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Bloodbain’s eyes fell back on Raven just as she grabbed the map off the floor. He stalked toward her, gripping the knife that was already stained with her blood.
“Raven, look out!” Skyler shouted, running toward Bloodbain. Before he could reach him, a Kovak bear knocked him over and pinned him to the ground, digging his long claws into Skyler’s shoulder. Skyler howled in pain.
In my panic, I turned toward the throne. “Father!” I cried. “Stop this!Please.” I’d never liked calling himFather—he didn’t feel like a father—but I needed to get his attention.
My pleading seemed to put a fissure in his certainty. “Commander Bloodbain,” he said, raising his hand to stop the commotion in his halls. “Give us a moment.”
Surprisingly, Bloodbain complied, motioning for his guards to stand down. Raven scrambled away from him.
My father rose from his throne and strode toward me, his huge bear Taan at his side. The guards parted to let him through. He stopped in front of Raven first. Taan’s bared teeth and menacing growl made Raven go rigid as the king plucked the blood-coated map out of her bound hands. Her eyes narrowed to angry slits.
“Careful,” Kah whispered to me as my father approached us next, knowing I had trouble reasoning with this man, even at the best of times.
My father spoke low so no one else could hear. “You’re disrupting my arrangement.”
“Yourarrangement?” I spat. “You mean the arrangement where you aid our enemy and let them murder tribespeople in your own halls?” Though we’d never seen eye-to-eye, the father I knew growing up would never allow such injustices in his kingdom. But something had changed in him when my motherdied, burying the fair-minded man deep inside, if not abolishing him all together.You of all people know he’s been acting strange lately, Averee had said back at the marketplace.
“Iknow what’s best for Askeland and the Kovak tribe.Youdo not. After everything I’ve taught you, you’re still a self-centered, arrogant boy.”
“Guess I take after you.”
He sneered. “The Zaviens are of no importance to me. Let the Rathalans do what they will with them—and the stone. Two days ago, I received a signed accord from the Steward of Kadden, stating that once you marry his daughter, Lila, he will supply as many men as we need to march on the city of Jetan and reclaim our ancestral homelands from the Terrans. Once the malarite weapons arrive from my arrangement with Commander Bloodbain, we can attack within a fortnight. And when our victory is secure, we will rebuild Jetan and Javan in honor of our forefathers.”
My eyes flicked to Lila. She hadn’t run to safety like I’d told her to. She was watching our private conversation from near the dais, her eyes shimmering with worry. “I can’t marry Lila.” The words came out as a whisper.
My father didn’t even bother to ask for an explanation. “Youwillmarry her.”
“I won’t,” I murmured through clenched teeth. My gaze shifted to Raven.I love someone else.
My father followed my gaze to Raven, a sudden realization dawning on his face, followed by a look of thinly concealed anger. “Let me make this simple, son. You will marry Lila by sunset tonight or I will have your new Zavien friend killed,” he said, forging his latest plan to control me. “Do I make myself clear? My patience is growing thin.”
“Tonight? We can’t hold a blazen wedding in the middle of this treachery!” I shouted, not bothering to keep my voicelow any longer. “Listen to yourself! First you kidnap Lila and threaten to kill her, and now you’re forcing me to marry her.” He’d gone completely mad.
“If you’d prefer that the Zavien girl dies instead, that’s your choice,” he said, ignoring my outburst.
“Raven’s the only one who can read the map!” I said, loud enough for Bloodbain to hear. I needed to buy Raven some time, hoping that Bloodbain wouldn’t kill her if he thought he needed her. Then lowering my voice again, I nodded to the suli map in my father’s hand, still shimmering with Raven’s blood. “Without her, your bargaining chip is worthless.”
“That’s not my concern, is it?”
My throat went dry. He was serious. He would kill her.
When I didn’t respond, my father knew he had his answer. He pocketed the suli map and strolled past me to speak to Bloodbain. At first, I couldn’t hear what they were saying until Bloodbain raised his voice.
“That wasn’t our agreement,” Bloodbain argued, his face twisting in anger.
Taan gave a low warning growl. “It’s our new agreement,” the king said flatly. “You’ll have your map by sundown as promised.”
That seemed to satisfy Bloodbain enough.
A moment later, the king stepped back onto the dais and raised his hands in triumph. “Tonight, my son is to be wed! Prepare for Jeddak and Lila’s wedding!” His voice boomed like thunder in the hall.
As he spoke, the Rathalans seized Raven, Skyler, and the other girl they’d called Sora, and dragged them toward the far corner of the great hall. I watched helplessly.What have I done?
“If you try anything stupid, Commander Bloodbain knows what to do,” the king said to me.
Kah swallowed, glancing at me.
The king turned to the servants, who’d been waiting silently near the dais. “We’ll do the blood oath at sunset. The rest of the ceremony will take place tomorrow. Get everything prepared! Go!”
