
Elden displays a more reserved version of his sister’s reaction. Despite being midway into his twenties, he’s got the demeanor of a small boy whose parents died suddenly and it’s up to him to protect himself and his sister—and he’s not sure what to do next.
Meritha Teredwyn did look briefly angry. Might be a sign of guilt. Might be indignation at someone trying to kill her.
Nielf’s response is almost entirely panic. The man’s throwing off ‘coming here was a mistake’ vibes so hard I start to feel anxious merely from looking at him.
Roldon Barathor is furious. However, his anger has no clear target. He’s looking around at the other nobles as if searching for someone he can beat to a pulp. If he was Nesanth failing to control her rage at the plan being foiled, he’d be angry at Tammy. Seems he’s mostly focused on Malin Normund.
Anvar gives off disappointment. That could be a clue he’s Nesanth in disguise as much as it’s simply a reflection of his admitted hope the other noble houses all die off. During our day-long debate yesterday, Kingsley referred to the man as a ‘nihilistic hedonist.’
Nald Mur’s only reaction to his almost death is pure gratitude toward Tammy. He doesn’t even seem to be overly concerned that someone tried to kill him, just happy to be alive.
This gets me eyeing Anvar and Meritha. If one of them is Nesanth, their responses are the most likely. Maybe Nielf, too. If so, Nesanth is a surprisingly good actress. I did not expect a dark master to be able to portray cowardice at all. They’re usually too egotistical.
Roldon abruptly draws a small sword from his belt while spinning around to face behind him a second before a male partygoer shapeshifts from a guy in rich clothing to a black-hooded assassin. He’s too fast for the assassin, stabbing him in the chest before the man can even get his dagger out of its sheath. Blood sprays across the faces of two women and three men beside them.
Screaming happens.
All bloody hell breaks loose.
A dozen or more party guests transform into assassins at the same time. For all I know, they’d been assassins the whole time with illusion spells on them making them look like random rich people. Or, maybe, Nesanth is pissed off and changing people into assassins.
Sansha screams almost as loud as Paxton seeing a spider in the bathroom, still clinging to her brother and begging him to protect her. Elden fumbles to draw the dagger from the scabbard on his belt. It’s clear he’s never used one before in a real fight, though he seems determined to try.
Kingsley lunges forward, driving his huge fist into the face of an assassin going for Nald Mur’s back. The man had been too focused on thanking Tammy to see it coming. I’m not sure which disturbs me more between the assassin’s head bursting open like a coconut going under a truck tire or the gleeful smile on Kingsley’s face as he destroys the man. After the massive frustration of the past two days, I think the big guy is seriously in need of an outlet for his rage.
Multiple conveniently placed pitchers of water let me summon my ice blade. In the time it takes the water to float up out of the ewer and solidify, assassins attack all over the place. One goes for Nielf, who oh-so-chivalrously panic shoves Meritha into the man before running away. If they both survive this, I imagine the mood will be rather awkward for them at dinner later.
Another assassin chases Anvar through a cluster of less politically important guests. The artist jumps over a powder-blue sofa. The assassin tries to simultaneously jump after him and attack, landing a fairly mild slice across Anvar’s back before tripping over a huge vase beside the sofa and wiping out. Anvar, either too panicked or too high to notice his injury, doesn’t scream or slow down—and continues to run.
Anthony rushes over to the Galahirs. Sansha is so terrified, innocent, and panicky, she totally pulled on his need to help the weak. Normally, watching a grown woman behave like that scared little French girl in the World War II movie who just stood there in the street while bullets flew all around her would be the opposite of endearing to me. However, her screaming and pleading doesn’t make me want to roll my eyes and tell her to grow up. She’s not acting for sympathy at all. Given her mental damage, I can’t fault her.
I’m also ninety-nine percent sure her terror is genuine. It’s really damn hard to pretend to be that scared, and I’m also mostly sure no dark master could ever seem so pathetic.
Although… no assassin is going anywhere near her or her brother.
Allison hurls crackling lightning balls at any assassin she has a clear line of fire on. Lindsey’s a bit less showy. Whenever she points at a black-hooded guy, the assassin bursts into flames spontaneously.
Partygoers dive for cover. Some try to crawl under tables. Some run for windows. Others stand still, overcome with panic.
Meritha bounces off the assassin her cousin threw her at and crashes to the ground on her stomach. The woman drags herself across the floor away from him, trying to get away and stand up at the same time. He leaps down at her, raising his dagger...
