Page 254 of A Touch of Poison
Katherine…MyKatherine. Sent to Dawn as a hostage.
No.No.
Every part of me ached, sluggish and slow like I’d been plunged into freezing water. Asher gripped my shoulder, waking me enough to turn as the crowd parted to let Kat through.
Pale, she stared back at me, clasping her hands. Even from here, I could see her knuckles were white.
I threw Braea a glance, hoping I’d misheard or that she’d said the wrong name by accident.
She raised her chin, profile regal and strong.
She meant this. She’d chosen Kat or let Cyrus choose her. She’d agreed to this.
This.
I’d killed for her. Worked to the bone for her. I’d taken my father’s life to save hers.
And in return, she did this.
98
Kat
“And from Dusk, Katherine Ferrers.”
The world pitched. The queen’s voice distorted in my ears, turning the other names into nonsense.
My body felt like a puppet held on a long, long string. From miles away, I told the puppet to fold its hands and mind its magic and control its expression like a good little girl, while the crowd parted.
Up the path leading to the dais, Bastian stared at me. To someone else, he might’ve looked calm and collected, but not to me.
His face was… empty.
The queen hadn’t told him she was going to do this.
That made the little puppet’s little puppet heart hammer—a silly little drum in her chest.
It wasn’t part of some plan they’d concocted together to… I don’t know… send me to Dawn to spy on them, then marry me in secret to Bastian before revealing our marriage, so they were forced to let me go home to him.
Home.
My eyes burned.
Home.
He was home.
“Approach.” A commanding voice broke through my fractured thoughts, and King Cyrus smiled at me, holding out his hand.
Someone prodded me in the back. One foot, weight forward, then the other. It was like I’d never walked before—I had to tell my body to do every part of the motion.
“Kat, don’t.” Ella grabbed my arm, but someone hissed at her to stop and Perry pulled her hands away.
Near the front, I spotted a hateful head of red hair, and Uncle Rufus gave me a wide, wide smile.
But I glided past him, strings pulling me onto the dais.
I spared Bastian only the briefest glance. If I looked at him a moment longer, I would throw myself into his arms and refuse to go.
