Page 141 of Trial of Bronze and Blood
“And the king?”
“Alive.”
Marcus nods, glad to hear it confirmed. “Stay at Cato’s side until I get there.”
The boy agrees in a muttering of unintelligible words and retreats, while Marcus shuts the door.
First, he goes over to Dru. Kneeling beside the bed, he places a kiss on her forehead. Blearily, she opens her eyes, a soft smile on her lips.
“Coming back to bed?” she asks.
Stellae, what I wouldn’t give to be able to do that.
“I can’t. There’s been an attempt on Cato’s life.”
Her eyes shoot open and she instantly untangles herself from the sheets. Scrambling off the bed, she hurries unclothed over the spot by the balcony where her discarded nightgown lies in a heap. The nightgown he practically ripped off her last night…
Taking a deep breath, he focuses his thoughts on the task at hand.
“We should?—”
Dru flies out of his chambers before he can finish.
“Merda,” he swears, grabbing the belt with his sheathed dagger and hurrying after her.
A dozen of his guards crowd the courtyard; luckily, none of them spot Dru until she’s halfway to Cato’s chambers, completely unaware she came from his room.And it’s going to stay that way.
She barges in through the double doors without so much as a knock, Marcus at her heels as he finishes tying his belt around his waist.
Blood pools just inside the door, but the body it once belonged to is gone. Someone must’ve removed it already.Shattered pieces of clay scatter across the floor, bedsheets flung into the corner. Gio is nowhere to be found, but the boy likely went to go vomit outside—so many do after their first kill.
Cato’s bed, however, lies empty.
Marcus finds him standing at the window instead, staring sightlessly out into the lightening sky through the mulberry roots.
“Cato,” Dru breathes, bounding up to him and throwing her arms around him the moment he turns around at the sound of her voice.
He doesn’t return the affection at first, which is unlike him.This must’ve rattled him more than I thought.Eventually, he wraps her in his arms, remaining that way for a beat. Marcus almost expects to be jealous, but he’s not. Cato is one of his most loyal friends and knows more than anyone else how Marcus feels about her.
Dru pulls away and takes a step back. “Why would any Phaedran try to assassinate you now, the eve before the final trial?”
Cato catches Marcus’s eye. “It wasn’t a Phaedran.”
“A Durevolian?” Marcus asks, brow furrowing. He can hardly believe it.
Dru’s voice rises. “One of your own people tried to murder you?”
“It seems they’re unhappier with me than I realized for allowing the Imperium to enter our borders, and want to rob me of the chance of achieving glory,” he says sardonically. “I’ve been a fool thinking I could invite the Imperium in and my people would be glad of it. Thatthey would even tolerate it. I did nothing while my people took to the streets and called for the Imperium’s demise, while Ambitus spit on our traditions and sunk his claws into our country.”
He shakes his head. “I do not deserve to be their king.”
“Once the trial is over, we’ll find out who did this,” Dru promises.
Cato glances at Marcus knowingly, eyes red-rimmed, and an understanding passes between them.
“Yes, we will,” Marcus promises her in return, knowing at least one of them in this room won’t be around to keep that promise.
Cato regards Dru. “I’ll be all right for tonight. Go back to your room and try to get some rest.”
