Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
“Stay put and keep Sgaeyl with you,” I shout down the bond, and my knuckles whiten around the conduit as the panther pushes between Xaden and me, its soft coat brushing against my arm.
“Shora’s lovely, don’t you think?” Courtlyn says to Xaden, an indulgent smile curving his mouth, then continues toward Halden without waiting for an answer. “I hope you don’t mind, but they’re used to eating with me. Your Highness, do remember that Shira earned every bit of her special dinner today.” He lifts his hands, palms up, and crooks his fingers.
The servants remove the copper covers, then duck off the dais.
Oh gods, it’s a giant slab of red meat that has to have been carved off the largest cow to have walked this isle.
The panther—Shira—chuffs low in her throat, flicking her tail, and I can’t help but wonder if this is how the infantry cadets felt that day on the field when Baide found us.
Xaden’s hand covers mine and squeezes, and I look over to find him staring, stone-faced across the table, then track his gaze—
Captain Anna Winshire’s head lies on the plate between Halden and Tecarus, her short, strawberry-blond curls unmistakable.
My jaw slackens. Oh, Malek, Courtlyn has killed Halden’s personal guard…and is serving her to his cat.
I’m going to be sick.
Bile rises in my throat, and I swallow quickly, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, but all I smell is meat and blood.
“Don’t watch,” Xaden whispers, and I wrench my gaze away.
“Eat,” Courtlyn orders, and the panthers pounce.
Paws land on the table between us, and a massive maw opens, snatching the meat off the plate and dragging it, leaving a bloody trail on the white linen as she hauls her meal to the dais, then to the floor.
The others follow suit.
When I look across at Halden, he stares at his empty plate, completely stricken.
“Aren’t they beautiful creatures?” Courtlyn asks.
I blink away the shock and set the conduit on the table. Death and I are old friends, and it’s not like I really knew Anna. But the audacity is truly unparalleled.
“You murdered my guard,” Halden says slowly.
“Your thief was found in my treasury,” Courtlyn counters, “with six stolen treasures on her person and a list of five more she had yet to attain written in your handwriting.”
My stomach lurches, and my gaze jumps to Halden’s. “You didn’t.”
“They are all items that belong to us!” He pounds his chest and stands, his chair falling back against the dais. “It is not stealing to take back what is rightfully ours!” A vein in his neck bulges.
Guards move in toward the edge of the dais, forming a perimeter around the panthers, and I slip my hand from beneath Xaden’s and reach for the sheaths at my lower thighs, beneath the tablecloth.
“It’s about to turn to shit,” I warn Tairn. “Communicate that to Sgaeyl however you can.”
He rumbles in acknowledgment, and palm trees sway in the distance.
“Rightfully yours?” Courtlyn challenges, his voice rising in a sinister melody.
“What’s the penalty for thievery here?” Xaden whispers.
“From a royal house?” I focus inward. “Decree twenty-two…” I wince. “No, twenty-three, is death.” I’ve studied, but I’m nowhere near a legal expert.
“Is Halden complicit under their laws?”
“Their system isn’t like ours. Their decrees can contradict each other, and Courtlyn sits on their tribunal, so…” My words trip over themselves. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
I might want to strangle Halden myself, but I can’t let him be executed here for stealing.
“Those items are mine, received as goods bartered for services rendered over the last century, as you well know!” Courtlyn shouts, and the diners fall silent at their tables, leaving only the sound of the panthers devouring their dinners.
Wait. The last century? My shoulders fall and my mind whirls, recalling Aaric’s words from last year when I asked what Halden was going to do about what was happening beyond our borders. I’m here, aren’t I? Aaric had implied that Halden wasn’t going to act.
But this is so much worse.
Halden didn’t just know; he’s been playing a starring role.
“You took advantage of our desperation,” Halden accuses. “Accepted priceless magical artifacts under unfair terms, and now you execute my personal guard when we seek to rectify your outright theft with a genuine agreement? Fuck you! We want no part of you, your deception, or this godsforsaken isle!” Halden surges forward, shoving his section of the table over, and it topples into the void of the center.
Oh. Shit.
Courtlyn’s gaze turns to ice, and my ribs feel like they’re twisting inward as I watch everything we’ve worked for fall apart in a matter of seconds. Tecarus jumps backward, then quickly scrambles down the steps, and I don’t blame him in the least.
Halden has fucked us over. The sour taste of betrayal fills my mouth, but a bitter flood of metallic anger carries it away with the next heartbeat.