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A different guard wasn’t as fast.
Naberius’s tail swept the legs right out from under him, knocking the god onto his back.
I blinked.
“Seraphena.” Attes’s quiet voice intruded, causing me to jerk. He stood close but didn’t touch me as Naberius’s head returned to the floor, and his eyes closed. “You should return to the dais.”
My gaze shifted back to Kolis as he reclined on the throne. “I…I don’t understand.”
“It’s okay,” Attes reassured, but it wasn’t okay. It was nowhere near all right. “You need to return to the dais.”
I didn’t feel myself walking, but I was. Attes stayed close to my side until I reached the platform. He remained there until I climbed the steps.
“Thank you, Attes,” Kolis said, his swirling eyes locked on Naberius.
Attes might have answered, but I wasn’t sure as the conversations picked up behind me, once more becoming a quiet murmur of voices.
“I don’t understand,” I repeated.
“About what? Naberius? He is old. Therefore, grumpy.”
“I’m not talking about the draken.”
Kolis’s gaze slid to mine. “Then what are you confused about?”
He couldn’t be serious. “Evander. He was hurting her.”
“He was,” Kolis answered.
“Why did she react that way then? She behaved as if—” I wheezed in a pained breath. “She behaved as if she cared for him. But that’s not possible. They weren’t known to each other. She didn’t like what he was doing to her.”
“And how do you know that?”
“You told me—”
“I did not tell you that.” Kolis’s head tilted, sending a lock of blond hair across his face.
“W-what?” I stammered, a wave of disbelief coursing through me. “You asked me what I would do if I knew—”
“I did ask what you would do if you knew someone’s consent was not obtained, but I did not say she was being forced.”
He had. My thoughts raced over our conversation. He’d named them and then said Evander knew how to feed and give pleasure, but he enjoyed pain. Then…then he’d said, “So now you know.”
He hadn’t explicitly said the god was forcing Jacinta.
I shook my head. “I saw her. She was in pain. She was crying.”
“Tears of pain? Or ones of pleasure?” Kolis asked. I opened my mouth. “Did you ask her? I assume not.”
Why would I ask her in front of the one hurting her? That was irrelevant anyway. “Why would I ask when you led me to believe—?”
“I didn’t lead you to believe anything, my dear,” Kolis cut in. “I asked what you would do in such a situation. You answered that you would shove a blade through their heart. I told you what I saw. You didn’t ask if they knew each other. You didn’t ask if she was in distress. You only asked about yourself and how your actions would affect you.”
I flinched.
“You, like my nephew and far too many others, hear what you want to hear. See what you want to see,” Kolis continued. “And then act upon what fits your narrative.”
“That’s not what happened,” I argued. He’d disregarded the entire context of our conversation leading up to that.
