Page 59 of A Queen This Fierce and Deadly

There were safe houses in various villages, but we hadn’t taken one of those routes. Or had we?

My mind whirled, until it felt as if the ground itself was shifting beneath my feet. I leaned on a tree to steady myself, and Glenda handed me a waterskin.

“Drink.” Her tone left no room for objections.

I took a few sips, conscious of how long the water might need to last.

The last rays of light began to fade, casting long shadows in front of us. And then I heard it.

At first, I thought I was imagining the faint sounds of voices, a murmur of life in the suffocating stillness of the forest.

And then, a woman was standing in front of me, wide-eyed, a crossbow in her hand. “Come quick,” she called to someone, and I wanted to tell her to shut her fuckingmouth before she drew the wrong kind of attention.

“Survivors!” someone else shouted.

I felt my eyes roll back as I slumped to my knees.

PRISCA

Rythos folded his arms and gave me a dark look. “You wanted to see me?”

His tone was oddly formal.

I frowned at him. “Um…”

Realization slammed into me, and a sick feeling swelled through my body. It was because I’d summoned him. As if he were my subject.

I’d asked Rythos to meet me places before. But tonight, he was bristling from what he likely thought was my order. And I knew it wasn’t truly about me. Knew that on any other night, he would have shown up with a grin on his face, eyes dancing as he made some teasing remark.

“I…I thought this might be a good place to talk. Lorian tested the silence ward on the balcony.”

Some of the ire left his eyes, and he nodded. We looked at each other in awkward silence for a long moment. While technically he would be my subject when he lived in the hybrid kingdom, he had to know I wouldn’t throw my weight around. And yet…

“Pris?” He smirked at me. “It’s fine. Let’s talk on the balcony.”

I threw open the wide doors and stepped outside. It was cooler here at night, but the wind wasn’t quite cool enough for me to need a cloak.

And I was still putting off this conversation. I needed to choose my words carefully.

“I noticed you didn’t like the priestess.” So much for speaking carefully.

Rage flickered in Rythos’s eyes. “They’re responsible for just as much pain and carnage as Regner’s assessors. How many times did you watch them steal power from tiny, innocent babies, Prisca?”

The memory of the last Taking I’d seen flashed through my mind before I could stop it. The baby had screamed so loudly…

Forcing the memory away, I leaned on the balcony railing next to him. “You heard what she said. Some of the priestesses were working against Regner.”

“Not enough of them.”

We were both silent for a long moment. And then Rythos sighed. “You’re right. I’m not…reasonable or neutral when it comes to those women.”

“What happened, Rythos? You don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to,” I blurted. “But it might help.”

He sighed. “It was during the time Conreth separated all of us. After Lorian refused to kill the wildkin. I was in northern Eprotha—not far from your village, although you hadn’t yet been born.” His eyes glittered. “It was before Regner truly knew just how dangerous Lorian and the rest of us were—back when we could still walk freely in our human glamour. I met a woman.”

“Ah.”

He slid me an amused look. “Yes. Ah.”

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