Page 14 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
This unholy union would break his claim on her hand.
They’d never met, and The Dragon didn’t even know Evie still lived. But his wrath could burn us all if he found out.
“It’s a miracle that Commander of theirs hasn’t uncovered our plan.” Clara shivered. “I heard not even graves are safe from him when he wants to find something.”
I tensed my muscles to keep my own shiver at bay.
The Commander was more legend than man.
The one they called Shadow.
A ghost haunting Malhaven.
The Dragon might have led the Blood Brotherhood, but the Commander was his secret weapon.
Few knew how or why he’d joined that heinous Clan only years before, only that he’d brought havoc to its enemies since.
I hadn’t met the man and, gods willing, I never would. Hearing the frightened whispers about him was enough.
“The Blood Brotherhood is too preoccupied with the Blood Moon ritual today to bother with us,” I said, wanting to soothe both my cousins and I.
The threat of the Blood Brotherhood was seared into every Vegheara heart. We’d been enemies since Clans had first taken root in Malhaven and the animosity had only thrived since.
“We need to worry about the danger in front of us.” I grabbed on tight to the banister, the marble heated up under the sun and narrowed my gaze on Fabrian just as he shoved one of his servants. “We can’t let Evie destroy her life.”
Chapter
Four
ALLIE
The music in the courtyard swelled as I appeared at the end of the aisle in all my rehearsed glory, every crystal note a countdown to disaster.
Spine straight, shoulders back, I plastered the proudest smile on my face and ignored the rapid patter in my chest.
I was Evie’s representative in this sham of a ceremony and I would play my part well.
The courtyard looked like it had bloomed, flowers tied to every chair, clouds of ribbons strewn between the tree branches, silver-stemmed glasses raised high in the air.
All this spectacle had barely been a drop in the Serpents’ neverending supply of gold, but our coffers were already thinned to the limit.
All that wine, each sweet-scented rose, the feast waiting after the ceremony. Everything had cost more than we could afford.
There was no changing that–the meat had been roasted, the wine cellar pillaged–but I could save Evie.
Never let them see you waver,Grandpa Constantine’s voice trickled in my ear.
If the leader faltered, the Clan trembled.
Nothing in this world was worth that risk.
Smiles greeted me from the Protectorate side, while sneers and curled lips acknowledged my presence from the Serpents’ emerald seats.
I ignored the painted peacocks and their bejeweled lapels, focusing on the sea of blue grins.
TantheIssabela “Issa” blinked at me from behind her thick-rimmed spectacles and fluttered her feather fan my way. She made a wobbly move to stand, before her granddaughter Violetta gently stopped her. I cared deeply for Issa, but this was not the time or place for me to listen to her poached fish recipe for the twenty-fifth time.
ThantoMano tipped his pointed hat my way, white moustache bristling with a mouthed “Thank you”, as he always did when he saw me. The Protectorate First Family had paid for his young sister’s quarters at the Academy, a dream of hers even before she’d become a young widow and single mother to six rowdy children.
