Page 128 of The King is Dead
“Actually,” I sighed, “Gall gave Gault the killing blow. But Yilan put him out of his misery. He would have died a slow, painful death. What she did was a mercy.”
It wasn’twhyshe did it, but they didn’t need to know that.
But Jann’s jaw had dropped. He looked first at her, then at me. “You were all in on this? You knew she was bringing you here? That was how you avoided taking responsibility for conspiring to kill the King?”
“What? No!” I started, but Yilan jumped in.
“He was foolishly going to take credit for the kill to save Gall and I from the ire of the Nephilim,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I was saving him from himself.”
Jann snorted, and I saw his eyes dance for the first time since I’d confronted him back in the royal suite.
Yilan tipped her head again, getting that gleam in her eyes that she used when they flirted, which made the back of my neck prickle.
“Come now, Jann. You saw how juvenile and perverted Gault was. Surely you didn’t want to stay under those chains?”
“No,” Jann said honestly. “But neither do I want to be a traitor.” He turned to me again. “You always teach the men to respect the throne even if we don’t respect the man.”
I nodded. “I will continue to do so.”
“And yet, you had him killed?”
“I didn’t,” I said solemnly. “I was as surprised as you when Gall attacked. But I have to tell you that I planned to kill him myself. He was trying to claim my mate and manipulated my son to aid him in the endeavor. It was only a matter of time until he killed me or had me killed to soothe his jealousy. I do believe that we must all respect a crown, even if we don’t respect the person. But at some point, loyalty has to be based on something more. True honor can only be appropriated by a vessel worth risking death for. I could no longer say that of Gault… I don’t deny that. And I won’t.”
“And what, in your mind, makes a person an appropriate vessel for that kind of loyalty?” Jann asked me warily.
I looked at Yilan, because she inspired honor in me. “Any person who puts their own needs and wants aside, and is willing to risk themselves for youbeforethey ask you to take a risk for them. Then you know they don’t weigh your life lightly. So, if they ask you to risk it, it won’t be wasted if you win for them, but lose yourself.”
Yilan blinked and I felt the surge in the bond. I couldn’t stifle the hint of a smile and tapped my chest where I felt her there, reminding her that she heldmyloyalty.
But when I tore my eyes from her and back to my brothers intending to continue to answer their questions, Jann wasn’t looking at me, but at the others.
Then he turned to face me and dropped to one knee.
To my shock, he thumped his clenched fist to his chest and raised his chin.
“I vow my life to your service, Melek Handras,” he said, intensity making his eyes glint. “I call youKing.I will stand for you. I will stand beside you. My life is a tool to your hand.”
While I was still gaping from that, Kran and Drek both dropped behind him and repeated the vow, though Kran looked like he thought he wasliterallyvowing his life away.
And when they were done, they all looked at Hever.
The old man stared at me, his eyes burning with a feverish light. “I came for you because you inspired something in our people I had not seen in all my years,” he said quietly. “I do not like where this might take all of us, but I cannot deny that I can’t identify a better Neph to wear the crown.”
Then he slowly lowered himself to one knee, laid his hand on his chest and repeated the vow as the others had. There was a hint ofanger in his eyes, but whether that was for me, or just the situation, I didn’t know.
And I was astounded at first, left speechless, gaping at the four of them kneeling in front of me.
It was Jann who smiled. “We came to get you because we believe you should wear the crown. And you just proved it,” he said with a small shrug.
I stammered something. Some kind of gratitude.
But then Yilan came to stand at my side and when I looked down at her, she looked like the cat who’d stolen the cream.
“This is just the beginning, Melek,” she said, leaning into my side. “I told you. God made you for this.”
48. Govern This
~ YILAN ~
