Page 85 of What Fury Brings
They were alone in a simple room. There was no window, only two chairs and a small table. They were in little more than a closet.
“Andrastus,” Glenaerys said. “It’s time you and I became better acquainted.”
He kept his face a mask, meeting her gaze, despite the way her men always went submissive when she turned that cold stare on them.
He was in danger but couldn’t show it, somehow knowing that would only make her more feral.
“And what does that entail?” he asked.
She laughed. “Is that anger I hear in your voice? You’re not still upset over the whole beheading thing, are you? That was… almost a month ago. Besides, you gave me the greatest gift imaginable when Olerra took your place. I’ve wanted to put my cousin in her place for years. Let us forget it and be friends instead.”
Sanos wanted to tell her she could take her offer and shove it up her ass, so he remained silent.
“You’re smart to be wary of me,” she said. “I’m far more dangerous than Olerra; that’s for sure. Olerra could make you withstand all kinds of tortures, but I could bury you in such a way that you’d never be found again. You would simply disappear.”
He held steady, waiting for her to get to the point.
“Nothing to say? No more questions?” she asked.
“I’m sure you’ll tell me when and if you want to.”
“I want my cousin dead.”
Well, that was forthright. “Yes, you attempted that yesterday.”
Glenaerys gritted her teeth. “I lost a lot of loyal women.”
“Aren’t you worried that by telling me this I’ll tell Olerra?”
“As if Olerra doesn’t already know. Besides, who else would believe you over me? Your whole purpose in existing is to please Olerra. You would say or do anything for her.”
Now it was his turn to bare his teeth. “I would not do anything for her. You forget I am not some simple Amarran man.”
Glenaerys smiled, and it was somehow more frightening. “That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear, Prince, which is why I have a proposition for you.”
“My body is off the table,” he said immediately.
She laughed again. “Olerra has had you. I don’t want spoiled goods.”
Sanos didn’t correct her.
“No, Prince, what I want is for you to kill her for me.”
Glenaerys pulled a knife from seemingly nowhere and set it on the table between them. It was nothing special. No gems or other adornments. Simple steel sharpened to a point.
He realized that if he didn’t tell her what she wanted to hear or make a convincing argument, this conversation would end with that knife embedded in his heart. His pulse raced.
“She chains me up at night. There’s no way to get free.”
Glenaerys tilted her head. “Why would she do that?”
He didn’t understand why this interested her. “It makes our nighttime activities easier for her, I suppose.”
Glen’s gaze turned inward. She was silent for a full minute as she thought something through. Finally, she shook her head. “Then you had better earn her trust. In the meantime, you hold on to that.” She nodded at the weapon.
“What if she searches my room?”
“Find a good hiding place. Let’s get something straight, Andrastus. I couldn’t care less if you died. In fact, your death would make Olerra weaker, but I want her dead even more than that, and I play the long game. Make no mistake, you are just one tool I’m utilizing. I have dozens of other plans in place if you fail.”
