Page 174 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
The little pocket of power inside me was dormant. It felt like it was no longer stitched closed, but completely sealed, and I didn’t have the energy to unravel it.
Thoughts, one grimmer than the next, invaded my mind. They wanted to drain the blood out of me. I was nothing but a bag to them.
My skin was slick and itchy with sweat.
My hands and feet were tied hard enough to bite into my skin.
Think. Survive.
Beyond the rotten stench, I smelled moss. There was a whisper of leaves around me, but no animal sounds. Not even insects dared come near.
No hooves or neighs, the horses must have been farther away from us. Even if I could free myself, riding back to safety wasn’t an option–even if one of those horses would let me approach.
Zorin had tried to warn us. He’d felt something was wrong.
My body felt lighter, no longer dragged down by the gown, only shielded by my armor.
My ghostly reflection must have stolen my dress. Gods, Goose and Leesa were unarmed. I sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening.
No dress meant I could move faster.IfI could move.
There was a low trickle in the background, a sound I couldn’t quite make out.
With my heart somewhere near my bound ankles, I opened my eyes the tiniest amount.
Not a dozen.
Thirty-four. Thirty-four hazy shadows with cloaks stood in a circle around a fire. They were throwing some herbs into it that smelled acrid and let off a choking smoke.
The corners of my eyes stung as my blood roared.
The shadows.
The masks.
The fire.
My parents’ killers had come for me once more.
Why hadn’t they just slit my throat and be done with it?
Becausetheywanted my blood. Who? Who would face the wrath of the Protectorate and Blood Brotherhood for me?
Whatever energy I still had distilled into revenge that burned through me. But it wasn’t the blinding fury of a caged animal that wants to rip off the hand that struck it.
No, this was a cold, calculated emotion that wanted to succeed. Not to slash and hope the blade landed. Death was easy. Simple.
I wanted them to regret ever setting eyes on my family.
They would pay. Dearly.
For that to happen, I needed to escape. There was no way I could fight all of them, especially in my state.
But I could hunt them down with the entire force of the Blood Brotherhood behind me–after I became queen.
“Hurry up,” one of them slurred, as if he couldn’t quite piece those two measly words together. He shivered, rubbing its hands together. “I need a good huff.”
More pungent herbs were thrown onto the fire, turning suffocating. Then the chanting started. I couldn’t make any sense of their gutural, garbled words. But a deep sense of dread settled in my belly as the flames licked higher, highlighting the underside of the decaying leaves. They were covered with some kind of slime thatpulsed.
