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I turned back to the council, pinning each of them with a stare. A promise. “If I do not find out who did this, I will kill each of you. Pray to the Ancestors that I do it quickly.”
I strode from the room without another word, and hoped mine would cause them even a fraction of the pain they’d brought on my kingdom.
77
ARRAN
Around us, the goldstone palace slept. Many of the courtiers, exhausted from battle, had laid down right there amongst the carnage, their bodies unable to bear the cost of expending their magic any longer.
I followed Veyka back to her rooms, the rest a silent procession behind us. We walked through the doors into the antechamber, no Goldstones posted on either side. Another reality to face.
“The attack was a distraction so that Gawayn could get to you. They must have used the secret passages to disperse throughout the palace. Further confirmation that someone on the royal council orchestrated the attack. Based on what you’ve said, only they and the royal family have access to them.” I didn’t dare propose that the Dowager might have had some hand in it. Not yet, not now. It might unhinge Veyka beyond hope.
But when she turned to meet me, her eyes were clear. Cold. The blue in them frozen over to ice as frigid as the glaciers atop the mountains of the Spine.
She didn’t falter, walking straight to the center of the room and then turning to face the rest, hands planted on her hips.
“We leave in an hour,” she said. “Cyara, stay with your parents. Gwen, guard the royal councilors. Everyone else, make whatever preparations you must. Then come back here.”
Cyara hadn’t stopped shaking. Her magic was depleted, her wings still shivering, not wholly healed. But I was unsurprised to hear her protest.
“Veyka,” she said sharply. “Let me come. Let me avenge them.”
But the queen was unrelenting. “I will not allow your parents to lose another daughter today. Use that strength to hold your family together.” A swallow, a flash of knowing pain. “Trust me to avenge your sisters.”
Cyara stared her down—half Veyka’s size, in both height and weight, but almost as stubborn. But in the end, she bowed her head to her queen.
Gwen wasn’t going to argue, but I was ready to. “I want Gwen at your side.” After me, she was the best chance of protection.
The sharp line of her jaw softened slightly, her stance shifting. She knew she couldn’t command me, so she’d appeal to me instead as one ruler to another. I supposed that was better than appealing to my baser instincts, though those might have been easier to move.
“The royal council must be kept secure, or all of this is for naught. They know Lyrena too well, understand the extent of her powers and how she might use them. Guinevere is still something of an enigma. They will be wary of her. Besides, if any of them step out of line, she can rip their heads off.”
“Lyrena is more than capable,” I argued back. “She proved it last night.”
I should have accepted Veyka’s reasoning. It was sound. But it meant putting her life at risk—even at the expense of Annwyn.
Something shifted within me. Understanding.
I’d let Annwyn burn, down to the last soul, if it meant Veyka’s life.
I was as selfish as I’d ever accused her of being.
I was in love with her.
If she saw the realization playing across my face, or if she passed it off as exhaustion, I didn’t know. But Veyka’s eyes shifted away from me, and I was damned thankful for it. The weight of everything was suddenly suffocating, the world pressing in on me from every angle.
“I trust you fully, Lyrena.” Her eyes flicked to Gwen. “And you as well. One of you to guard my back in the tower, the other to guard my revenge. I do not lie when I say I value them equally.”
The two warrior females exchanged a look of understanding, then inclined their heads.
Veyka nodded sharply. “It is done, then. Go.”
Just like that, they dispersed. Gwen shifted into her lioness form, bounding back up towards the council chambers. Parys mumbled something about food and left, Cyara at his side. Lyrena closed the door behind her as she took up a post in the corridor, still lined with bodies. Cleaning up would have to wait. Everything would wait.
Even my feelings for Veyka.Especiallymy feelings for Veyka.
“I’m going to take a bath,” she said with a heavy sigh, stalking towards the bedroom. I followed her, noting for the first time how both of us were crusted in blood. “Care to join me?” she offered, tossing a glance over her shoulder.
