Page 140 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
But the past could not be changed.
It could only be used.
Learned from.
Molded into an aid, not an impediment.
Three deep breaths in, I stopped my heart from shattering all over again.
Luckily, the Commander stayed silent behind my rippling back, a guarding shadow, close enough to reach out toward if I needed to, but staying on his side of the door, like he’d promised.
I’d grabbed Evie’s hand, then–
Shards.
Cascading all over my dress.
The vase I’d been sitting right next to before I’d launched myself toward my cousin.
That’s where the first arrow had hit.
Right where I’d been standing.
Not at Evie.
Not at Fabrian or The Dragon or my father or any other Clan leader.
Me.
The realization hit me hard. I twirled around back to the Commander, gaze frightened, but triumphant.
“I was the target,” I whispered.
Every Clan member worth their salt knew you always struck down the main target first, before they or their guards had a chance to intervene.
We’d all been out in the open that day, my father only a few steps away from me.
It could have been an errant shot.
A coincidence.
But this was no coincidence, was it?
This was the clue I’d been missing.
I began to pace again, this time right in front of the doorway, as if I wanted to fret, but under his watchful gaze. Like I was inviting him into my worries. To see them. To hear them. Maybe to help carry them. “That’s why the arrows followed me in the maze.”
He nodded gravely. “Your father might have lost his life in the chaos, but they wanted you dead first. Not him.”
“Maybe they wanted both of us dead.”
“But you first.”
“Yes.Why?”
That same maddening question, playing on repeat, like a merciless god asking for his offering.
“May the gods have mercy on Alaric’s soul, but you were more of a natural born leader than he was,” he said.
