Page 174 of A Tongue so Sweet and Deadly

Bile rose in her throat when the small flicker of care in his eyes vanished, the glittering gray shifting in the blackest of loathing.

“You…” Loche clenched his jaw, tearing his eyes away.

King Rioner grinned where he stood, his chiseled face bent down, but her father winced at the devastation that must be written all over her face.

“Loche…” Lessia took a hesitant step forward. “Please, let me explain.”

Her bottom lip trembled as she reached out for him, but he shoved her hand away.

“Take them away,” he snarled.

“W—what?” Lessia tried to reach out for him again, but he pushed off the table and backed away from her.

“I said. Take. Them. Away. Take my feelings away. Take every memory of us. I only want to remember you as the spy who snaked her way into our election. Nothing else.” Loche’s hands balled into fists as he glared at her.

“No.” She shook her head. “No, please, Loche. It was all real! Just let me explain.”

His glare shifted to her king. “You can make her do it, can’t you? Make her do it, and there will be no war between Ellow and Vastala.”

“No!” Lessia fell to her knees. “Please!”

King Rioner’s teeth glinted in the light from the fireplace. “As you wish.”

He turned toward her, careful to keep his gaze somewhere on her leather boots. “Elessia, I order you to remove his memories of you, to remove the feelings he harbors for you.”

Invisible tethers wrapped around her, trying to force her upright, but she struggled against them, pushed against the oath burning on her arm.

“Don’t make me do this. D-d-don’t… Please! No!”

Something warm dripped down her face, and when she wiped at it, her sleeve came back red.

Light flickered before her eyes as she fought with everything in her, but as blood continued to gush out of her nose, another tug forced her to stand.

Her feet took a step toward Loche.

Then another.

Loche’s dark eyes fixed on hers, unwavering, unforgiving, as she closed the distance between them.

“Please,” she whispered as she felt magic build behind her eyes. “Please, Loche. I…” She sucked in a breath and forced herself to tell him. “I think… I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Loche didn’t flinch.

His gaze sliced to her king again. “I thought you had her on a tighter leash.”

King Rioner snorted. “It’s done.”

It felt like she was dying.

And she wished she was when the familiar warmth of magic filled her veins, when she openedher mouth with eyes locked on Loche’s glazed ones and heard herself utter the words “Forget me. Forget every moment we had alone. Forget you ever felt anything for me. You will only remember me as the spy, the traitor that tried to ruin your election.”

When the oath finally released its grip, her knees buckled, and a broken sob left her as Loche’s eyes cleared and only mild disdain clouded the gray as he watched her.

Loche stepped over her broken body, his lip curling with disgust when she whimpered his name.

“I will keep my promise. There will be no war between Ellow and Vastala over the spy. But you…” He pointed at her, his eyes empty when they collided with her tear-filled ones. “You are hereby banished from Ellow. If you ever step foot here again, I will personally hunt you down and kill you.”

Every word stabbed at her heart like a dagger, and she could barely see through the haze of tears as King Rioner stepped up to stand beside him. “I made a promise to you, Elessia. You are hereby free of the blood oath. But you are also banished from Vastala, and I have informed my men that if they see you entering our waters, you are to be taken out immediately.”

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