Page 126 of This Dark Descent
“DAMIEN,” ARI SAIDfor the third time. They stood to the edge of the stage, where the orchestra was finishing their latest song. Reid hovered just behind him, withdrawn like a kicked dog. Damien refused to look at him—he was staring at the stage so intently, he didn’t seem to hear her.
Ari placed a hand on his arm. “It was an accident. Mikira didn’t mean—”
“Don’t tell me she didn’t mean it.” The unbridled emotion in his voice surprised her. “She didn’t accidentally hold on to the one piece of evidence tying me to them. She didn’t accidentally forget to tell me.” She watched him force his fisted hands to relax. “Mikira made her choice. I am only protecting myself.”
She didn’t agree, but before she could press him further, the song ended, and a feminine voice floated into the enchanted microphone.
“His Royal Majesty, King Theo Zuerlin of Enderlain.”
The king emerged from a set of double doors at the back of the stage. His face was sallow and sunken, his broad-shouldered body now thin and emaciated. He walked under the support of his son and daughter, who guided him to the microphone amidst a heavy applause.
The king cleared his throat. “Thank you all for coming.” His voice was thin and papery, but the enchantment carried it throughout the ballroom.“Tonight, we celebrate the Goddess Sendia and her beautiful gift to humanity: enchantment. For the last four weeks, we have sung and danced, drunk and celebrated, and we have raced!”
A cheer went up, but none of the celebration reflected in Damien’s dark expression. For once, Ari couldn’t be sure what he was thinking.
“Tonight, we honor the winner of the Illinir, Mikira Rusel, and her sponsor, Lord Damien Adair.”
The crowd’s roar redoubled as Damien and Mikira entered on opposite sides of the stage. His expression was one of cool indifference, but Mikira’s resentment was practically palpable. Ari wanted to tear them away from the stage, to force them into a room where they could figure this out without the pressing eyes of the crowd. Before it was too late to repair what’d been broken.
Pay them no heed, said the voice.We have more important matters to attend to.
What are you talking about?The voice had been uncharacteristically silent as of late, but she felt its presence more solidly now than ever before.
“Miss Rusel,” the king continued. “You have shown incredible bravery and strength in the face of one of our kingdom’s toughest trials. As the youngest person to ever win the Illinir, your name will never be forgotten. You’ve done your father proud. Please consider yourself the personal guest of the royal family.”
Mikira bowed, the rigid lines of fury clear in her stiff posture. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” Her tone was laced with acidity, the same way she sounded when she spoke of Rezek. But when she rose from her bow, her face betrayed nothing save a smile. It startled Ari. This was not the loose-tongued girl she’d met months ago.
“I understand that you’ve chosen to grant the royal boon to your sponsor, is that true?” the king asked.
Mikira met Damien’s gaze. “Indeed, Your Majesty. Lord Adair was instrumental in my success, and in return, I’d like him to have the boon.”
Clever.Portraying it like that made her look generous and deferent. Shewas not a commoner coming for the nobility’s prestige and status, but also how endearing she looked, her red hair down in tumbling waves, her face flush from dance or drink or something sharper. The crowd whistled for her in earnest.
What game was Mikira playing?
Oh, Ari, sighed the voice.You cannot save them.
Save them from what? What is happening?
The king turned to Damien. “And what is it you would like to claim, Lord Adair?”
Damien lifted his chin. “Your Majesty.” His voice rang clear and deep. “As my boon, I ask that House Adair replace House Kelbra as one of the four greater houses of Enderlain.”
Utter silence reigned in the wake of his words. Ari sensed the wide-eyed stares of the crowd, felt the tension running through them in a taut string. But Damien did not look away from the king, whose dark eyes, so weary before, now held the shrewd awareness of a man who had once stolen a throne.
Seeing him now, Ari believed every rumor she’d heard. That he’d usurped his brother-in-law’s line of succession, that out there somewhere was a child who could take everything from him. He had the eyes of a man who would do anything to have what he wanted.
“Is that… Can he do that?” Prince Darius asked. He looked baffled, his sister merely curious. She watched Damien with a knowing smile on her lips, the kind one player gave to another. A low murmur coursed through the gathering, and Mikira’s astonished expression quickly shuttered.
“The greater houses have remained unchanged for decades,” the king said, each word carefully measured. “But those positions are kept at my pleasure. There is nothing in the rules of the Illinir or in the law of the kingdom that prevents me from granting this request.”
The murmuring rose into shocked gasps, people’s words tumbling over each other in a rush of conversation. Some even laughed, their ridicule evident. They wanted the king to tear him down for his audaciousness.
“Father, please,” Prince Darius murmured. “I admire Lord Adair as much as anyone, but Rezek will be furious.”
“I do not take council from duplicitous snakes,” the king replied in a low growl. Darius reared back like he’d been slapped.
The king stepped up before Damien. He was tall, the impression of the warrior’s body his daughter had inherited still evident even in his old age.
