Page 1 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

ChapterOne

As she swallowed a mouthful of watery porridge, Lessia glared at the men around the timeworn table.

To her right, Merrick scrunched his nose as he lifted a spoon of the pale liquid to his lips, the disgust when it trickled down his throat as apparent as the stench of sweat and stale air permeating the small ship’s cabin.

Before her, Ardow and Venko sat with blood still staining their clothing, and her gaze snagged on Venko’s swollen-shut eye and the angry red line snaking its way from his forehead down to his chin.

The men’s gazes remained fixed on the bowls the ship’s captain had brought down for breakfast, declaring their contents was the only edible thing onboard, as their departure hadn’t been planned. Not one of them looked up as they shoveled the soupy mess into their mouths.

Lessia ground her teeth as she continued to stare daggers at them.

It’d been almost a week since they escaped Ellow.

A week in which she’d given them time to rest and heal from the injuries Ellow’s guards—and, in Merrick’s case, King Rioner’s soldiers—had inflicted.

A week in which they’d barely spoken more than two words to her, guilt building across their features every time they met her eyes.

A week in which Lessia had spent the time mainly outside, leaning over the railing and staring at the wrathful sea, trying to comprehend how everything had gone to shit.

How could she have missed two people so close to her being traitors?

She should have seen the signs with Ardow!

And Merrick…

Her gaze flicked up to the worn ceiling for a moment, following the cracks and warped beams weaving their way to the stairs leading up to the deck of the ship.

She’d assumed he was acting on orders from their king.

But whatever he’d been doing all those times he sneaked away must have been connected to the rebellion these idiots believed they were spearheading.

An ache started in her chest as she thought of Amalise—the fear she’d seen in her friend when they’d sat on that bed together on her final night in Ellow—and she clenched her teeth when Kalia’s, Ledger’s, and Fiona’s faces flashed before her eyes.

What if Zaddock hadn’t gotten to Amalise in time?

What if Amalise and Zaddock hadn’t gotten the children out?

What if everyone she loved was rotting in Loche’s cellars right this moment, believing Lessia had left them behind?

The wooden walls of the cabin seemed to creep closer, darkening the already dimly lit room and casting foreboding shadows on the males around her, causing a shiver to dance across her shoulders.

Lessia dropped her spoon when thoughts of Zaddock made Loche’s smirk fill her mind, then the images of his cold, distant eyes as she’d taken every feeling he’d ever harbored for her away.

The spoon clattered to the floor, shattering the thick silence.

Still, when Merrick quietly bent down to pick it up, neither Venko nor Ardow reacted.

The constant pressure on her chest tightened as the men’s eyes remained anywhere but on hers, and the air she forced into her lungs became heavier, filled with guilt and regret.

Her nostrils flared, and Lessia slammed her hands on the table so hard that her bowl toppled over and the gray mush spilled across the stained wood.

“Enough!”

Every pair of eyes in the room flew to hers.

Finally.

With magic pulsating under her skin, she snarled, “It’s time for you to tell me what’s going on! It’s been a week, and I’ve tried to be understanding, but I’m done waiting! Absolutely. Fucking. Done.”

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