Page 181 of The King's Man
EPILOGUE (Two Weeks Later)
SOUNDTRACK:Only the Beginningby UNSECRET and M00NWATER
~ MELEK ~
Valgorath City hummed with frenetic energy.
Yilan and I crouched in the shadows cast by the Palace Tower. We were both flattened at the top of the stone wall that circled the Coliseum, watching in awe as it seemed every Nephilim in Ebonreach gathered in such numbers they would soon spill out into the grounds.
They were here to see and hear their new King.
Gall.
I shook my head. Jannus had to be wrong. But his messages—sent in code—were no longer questions for which he sought the answer. They were assurances of fact. The last, received inMeyrath after being rousted by the Centaurs in Kyrion Vale, had left my blood cold. I’d read it so many times I could recall it from memory.
~
All reports agree: Gall is heralded. The Continent believes.
You enter Valgorath as a Pretender, leading an insurrection.
Your enemies await you. Your allies prepare a place for you.
God come with you.
We win, or we die.
Be safe, Your Majesty.
- J
~
God, I hated it when he used the title, especially because he did itknowingit made my skin crawl. But there was not the time to curse my best friend and ally. My spy.
The hum and rumble of the crowd below swelled into a roar as the veil behind the stage was drawn back and a tall, sunny-complexioned Nephilim strode out dressed in an Imperial purple robe with slits on the back that left his wings free.
I would recognize Gall anywhere.
My son.
I shook my head and Yilan squeezed my hand. In the bond, her grief surged along with frantic nerves. She was looking for Istral. We’d only been in the City for a day, but hadn’t yet caught sight of her sister. Though Jann had seen her more than once and said she was healthy, they’d barely spoken. Yilan was beside herself.
Then, as Gall made it to the front of the stage and the crowd’s roar threatened to deafen us, a group of men emerged behind him. His Advisors.
With Jann among them.
Yilan sucked in and I blinked.
He had Diadre at his side, dressed as a slave. And openly leashed.
I felt the prickle of unease and anger starting in my mate, and squeezed her hand.
‘It’s subterfuge. We’ve done it ourselves.’I sent her a memory of the moment she’d bound herself on my bed when Gault entered and I’d covered her nakedness with my wing.
‘I tiedmyself,Melek. It’s not the same at all.’
I sighed and squeezed her hand again. This wasn’t the time for the argument. Things had been tense between her and Jann ever since she drugged me. I was looking forward to the day when this was all done with and we could live our lives.
