03 - Sworn (71 page)

She shook her head. “I suspect I can break down the doors myself. Go find Aren, save the country for your kind. I’ll take care of mine.”

She was gone before I could reply. I spotted Aren, looking somewhat recovered, and fought my way past a few nobles who seemed to be trying to attach themselves to him and his father. I grabbed his arm and he spun, dagger in hand.

“Rowan!” He lowered his weapon.

“Are the bodies all down?” I hollered. I barely heard myself over the noise, but he nodded and stepped closer.

“They did their job. Are you all right?”

A roar echoed through the streets. Someone screamed, and the crowd parted as Ruby’s massive form stumbled toward us, walking on three legs as the fourth dragged behind. Blood dripped from what looked like a hundred mortal wounds, and the webbed skin on one wing had been torn to tatters. And yet she still came, snapping at people and harming none of them.

“Ruby!” I cried. “Aren, go. I’ll be right behind you.”

He looked from me to the dragon. “You should stay out here with her. You’ve done enough.”

“The hell I will,” I said. “You’re not going to finish this without me.”

He stepped out to block a soldier charging at Ulric, and I ran to Ruby.

“You’re alive.”

The whites of her eyes showed, and she breathed in great, hot, wheezing breaths. “It seems so. But I think not for long, though all that delicious armor fortifies me. I believe I’ve had a change of heart, little human.”

“Have you?”

She raised her nose to sniff at the air, and kicked her good leg out at a soldier, sending him crashing into a brick wall and the back end of her body to the ground. She winced. “I’d like to see more of this life. Another year or two. Perhaps a hundred, I can’t say. What do you think of that?”

“I think I’d like it very much. Find yourself an alley to rest in for now. I’ll send Morea back when it’s safe, and whoever else will come. Would jewels help?”

“They wouldn’t hurt. No need for healers, though.” She reached back to fold a flap of skin into place. It flopped down again, oozing blood. “Hmm. Perhaps a stitch or two might not hurt.” She looked up the street, where Aren and Ulric had disappeared among the people of the city. “You don’t need me?”

“No, you’ve done plenty, thank you.” I resisted the urge to hug her.

She dragged herself down a side street and disappeared. A scream echoed out and a balding man fled, waving his arms over his head.

There was hope for her. Hope for all of us. We’d passed the gates, and most of the city’s guards were busy with the attackers still at the wall. The crowds I now fought my way through were all regular people, afraid and confused, but at least unarmed.

But that didn’t mean the fight was over.

When I reached the palace, Ulric was speaking to someone through the gate—an old man in a red uniform with a deep scar down one side of his face. I crept closer.

The guard frowned at him. “I didn’t think you’d return this time,” he said.

“It’s not that easy to be rid of me.”

The guard’s lip lifted in a crooked smile. “A fact that your son would have done well to consider. Welcome back.”

A wrought iron gate large enough only to admit foot traffic opened, and Ulric and Aren entered the shaded grounds beyond, weapons ready.

I raced after them.

47

NOX

S
creams drifted up to the windows, but I couldn’t see anything except confusion in the streets beyond the empty little courtyard. I grabbed the wine bottle, drank deeply, and retreated to the shadows of the room.

The blistered skin on my legs stretched as I settled back into the plush chair in the corner, and I bit back a groan as nauseating pain washed over me. I reminded myself that the pain was temporary, and forced my trembling muscles to relax. I sipped again from the wine bottle and sighed. Severn liked his drink strong, it seemed. I’d have to be cautious if I wanted to keep my wits about me.

But it felt so good to let go.

I added my potion to the remaining wine and swirled the contents gently with a rotation of the dark bottle.

If I could get him to take just a taste of the wine, if I could earn his trust for even a moment, I would have him. Not a perfect plan, certainly. It wouldn’t finish him, and if he realized what was happening, it might be the end of me. A small price to pay. With Ulric dead, my purpose for being in the city was gone.
And without Kel to return to…

The lock clicked, and every muscle in my body tensed. Severn strode into the room, sword drawn, and locked the door behind him. He opened a panel on the door frame and drew out a short, thick chain that he hooked onto the door to keep it closed.

If only I’d known about that.

“Get up,” he ordered. He scanned the room for new threats, as though I might have managed to piece together a weapon from the inkpot and quill in the drawer.

I didn’t move. He needed to think I was too drunk and weak to be a threat. I blinked hard, hoping he was still only half right. “Can’t. This is good wine. I’m surprised you’re still here. Why don’t you do that... whatever you do to escape situations like this?”

His lip lifted in distaste and he turned to face the door. “I can only return home that way, at least so far. Attempting anything more right now would be quite dangerous.” He adjusted his grip on his weapon.

I sipped at his wine again, which was now graced with my potion’s bittersweet flavor. He needed to think it was safe, and I was beyond caring what the poisons within might do to me. “I hope you don’t mind, I started your victory celebration without you.”

He spun toward me. “Don’t mock me. The rules haven’t changed. I only need my father and brother dead, and the throne is still mine. And then the traitors who’ve opened the palace doors will die. Them and all the others who have failed in their loyalty.”

“Oh, I know. I’m not mocking you. Care for a drink?”

He sneered again, and looked away.
Can’t blame a girl for trying,
I thought. Something else in his words niggled at my brain, but I couldn’t make my thoughts line up.

I struggled to my feet, hoping it was the strong wine that caused my disorientation. If my injuries were worse than I’d realized, or if the potion was poisoning me more quickly than I’d anticipated, I’d be no help to anyone.

Severn kept a wary eye on me. I spread my empty hand out to the side as I stumbled toward him, still holding the bottle in the other. “I want you to know, I’ve reconsidered.”

“Sit down.”

“No. I think your wine helped me see more clearly. See, Ulric is weak. I—” The thought clicked into place. “Wait, you say you need him dead? I thought you killed him already.” My stomach clenched. Hearing he was alive was the best possible news, aside from hearing that Aren was with him. But if they burst in here with Severn waiting, with Aren no better than a weapon created for Severn’s use and Ulric without his full strength…

My heart raced.

Severn held his sword steady. “I may have overestimated there, as I just spotted him outside. But it won’t be long.”

I struggled to hold onto the story I’d concocted while he was gone, to not let my true reactions show. I could still gain his trust. I had to. “He can’t beat you, though. And you said yourself that Aren can’t. This is a minor—” I hiccuped, and forced a laugh. “You know. That.”

He frowned. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but you can stop. It’s too late to beg for mercy.”

“Perhaps. This wine, though. You should relax with me. It’s lovely.” The room swam.
Focus, Nox.

“You know, I looked through your papers.” I waggled a finger at him. “You weren’t completely honest about the Darmid thing, were you?” Darmid came out
Drrmud
. “I mean, you’re right about the danger, and good for you for spotting that. But you could take another decade to figure it out, couldn’t you, without ruining all? You just wanted to prove yourself, to show you could face a threat your father wouldn’t. If people knew about that, or how you got rid of him… But you’ve kept it all secret so well.”

“Sit,” he ordered.

I sat on the edge of the bed and slipped on the smooth blanket. My legs cried out, but I pushed myself up. Severn continued to watch me, wary. I needed to seem more pathetic, less threatening. I thought back to my husband’s more emotional nights in the bottle, and pouted. “No need to be nasty. I think it was terribly clever of you. Take charge. Get it done while you have the support of the... you know. The guys with the power. You’re doing things no one else dares.”

His fingers flexed by his side. He appeared to be trying not to smack me.

Too late to stop my babbling mouth now. Either this would work, or it wouldn’t. The wine made me feel as though it hardly mattered, but I would press on.

“I think I told you before that I wanted the advantages of living in Luid,” I said. “I long to be aligned with greatness, even if only for a moment.”

He frowned. “Then you chose your cause poorly, didn’t you?”

“I did choose wrong. Wrongly.” I shook my head, letting my hair fall over my face. “I didn’t understand until I met you. Until I felt this... this connection. You felt it, didn’t you? You said you did.” I stood and stepped forward, and what was left of my skirt caught under the pointed toe of my boot and ripped to the top of my thigh. “Oops.”

“How much of that wine did you drink?”

I pouted and held up the half-empty bottle. “You left me for so long. I slept in your bed. It smells like you.”

The room spun. I had indulged too much. I stumbled again, and he caught me in his free arm. I pressed my body against his, and hoped he interpreted my shudder as a shiver.

“Relax,” I whispered, and offered the bottle. “Drink with me. They’ll never get in here. Even if they do, you might as well have a few happy moments first.”

His eyes narrowed. “If I wanted to die happy, I suspect I could do better than a little wine. It doesn’t affect me as it does you.”

That’s it, then. He’s not going to drink.
I steeled myself for what would have to come next. Kel would understand.

I raised the bottle slowly to take another sip, then dropped it and reached up to brush his hair away from his face.

Gods help me.

Never had I been so revolted by such a perfectly attractive person. At least that meant the dragon’s egg potion might still be blocking his effect on me. I leaned against him, chest to chest, and stroked his cheek. “Is Sara coming back?”

He chuckled, and my blood chilled. “Why, are you interested in applying for her positions if she doesn’t?”

“Maybe temporarily.” I stood on my toes, put my arms around his neck, and pressed my lips against his.
Sloppy,
I reminded myself.

I only wished I were drunk enough that I would forget this later, if later ever came.

He dropped his sword and reached behind him. A moment later the point of his dagger dug into my ribs. His lips pressed harder against mine. I tried to pull back. He wouldn’t let me. His tongue pushed into my mouth and his teeth drew blood from my lower lip before he shoved me away.

“We don’t play nice around here,” he said, and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He froze, staring at the faint blue stain his lips left on the fabric. “What is this?”

I didn’t have to feign fear. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Someone knocked at the door. Severn’s eyes didn’t leave me. “What did you do?” he bellowed, and leaped at me. He pushed me onto the bed and pressed the tip of his dagger to my throat.

His eyes glazed over, then cleared. He stepped back and held a hand out. A flame danced on his palm, strong and hot enough that I recoiled from it.

My work was only half-done. The taste of potion might keep him from replenishing his magic, but he still had significant stores within him. That would have to go. No turning back now.

I gritted my teeth, prepared for his attack. “I didn’t do anything you didn’t deserve, you deceitful, murderous son of a whore.”

He raised his hand, then stopped. The flame disappeared as he reached for the front of my dress and pulled me up. The back of his hand caught me across my left cheek, hard enough that bright spots accompanied the flood of pain.

Something broke inside of me as he dropped me and the shock drove out the effects of the wine. Tears flowed down my cheeks that had nothing to do with physical pain. I sobbed as emptiness returned. He hit me again.

“Tell me what you’ve done!”

I looked up into a room blurred by tears. Severn seemed far less fearsome now. My work was nearly done, and there was nothing left for him to take away from me. “Why, so you can have Sara fix it for you? Will she be keen to help you after you locked her away?”

He grabbed me by the throat and shook me, snapping my teeth together. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. She’s more faithful to me than a witch like you will ever understand.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” I gasped. I could breathe, but just barely. “Kill me.”

He dropped me. I lay on my back, wishing the black spots at the edges of my vision would take me away.

“Kill you?” he scoffed. “So you can take your secrets to the grave with you? I think not.”

I struggled to sit up again. “Kill me like you did Myk. Like you thought you killed your father. Like you did...” I couldn’t say his name. Not in front of Severn. “Like you did the mer. How’s that curse working out for you?”

Severn roared. I waited for the magical attack that would weaken him. Instead, he lunged. For a moment, I felt nothing but heavy pressure in my side, though I understood perfectly that he’d changed his mind about ending me. I sucked in a ragged breath and pushed at him. He pressed harder, slid the dagger deeper. He leaned in closer. “I’d say about as well as it’s working out for you. Don’t die yet. I still need you.”

He pulled the blade free, and sharp pain washed over me. I pressed my hands to my side, where blood spurted out from beneath my ribs.

Another knock at the door, light but frantic.