Page 17 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

Demetri hadn’t even tried to fight for me. House Laurent had signed the papers to dissolve the marriage with zero fuss, which I still found odd. Some part of me had thought Demetri would have apologized for his actions and maybe tried to fix things between us. I most likely would have said no, but it hurt a little that he hadn’t bothered. Our three-year marriage really had been a joke.

But more strange was that his mother, Marvina, hadn’t used the request to dissolve the marriage to get better tradeagreements between our Houses. She had no doubt been happy to see me go, but it wasn’t like her to waste such an opportunity. Since I was the one requesting the marriage to end, it would have been House Harker’s responsibility to offer any compensation.

“Do you want me to get Yolanthe?” Sofia asked quietly. “We can cover for you if you’re not ready to face him yet. No one will judge you for it.”

“I would judge me.” I gave her a small smile. “Besides, we both know Yolanthe is very calm until she’s not, and there’s a distinct possibility of her walking into that room and trying to tear Demetri’s head off.”

Sofia snorted. “True. She can be quite protective of those she cares about. I still have to handle any correspondence with House Devereux because she refuses to speak to Desmond even though her sister has told her she’s fine with how things ended between them.”

“Nobody holds a grudge like Yolanthe.” I shook my head at the memory of listening to the advisor rant about all the things she was going to do to the House Devereux Heir’s brother for how he had treated her sister. Most of the threats involved cutting his dick off in rather imaginative ways. For someone who was usually quite prim and proper, Yolanthe had a real mouth on her sometimes.

“I’ll be fine.” I pushed off from the wall and did my best to channel Carmilla. She was always confident and steadfast no matter the circumstance. I would be the same. “Do you know where Prince Draven is?”

Sofia shook her head. “I haven’t seen him since this morning.”

Well, that didn’t bode well at all.

I drew in an even breath and willed myself to be calm. “Can you track down Alaric and Kieran and let them know what’s going on?”

“Of course. Anything you need, Samara.” She shot me a mischievous grin. “Even hiding the body of a certain piece of shit Heir.”

A sharp bark of laughter leapt from my lips. “Appreciate the thought, but I don’t think it’ll come to that.”

“Kieran might feel differently,” Sofia said slyly before darting back up the stairs.

She was right. I had no idea how Kieran would react to Demetri’s presence here. On one hand, he was better than me at hiding his true feelings behind all those masks of his, but on the other hand, he was fiercely protective of me. While I was happy to be back at House Harker and finally be with Kieran in the way I’d always wanted . . . Demetri’s betrayal had still hurt.

The memory of walking down the hall that day towards the sound of pleasurable moans played in my mind. My fingers curled into fists as I remembered what it had felt like to see Demetri in bed with someone else, displaying so much more passion than he ever had with me, at least in the last year of the marriage.

It was starting to feel like the moon had cursed me. As if I didn’t have enough problems just existing in Lunaria and trying to keep my House in order. Now I had to deal with a potential secret alliance between the wraiths and our queen, a wicked but ever so charming prince, and piling onto all of this were a bunch of Heirs who were no doubt here to push their own agendas. And they all may or may not have allied with the Moroi Queen and whatever she had going on with the wraiths.

“Love it,” I muttered to myself as I started making my way back down the stairs. “Absolutely love the life as an Heir. I mean, sure, I could be living the simple life at one of the outposts, maybe the one with the hot springs, but who would choose sitting in perfectly heated water every night while you relaxed from the toils of the day over dealing with a bunch ofbackstabbing, spoiled bitches. I mean, that’s not even a choi—fuck!”

“I mean, if you want to fuck, I’m not going to say no.” Draven grinned from the step beneath me. I’d almost reached the bottom landing when he’d stepped into the stairwell and cut me off. “Given that I’m basically an Heir, just with a fancier title, do you lump me into the category of ‘backstabbing, spoiled bitches?’”

“Yes.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re basically their leader.”

“Harsh.” He gave me a wounded look that I didn’t believe for one second. “May I escort you into the den of vipers?”

I stared at the arm he offered and raised my chin. “No, thanks. I can walk just fine on my own.” Pushing by him, I exited the stairwell and made my way towards the front of the main tower. Everyone I passed shot me relieved smiles. It wasn’t that everyone disliked dealing with the Heirs—all of the advisors had met with them at one time or another—but they’d come here without any warning, and with the Moroi Prince here, also unannounced, everyone knew a political game was underfoot, and none of them wanted to deal with it.

Sadly, that was my job since Carmilla wasn’t here. Even if she were here, I would still be involved, but at least I would have been able to let her run the show and just provide support instead.

Draven drew even with me, an amused smile playing across his lips. “This is your fault, you know,” I hissed under my breath at him, even as I kept a confident expression on my face. As the Harker Heir, it was important that I always presented a solid front, no matter the turmoil I was feeling inside.

“Whatever do you mean, my lovely betrothed?”

“Don’t call me that.” I ground my teeth. “They’re here becauseyou’rehere. It’s rare for you to visit the other Houses.At the Sovereign House, they have to contend with your mother, but now, they can get to you directly and whisper whatever they want into your ear, and they no doubt want to know why you came to House Harker so they can use that information in the future.”

“Thanks to the friendship between your aunt and my mother, there’s already an established relationship between our Houses.” He shrugged. “It’s not the first time I’ve visited your home.”

We were almost to the room when I stopped and stared at him. “Did you tell anyone why you were coming here?”

“No.” Draven cocked his head. “Would you like me to?”

“Absolutely not!” I lowered my voice after taking a deep breath. “Do not mention your ridiculous proposal. If the Heirs learn of it, they’ll become determined to hammer through as many trade deals and arrangements as possible because they’ll think my House will be directly tied to the Sovereign House. And I do not. Have time. For their bullshit,” I enunciated.

Draven just smiled at me, and I threw up my hands in frustration. “Argh! Do not speak,” I ordered, knowing it was pointless because the prince would do whatever he wanted. He didn’t follow me when I started walking again, but I somehow doubted he was just going to walk away. No doubt he was plotting something I wouldn’t like.

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