Page 25 of Jeweler to the Blessed
“Tell me what, Lucinda?”
“Nothing, Father. Let’s go home. Please, leave him alone.” To her credit, she begged, but it wouldn’t help her lover.
“Get inside!” her father yelled again.
I shook my head as the woman disappeared. Her father turned back to unleash more wrath on the man hanging from his clutched fist.
“The Feared will have your gem for this,” someone called from the crowd.
It was an empty threat. If the rebels were here and could do something to stop this, they would have by now.
The Blessed laughed, dropping the man and giving him a solid kick to the ribs. He didn’t seem worried. Something in me snapped as he bent to reach for the man again.
Maybe it was the helplessness of trying to find Alaric. Maybe it was how little I knew about my uncle. Maybe it was fear of what I’d have to do for the royal family in his absence. Maybe it was seeing my own plans destroyed by circumstance.Or maybe it was the Selection Festival and its stupid hold on this city. Whatever it was, I found myself unable to donothing.
Another magically fueled punch might be this man’s end. His only crime was to think a Blessed would treat him with decency.
My defensive training wouldn’t allow me to stop the violence. The red glow on the Blessed’s adamas ring reflected eerily on the man’s already broken face. I couldn’t tell if it made his injuries seem worse or if they were truly that bad.
I shuffled nervously, considering what to do. My foot kicked a rock as it jumped and retreated with indecision. The noise drew my attention. Small stones and pebbles littered the dirt-packed streets.
That could work.
With this crowd and the shouted threat of the Feared, it wouldn’t take much to tip the scales—for the street to erupt in a brawl.
The people were already volatile. They only needed a reason to loose the shackles of societal restraint. I could give them one.
Causing a riot to give the man time to escape seemed extreme, but at least it was a plan. I wasn’t sure he’d be able to get away with his body as it was, but I had to try.
I bent to grab a handful of rocks and pulled my arm back.
“I think he’s had just about enough.”
I knew that voice.
Maybe I wasn’t the only one so affected by it. Hitting all the right notes of authority and severity, it brought the previously lively street to a standstill. I clutched the handful of stones in my grip, hesitating.
I searched the street for the man. He was easy to spot. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t recognized him immediately in the castle. His broad shoulders parted the crowd as he moved. Hishand rested on the sword at his hip. The guard’s uniform fit him like a glove, leaving little to the imagination. He was a wall of solid muscle, his breadth tapering to a trim waist. I just needed to see …
His forest-green glare met mine. He was no longer wearing a helmet. To the crowd, he appeared to rub the scruff on his face casually as he assessed the scene.
Panic flooded me. Did he recognize me? Did it matter? I was not at all sure.
I quickly pulled my gaze from his, deciding how to proceed. The guard didn’t have to stop this fight. He could look the other way. His interruption indicated he was here to help. Indecision held my hand.
Chancing another look at the guard’s face, I tried to determine his motives. Those brutally green eyes pinched as they found mine again, his gaze flicking to my fist, primed to launch chaos into the street. His glare demanded to know what I thought I was about to do.
“He needs to learn not to pursue those above his station.” The Blessed raised his arm again for another punch.
My fist tightened again around the rocks.
The guard pressed his lips into a thin line, and there was no mistaking the brief, sharp shake of his head. His instruction was explicit, but that didn’t mean I had to take it.
“I’d hate for word to get back to the king that you were making trouble before the Selection Festival,” the guard said.
The Blessed’s arm froze before releasing another punch. He turned to face the intruding guard, appraising his large frame.
The command in the guard’s tone was the same he’d used on Alaric. His pose was casual, but his body looked primed to deliver violence should he choose to. I couldn’t see a glow from an adamas gem on the guard. In fact, I didn’t see a ring orpendant at all. That he’d interrupted the fight without its glow was its own signal of strength.
