Page 135 of Enchanted Heir
Something was flying across the room, lodging itself in Nico’s chest with smack.
A dagger. The king had thrown a dagger and nailed Nico right in the chest.
“No one threatens my heirs.No one.”
Krew tried to keep me from seeing it, but I could still hear the choking, gurgling sounds as Nico breathed his last breaths. No one moved for what felt like minutes. Peeking around Krew’s shoulder, I could see his eyes still open, Nico bleeding out on the ballroom floor. The king finished walking over to him, yanked his dagger out, and wiped it clean on Nico’s own tailcoat.
Nico had been rude, but had he deserved to die for his little experiment? I wasn’t even sure Nico had time to fear what was going to happen to him or regret it either. It had all happened so fast.
The king spun toward the table. “All of you get out. Get your women and your servants and get the hell out of my castle.Get. Out.”
Well I guess I had my answer about their wives. If selected to play cards, they apparently got to stay at the castle.
The men all bowed one by one before turning to leave.
Sasha spun toward me before leaving. “It was a pleasure to play next to you tonight, Jorah.”
I was still in shock after everything which had just occurred. All I could do was give him a nod.
The room emptied except for the princes, the king, and me. The king spun on Krew. “Did you know the magic wouldn’t harm you?”
“Of course,” Krew lied coolly.
Keir was staring at me, and I knew he also knew it was a lie.
“Now I have lost my best disloyal hunter,” he motioned for his personal guards. “Get him out of here. Send someone to clean this mess up.”
He was talking about a body. A dead body. Right there before us in blood. He’d not spilled merely his goblet of wine; he’d just taken a life.
“Your best disloyal hunter?” Krew asked while moving to wrap an arm around me. “You mean other than your own son, I presume?”
The king smirked. “Fine. Yes. Other than you, Krewan.”
“Dammit, I was about to win,” Keir complained. The look he sent Krew told me that Keir wasn’t intentionally trying to make light of what had just happened, he was instead just trying to get the king out of there.
The king threw his hands up. “Great. Another card game ruined.”
Another?This wasn’t the first which had ended with blood?
“I’m going to bed,” the king continued. He took two steps and spun back. “And Jorah dear, why do I continue to learn things that you can do? First you could block magic. Then the forest. Then your tears. And now I learn that you can also protect someone else from magic by touching them. Is there anything else you can do that I don’t know about? Will there be any surprises tomorrow?”
I shook my head. “No, Your Grace. None that I am aware of anyway.”
“Good,” the king said with a nod while glaring at me. “Goodnight.”
* * *
Back in Krew’s wing,I was taking some deep pulls of air into my lungs as I looked out the window. I had just seen a man murdered, feet from me. I tried to focus on the clouds as they ran across the moon. It had been a dreary few days in here. In more way than one.
“Jorah,” Krew said gently at my back, close enough that I could feel his breath on my bare shoulders. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
I shook my head, slamming my eyes shut, wondering when I’d stop seeing all that blood. The king hadn’t even taken the time to unsheathe his sword, he’d just gone for the quick kill. “Nico didn’t even have time to feel remorse, he was alive one moment and just gone the next.”
Krew stood behind me and began massaging my shoulders. “I’m sorry, love.”
I took a shaky breath and turned to face him. “It wasn’t the first murder I’ve seen here.”
Krew’s hands stilled as he shut his own eyes. “Laurent.” He swallowed hard before opening them back up. “Well, if it is any consolation, this time around, Nico was not a good man. He’s been a thorn in my side for years.” Krew gave his head a shake. “He somewhat deserved it at least. Quite unlike Laurent.”
