Page 70 of The Blade in the Ashes
“Forgive us, your—”
“On your knees.”
Awful words. An awful demand.
My mouth filled with a terribly sour metallic taste as the words tore out of me.
When I’d considered my path forward after sending away Veric, though, I realized I needed these guards to respect my command as easily as they respected Caldrius’. I needed them to see me not as Hyrax’s pawn but as their superior.
And in this castle, a castle that monsters like Hyrax and the Dragon had run, you earned your respect through fear. You gained power through dominance.
We stood in a silent standoff, the guards and I, matching expressions of confusion on their faces. They hadn’t expected this from me.
But sure enough, they lowered to their knees.
“We apologize, Your Holiness.”
My grin was positively wicked, the feeling of victory a powerful drug.
“Good.” I couldn’t see myself in that moment, but I was sure I’d never looked more like the heir to Hyrax. “Dimitri, is he still in the castle?”
The guard on the right coughed, keeping his eyes lowered. “He was among those who were initially unwilling to pledge themselves to his new divine leaders and so he was… disciplined. When he finally did bow before his Holiness, he was stationed to guard the stables.”
Dimitri had been my keeper once, just like they were now. The Dragon had tasked him with keeping me locked away within that room at the end of the hall. Unlike these men, though, he’d become a friend. He’d protected me.
I could trust him.
I needed people I could trust.
“Have him reassigned to me. Immediately.”
Without waiting for a response or giving them clearance to rise, I turned.
“Your Holiness, who will take his place?”
A glance over my shoulder told me the question had come from the one who had told me I should consult myhusbandbefore makingrequests.
“You will.”
There was a sharp click as Nessira threw closed the door behind her and held out her prize victoriously, the whites of her teeth showing as she beamed at me.
“I got it!”
A grin split my face as I lurched myself to my feet, holding out my hands to inspect the tiny vial of bright cerulean liquid. Nessira passed it to me happily.
“Was it any trouble?”
Avoiding my gaze, she gave me a sympathetic smile and stepped past me to sink onto the parlor couch. “Not at all. The healers weren’t very surprised when they heard you were having trouble sleeping. The request was hardly out of my mouth before they began mixing up the tonic.”
I snorted. It was unfortunately very believable that I would need tonics and potions to get a good night’s rest. I lifted the vial, staring at the way the light in the room seemed to reflect off the potion.
“I still don’t think this will work.” Suspicion coated her words as she eyed the tonic.
With nothing more than a mischievous grin, I passed it back to her, returning to face the looking glass of my vanity and finish rimming my eyes in kohl.
Yet again, I had donned another atrocious gown. All black, with a collar that stretched to the very line of my jaw. Floral appliques stretched down the bodice of the gown, but their appearance was harsh, making the gown look more like armor than anything else. Velvet sleeves met thick leather gloves that matched the leather pants worn under the large overskirt.
An outfit made for today’s excursion.
