Page 169 of A Touch of Poison
I knew the kind of “pleasure” she meant. Chest squeezing, I tried to stop her reaching Kat, but a guard grabbed my shoulder.
Kat looked from the princess to me, head cocking. “How are you alive?”
“At lastsomeone’s asking the important questions.” Sura clicked her tongue at me. “Really, Bastian, I always thought you were so bright.”
“Remove these manacles and I’ll show you how bright I still am.”
“Hmm, no, I don’t think I will. We need to keep those pesky shadows in check, don’t we? Not to mention,someone’spoison.” Eyebrow arched, she surveyed Kat. “An interesting little trick. One you won’t be repeating. The instant either of you try to escape, I’ve ordered my archers to concentrate their fire on the human. They’ll aim to kill, but with that many arrows, I don’t suppose it’ll matter. They’ll make a pincushion out of you. And humans are so delicate, even ones with poison in their blood.” Another bright smile. “Understood?”
With a glower, Kat inclined her chin.
I gritted my teeth, seething. “Why not just kill me?”
Her eyes narrowed on me, a long look of calculation. “Maybe I want you alive.”
They’d herded us. A good archer could’ve picked us off before I realised they were there. She’d had her healers save Kat’s life when it would’ve been significantly easier for them to let her go.
My lip curled. “And you want to use her to control me.”
“Ah, there’s some of that cunning I expected from the man they callthe Serpent of Tenebris.” She spread her hands as if it was written on a banner before her.
“You heard about that, then.” I had only been called Serpent after her coup.
“Of course. Just because I’ve been absent, doesn’t mean I haven’t beenlistening. But, I forget my manners—I was answering dear Katherine’s question.” She perched on the table and waved the guards to one side.
With us both shackled in iron, she was safe.
For now.
One leg crossed over the other, she watched me closely. “A changeling worked for me. Caira. I loved her, and the damn fool loved me enough to die for me.”
Somehow that made it worse. In my childish act of swaggering victory, I hadn’t just thrown a head at my queen’s feet. I’d thrownthe wrong head. That heaviness in my stomach expanded until I could barely breathe.
“And this is why you attacked the city?” Kat frowned. “How does killing civilians give you revenge against him?”
“What?” Sura glanced at the guards who waited off to one side.
“You didn’t know?”
Oh, she knew. She was just a good actress. Good enough to fool even Kat. I sneered, using anger at what she’d done to squash down my shock. “We found your people redirecting the Horrors to the city, so you can save yourself the performance.”
“Not my people.” She jerked her chin towards the doors, and two guards hurried out. With a deep breath, she gathered herself. “Look, this isn’t what I intended when I heard we’d captured you.”
“Believe me, this isn’t how I saw my day going, either. How about you let us go, so we can all carry on with our days.”
“So you can report back to my mother and bring her full wrath down upon us? I think not.” She huffed and scowled. “But it is a difficult position you put me in. I’m not ready to unite the thrones yet and—”
“Unite?” Kat raised her eyebrows. “Bring Dawn and Dusk together?”
Sura sighed. “I forgot how impatient humans can be. Bring together… in a manner. When I take the throne, it won’t be divided.”
“You want to rule alone. You’re not going to Sleep.”
The Circle of Ash.
Hadn’t the Lady said we’d find the answers to both problems together? That meant this palace had to be Ashara.
And this had to be our execution. We knew the location of her base. It was the only logical course.
