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I loathed how these people looked at Anaria.
As if she belonged to them, somehow.
She is mine, I wanted to scream, but slaves did not have anything to their name in Solarys—not even lovers. Especially not the princess who would rally an entire people to war.
“Are you pretty enough to bleed?” I smirked when Tavion took his position, turned his enormous bulk to present a smaller target, his sword up and ready.
Everything slid away. Everything except this constant rage that never faded. The simmering fire that burned in my belly, the only time the flames banked were when I was with Anaria, lost in her scent, the curves of her body, her fascinating mind.
But now my anger took on a wicked edge. I wasn’t a defenseless girl chained to a table, as Tavion was about to find out. Maybe he’d go home today with my fucking initial carved into his stomach.
I let Montgomery attack first, using his height and weight to his advantage, right up until I dodged out of the way, slapping him across the back with the flat side of my blade.
“You fucker.” Tavion growled, a spark of anger darkening his eyes. “I was planning to go easy on you, but now…” For such a huge male, he moved gracefully, no trace of the drunken gambler as our swords clanged together, teeth grit when we both spun away.
The next time when we collided, Tavion hit me full force. If I hadn’t been ready, he’d have taken my head in one clean sweep of his blade, but I pivoted on the balls of my feet and was gone. I ended up behind him, the tip of my sword barely missing his arm.
I could have cut him, but this was just to work the edge off my anger.
Not to leave his head lying in the dirt.
Not to punish him for his hatefulness toward Anaria.
Not for leaving her best friend behind in that godforsaken city, so now the female I cared for would have to endure yet another horrific loss when one of us was forced to kill the Reaper.
“I would have thought…” I worked my feet into the dirt, gripped the pommel of my sword, “that a drunken gambler would be less light on his feet, Montgomery.”
“And I would have thought that collar would get in the way of…things.” His mouth twisted into an ugly smile. “A slave fucking the princess of Solarys. Will wonders never cease?”
One glance told me no one had overheard, but if they had…
“Keep your fucking mouth shut, asshole.”
I didn’t give two fucks about myself, but Anaria couldn’t defend herself. Barely understood why she was here, much less how much danger she was in. Yet this fucker continued to endanger her life because he was what? Angry?
“You’re acting like a child. Julian knew the risks and he paid the ultimate price. If it weren’t for him, you would have died at the end of a hangman’s noose twenty years ago and none of us would even remember you existed.”
“Better I die free than a slave.” His arrogant sneer cut through me like a knife. “There are days I wonder how you live with yourself.”
“There are days I can’t.” I launched myself at him, his wrists bending under my assault as he fought for better footing. I didn’t give him the chance.
The world ceased to exist.
My awareness narrowed down to one thing, Tavion’s sword dancing through the air, mine meeting his every blow, as I slowly drove him backwards, one step at a time.
It had been a long time since I’d crossed swords with someone as skilled as Montgomery, with the advantage of weight and strength behind that training and when he sidestepped, his ankle caught in a hole.
I darted forward, digging the dull point into the fine wool of his shirt, blood blooming red when I withdrew.
Right over his heart.
A fatal blow, if I would have followed through.
Tavion’s eyes went wide, staring as if he couldn’t believe what I’d done with a bent, broken sword, then I realized he wasn’t even looking at me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
“Good. You’re both here.” Anaria was breathless and I was about to scold her for being late, but when I turned, I wasn’t capable of a single word. “It’s Ember. Or the Reaper, but we have a problem, and I don’t know what to…” She tilted her head, looking at us both like we were mad.
“What’s wrong with you? And why is Tavion bleeding?”
