Page 50 of Frost and Death
Someone claps.
Niko and I turn, everyone gaping at the man stepping into the aisle, wearing a devilish grin.
“Dead?” Rick asks coolly as he stares between Niko and me. “Yes.”
Startled shock erupts through the ballroom as Niko rises, stepping away from the dais.
I glance around the room, not a guard in sight.
Where are all the guards?
“Sir, did you do this?” Niko asks.
Rick viciously sneers, releasing a low laugh. “Of course I did. How else would I have gotten your attention?”
My own eyes widen in shock, glancing back to the dead priest on the floor as a hushed silence fills the room.
I hurry to Niko’s side, asking in a low whisper, “Where are the guards?”
The exit blocked by Rick clangs in response.
My blood runs cold at the hollering from beyond, staff and guards screaming for the doors to open.
Rick chuckles darkly. “It pays to be rich enough to bribe one of your staff membershandsomelyto keep any guards from coming in.”
Niko and I share a glance.
My eyes flick down to his sword, the only one in the room besides Rick’s.
Weapons and weddings are not meant to go together, and yet here they are, on my wedding day, with no guards in sight, a murder stopping my marriage, and guests to watch everything unfurl.
The Makers are set on ruining my existence.
Everyone waits with bated breath as Rick prowls down the aisle. “Now that I have your attention, I regret that I must inform you Queen Tove is already betrothed. And thus, I cannot allow this marriage to happen today.”
Annoyance drives to the surface.
The fact I can’t have one thing go right for me, including thispsychopath, has me seething.
“I am not betrothed to anyone.”
Rick’s blue eyes pierce mine. “Yes, you are.”
I hold Niko’s hand, wanting to show a united front. “Andwhoam I betrothed to if not Lord Nikolaj?”
Rick rests a hand on his heart, a huff at the slight as if I sought to offend him. But his offense shifts to smirking as he says, “Why, me, of course.”
“Bullshit,” Niko and I say in unison.
I do not want to hear anything Rick has to say. And somehow, Niko can tell because he angles himself between me and Rick, unsheathing his sword and pointing it.
I squeeze his hand, trusting him to handle this better than I can. He is challenging Rick, and no one, not even the crown, is to intervene when a blade is drawn.
A stupid rule amongst all swordsmen not to disrupt any party’s honor.
The back door wiggles against the hinges as Rick looks over his fingernails, bored. “I would suggest against what you are insinuating, Lord Nikolaj,” Rick warns in a dark tone.
My insides pinch at the warning, but the fire in Niko’s eyes tells me he is not going to stand down.
