Chapters (46)
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
James was pale and more gaunt than he’d been before, but otherwise didn’t look injured. He said nothing as the Red Shields unbound him. They handled him roughly, and when a soldier struck him for moving too slowly, James held Kyra’s eyes as he took the blow. Only when the soldiers were in formation around him, ready to begin the march back, did he finally speak.
“Have you told them what you are?” he asked. His voice carried clearly through the crisp fall air.
Kyra faced straight ahead, though her heart quickened and she looked out of the corner of her eye for escape routes.
“You didn’t, did you? The Palace will regret this, bringing their enemy into their midst.”
Malikel cast a glance toward Kyra. “What is this?”
She hoped her voice wouldn’t give her away. Flick was better at this sort of thing, but he couldn’t help her now. “I’ve told you, sir. This is what he does. He knows what to say and how to make people do what he wants. When you interrogate him, most of your work will be separating the lies from the truth.”
She sensed Malikel’s eyes on her as they continued walking, and she focused on keeping her face relaxed, her breathing steady. After what seemed an endless stretch, Malikel looked away.
The laugh, harsh and biting, took everyone by surprise. Kyra turned to see James with his head thrown back as if he had just heard the world’s funniest tale. When he finally stopped, he looked at Kyra with something akin to respect in his eyes.
“Well done, Kyra. Well done.”
Epilogue
E P I L O G U E
The antechamber to the Council Room was one of the Palace’s finest spaces, built with the intention of intimidating visiting dignitaries. The floor was fine gray stone and the walls all black, inlaid with gold leaf. As Kyra awaited her audience in the antechamber, she had to admit that the architecture was accomplishing its purpose. Surrounded by all this luxury while dressed in her own plain tunic, she found it hard not to feel small.
Two Red Shields escorted her. Though Kyra wasn’t bound, she still kept a careful eye on them. Willem had grudgingly allowed her to spend the two weeks before her audience in the city, but he’d insisted that she appear for the audience itself. It was a risk, coming back to the Palace, but she didn’t think the Council was so bold as to break promises it had announced to the masses, and she could only jump at shadows for so long.
The antechamber’s focal point was a pair of massive oak doors leading to the Council Room, and an attendant pulled them open. “The Council is ready to see you.”