Page 199 of A Tribute of Fire

With a growl I spun on my heel, intending to return to the dormitory.

“Where are you going?” Zalira asked.

“That is the man who killed my sister,” I said through clenched teeth. “I’m getting my sword because I’m going to run him through.”

“You can’t leave the temple,” Ahyana said. “As soon as you step foot onto the street, he can harm you.”

“He can try.” Now that I had him within my sights, I wasn’t going to let him escape with his life.

He owed it to me after what he’d taken.

“Don’t get your weapon,” Zalira told me. “Not before we know what’s happening. You can’t rush out there and murder the man in front of all those soldiers.”

She was right but I didn’t want her to be. I wanted to see the expression in his eyes as I plunged my xiphos straight into his chest so that he would know exactly what it felt like to have his heart destroyed.

Because he had obliterated mine.

The redheaded demon handed his reins to a soldier standing behind him on the chariot and then held up both of his hands, asking for the crowd to be quiet.

“I am Thrax, captain of Prince Alexandros’s royal guard. I have come for the princess.”

For Io? I knew she had cheated to get in here, that serving the goddess was the most important thing in her life, but had she joined without her family’s knowledge or permission?

Had they finally tracked her down and decided to demand her back? Would they force her into that arranged marriage?

“There is no princess here,” Antiope called back scornfully. “There are only servants of the goddess.”

“You harbor a foreign princess in your midst,” Thrax said and then he seemed to make eye contact with me.

My heart plummeted down to my feet.

No, no, no.

This was not happening.

My time had run out.

“As I told you,” Antiope retorted, “there are only humble servants here.”

“I have come for Princess Thalia to honor the betrothal contract she made with Prince Alexandros.”

The temple crowd seemed confused, exchanging glances and whispering to one another.

It wouldn’t take them long to figure out who he meant.

“There is no one here named Thalia,” Antiope said.

His gaze still locked with mine, he said, “The Locrian maiden. I demand that you turn her over to me.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

How did the royal family know that I was at the temple? My first thought was that the witness must have told them. That he had seen me at the Golden Lamb, realized who I was, and somehow told the palace.

My second thought was that Io must have told everyone. But she wasn’t even here and I’d only just confided in her. How could she have shared my secret already? She had sworn she wouldn’t.

Or maybe someone at the festival had overheard us and passed the information along to the prince. They were probably paid a good amount of coin for it.

It had been so foolish of me to tell Io. If I had just kept my mouth shut, this wouldn’t be happening.

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