Page 113 of The King is Dead
And so we made our way through the Palace like that, the three of us cushioned from any other hands or eyes by three rows of guards in a complete circle around us.
Turo led us to a chamber I hadn’t seen before. Some kind of sanctum—the ceiling was well over twenty feet which helped mefeel like I didn’t need to stoop. There was a single, large rectangular table at its center, and three mostly blank walls with a massive fireplace on the fourth. A large bookshelf and a sidebar complete with wine and liquor made up the rest of the room. There was only one set of double-doors leading into it, and no windows. Not even in the ceiling. I could see why Turo had chosen it. The room was a fortress.
I breathed a little easier at first—it would be much simpler to make sure no one gained access to her here. But then the rest of the Council began to arrive, along with an increasing number of guards and messengers and I ground my teeth.
“The more people who know where we’re cloistered, the greater the risk,” I snapped as Turo opened the door to yet another of the Council.
“Stop it,” Yilan muttered under her breath.
But Turo turned on me. “She and the Council can be guarded here easily until my trackers learn who attacked and how. Then we will determine the best strategy,” he ground out.
I would have been pacing, but Yilan had calmly taken a seat at the table, so I stood at her back, glaring at anyone who drew close.
One by one, the Council arrived, along with the Diadre woman who greeted Yilan grimly. Something passed between the two women, then Diadre took the seat to Yilan’s left and watched the door.
Turo paced endlessly, but his instructions were delivered quickly and efficiently. Despite the crowd outside, he didn’t allow anyone through the doors who hadn’t been part of Council meetings before.
Then finally, Hughes arrived—the oldest, he’d obviously been called from his bed. He was wrapped in a long robe, his gray hair sticking in five different directions. He muttered his greeting as he stomped into the room and took the seat at the opposite end of the table from Yilan. Only then did Turo lean out of the door to give instructions as the rest of them settled into their chairs.
Captain Jhonas, the smiling blonde who reminded me of Jannus, sat next to Diadre on the long side of the table. The other younger man named Granbull, dark and brooding, whose hot-headed insistence had gotten him in trouble earlier in the week sat across from Jhonas. But then Turo ushered in another man who looked younger than me and pointed at the seat next to Jhonas.
I glowered. “Who is he?”
Ignoring me, Turo addressed Yilan. “I had already planned to bring Shen along for mentoring—he was with me in the Nephilim camp and showed great calm and poise under pressure.”
Yilan nodded, but I growled.
“This is not the time for risking trust with anyone unproven!”
“You havenovoice in this, Neph,” Turo barked. “Sit the fuck down and—”
“Keep flapping that tongue, Turo. I’d be happy to show you how easy it is to remove—”
“Both of you,stop!”Yilan spat. She glared at me first, then at Turo, then back to me. “You fight against each other for the same goal.This is not the time!”
Turo spluttered like he might stop breathing. “Forgive me, Majesty, but thiscreatureis only in this room out of respect for you. He has noreason to even be present, and yet—”
“He has every reason, Turo!” Yilan hissed, slamming both hands down on the table. “He is mymate!”
I froze as that word echoed in the high chamber and the room wentutterlyquiet and still. Everyone sat, stunned, gaping at her.
Including Turo, whose mouth opened and closed, opened and closed like a suffocating fish. Then he looked at me and took one staggering step back.
“What?” he breathed.
41. The Rug Under His Feet
~ YILAN ~
The room went so quiet I could have heard a pin drop. Which only made the word echo louder in my head.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
I wanted to gather it up and shovel it back down my throat.
Shit.Shit.
I’d been so frustrated with both of them, and shaken by how close that attack had come. I was sickof stepping between them, especially when the explanation was so clear. But I wasn’t thinking, because now the very thing I’d sworn I wouldn’t do to Turo was happening.
