Page 55 of Heavenly Bodies

‘You think I was on a first name basis with them?’

‘Description, Elara. Hair, eyes, what did they look like?’

‘Does it matter?’ She huffed out a nervous laugh.

‘Yes,’ he snapped.

‘The ringleader was about forty. Sandy hair, scar across his temple?’

He thought a moment. ‘Barric,’ he nodded. There was a pause, and she let the sounds of the birds chirping in the branches of the jasmine trees wash over her as she pulled blades of grass through her fingers.

‘Did they touch you?’

Elara stilled at the ice in his voice. This wasn’t the drunken, charming prince, or the teasing ally. This was the voice of the most lethal warrior to grace Celestia. She didn’t reply.

‘Did they fucking touch you?’ he asked again.

A shiver ran down her spine. Enzo’s voice was usually lilting and warm, filled with fire. Now it was cool. Calm. Far too calm.

‘Barric did,’ she whispered. The memory that she’d worked to push down, to forget, rose unbidden, and panic gripped her. ‘He made others hold me as he tore my gown. Kissedmy neck. That’s as far as he got before I brought his nightmares to life.’

She felt a rough hand raise her chin and Enzo’s eyes searched hers. Some warmth had returned to his gaze, but ice still glittered underneath. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his jaw tensing before he finally spoke.

‘That willneverhappen to you again.’

‘I know. I can handle myself.’ She raised an eyebrow.

‘Yes. But in my kingdom, you are under my protection.’

He stroked her cheek once, the gentle gesture turned her breathing shallow. At the last moment he stood and turned, his tall shadow cutting through the training ground to the palace. It was only once he’d left that she saw it. Scorched, blackened earth where he had sat, smoking madly in the afternoon rays.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Elara woke the next morning to the smell of smoke. She coughed, arms reaching out blindly. Her eyes widening, she saw plumes of smoke rising, coming from the rough direction of the palace gates. She staggered to her feet in alarm, her view obstructed by the parapets and towers of the palace grounds.

Quickly pulling on her training clothes, she strapped her dagger to her thigh and ran out into the empty corridor, shouting for Merissa or Leo.

‘Anybody? Help! There’s smoke by the palace gates!’

The palace was as silent as the Graveyard and Elara fought to quell the rising panic inside. She flung herself around a corner, hoping that she was heading the right way. She began to hear the hum of a crowd and followed it. She spotted Merissa, who waved desperately, beckoning her over. With a lurch, she ran to her, holding her robe around her.

‘What in the Stars is going on?’ she cursed, straining over the heads of both palace guests and workers. Opposite where she had come from, there was another arched entrance to the yard, gated, and Elara saw beyond it even more crowdspressed against the bars, a roiling restless energy slithering through them.

‘A public execution,’ Merissa explained, peering over their heads herself. ‘The bells tolled just before dawn. The biggest one we’ve had in years.’

Elara shook her head. ‘Publicexecutions? You still have those?!’

Merissa looked at her as thoughshewere insane. ‘You don’t in Asteria?’

‘My father outlawed them decades ago.’

Merissa looked at her uneasily. ‘You’d better not watch, then.’ She turned to the spectacle.

Elara made to turn too, sickness waving over her. However, something ground her to the spot, a heavy pulling sensation in her stomach. She moved, peering through a parting in the crowd. Her breath stopped. A few steps led to a raised platform, a portico built upon it. And there, each tied to a pillar of the structure, were five men.

One, small and weaselly, had blood pouring from his nose. The next, short and muscled, had burns down one side of his face.

‘Good gods,’ Elara breathed.

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