The Beauty of Darkness

There were many ways a life could be sacrificed, and it wasn’t always through dying.

A way for us.

Impossible.

But that hadn’t stopped us before.

She grinned. “You look more like a kitchen helper than a busy ruler.”

“There’s little difference,” I said, and dropped the rag back in the soap pan. I surveyed the floor and reached for the broom propped against the wall.

“The floor doesn’t need sweeping,” she said.

“The queen says it does.”

and would I find it mutually agreeable to dissolve the contract?

I had mulled it over, for about five seconds, and agreed

Whenever we argued over some matter now, he reminded me of my confession—that I needed him. It was true. I did. And not just as an adviser.

But mostly I remembered our few stolen hours when kingdoms didn’t exist for us.

“Lia.”

My memories tumbled away, and the sun was suddenly hot and blinding.

Rafe walked over to me. Kaden and the officers looked on. There was no privacy in this moment, and maybe it was for the best.

“You need to return to your duties in Dalbreck now,” I said. It was a statement, but I know he heard my question laced through it.

He nodded. “And you also have your duties in Venda.”

The same question was hidden in his words.

I nodded. “I’ve made promises, just as you have.”

“Yes. Promises. I know.”

“I’m here, Jeb,” I said, wiping the blood from his brow. “You’ll be all right.”

He nodded, but we both knew it was a lie.

“Give her over.”

“So you can put her head on a spike?” I answered.

“That’s up to the Komizar.”

My fist tightened on my shield. I felt the blisters on my palms bursting, liquid oozing between my fingers. “The bluff is right behind us, Lia. Go!” I desperately prayed that for once she wouldn’t argue with me. I heard her run.

The Chancellor smiled. “The bluff’s a dead end. There’s nowhere for her to go. You just cornered our rabbit for us.”

“Only if you can get past me.” I raised my sword.

“Past us,” Draeger said, and stepped up beside me. Jeb was with him

The sounds echoed, multiplied, surrounded us. I turned, unsure where it would appear, and then a rough hand shoved me, throwing me back.

It was Rafe.

We tumbled to the ground, even as the world exploded.

KADEN

“You can’t do it.”

His breathing was labored, his words short, still trying to convince me.

I saw the terror in his eyes. I was stronger. I was quicker. I was driven by eleven years of anger.

How is your father?”

“Dead.” He deserved no truths from me, and the weaker he thought we were, the better.

“And your brothers?”

“Dead.”

He sighed. “This is all too easy.”

“You haven’t asked me about Kaden,” I said.

His smile disappeared, and his expression darkened. I knew him well, too. Kaden was a blow he couldn’t hide. There was something in this world he had loved, after all. Something he had saved, nurtured, but it had turned on him. Something that pointed to his own failure