Page 141 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
“My father could be fearsome when pressed.” Seizing power after Grandpa Constantine's death hadn’t been a simple issue of putting on the crown and sitting on the throne. Respect had to be earned and he had. “You’re the Blood Brotherhood Commander, sworn enemy, and you still respected him.”
“True.” His icy gaze trailed me, like a calm tether while I fought against the storm of memories and plots. “Are you the most powerful magic wielder in your Clan?”
“I’m one of the best–” Or was. “–but no. Protectorate magic evolves as we age, enhanced by experience. My father had more power in him than me.”
“And you didn’t have any weapons on you, so even if you’re the best archer in all of Malhaven, you couldn’t have retaliated.”
The compliment slid along my shoulders, settling at the base of my neck, a river of shivers coursing down my spine. “I was no threat on that day.”
Hard to say, harder to live with, but it was the truth.
“You are one of the biggest threats on the continent, make no mistake about that,” he said. “But if not on that day, before. Or after. Perhaps they wanted to neutralize you just to be sure.”
“Then they would have shot my father first.” As horrid as that thought was, it would have been the most logical. It would have been easier to murder him while he sat in a chair than chasing after him in the maze.
“Enemies?” he asked.
“Apart from you and your Clan? Too many to count, but none of them have come after me since.”
“Apart from the Protectorate.”
I stopped pacing.
Yes, apart from the Protectorate.
What did I have that needed to be wiped out from this world? Not a throne, not a crown, not my archery skills, not blood–I had the same Vegheara veins as the rest of my cousins.
There was only one thing left.
My mind.
I knew something powerful.
Something dangerous.
But all of my cousins had access to the same secrets. Maybe more.
In the weeks leading up to the wedding, I’d only been concerned with Evie and the dire situation in our vaults. I’d missed negotiations, councils–
My gasp wrenched from my lungs, reverberating all around us.
There was one thing I’d done that none of my cousins–nobody else, for that matter–had bothered with.
“Huntress?” he asked. I tried to ignore the concern in his voice. It would have derailed me now, when I was on the brink of triumph.
Suddenly, every piece slammed together.
Why I was the target.
How Sanctua Sirena had been discovered.
The trail that could lead me to the real culprit.
It was a long shot, but godsdamn it, I’d made harder shots possible in my life.
“I know why they wanted me dead.” The words spilled from my lips fast, almost disbelieving. But the truth was too obviousto ignore. My gaze slashed to his, my partner in this madness. “I know why. I don’t know who, yet–but I can find out.”
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