Page 50 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
I wanted to weep.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to curl up in a ball and not care who saw me in that pathetic state.
I wanted, for once, to be allowed to crumble under the weight of everything.
But I would have rather gouged my eyes out than show a shred of weakness while in enemy territory.
Blood Brotherhoodterritory.
I had to be strong.
Again.
Stronger than ever.
I stood stubbornly upright, even as I swayed on the spot, shadows crowding my vision. I gently pushed the devastation down and swallowed my unshed tears. Until I was alone, I could not mourn.
And even that made me feel ashamed and rotten, like I was the worst daughter in the world.
The worst First Daughter.
The realization of his death hurt deeper this time.
When I’d discovered his body, I’d been nothing more than a storm of devastation and despair.
Now all hope was gone.
My father was dead and I, the Protectorate heir, had been taken–by the Blood Brotherhood.
The world I’d carefully tried to protect and control splintered and Allie fell through the gash. The Huntress climbed out from the ruins, ready for revenge.
The broken bottle shook in my hand, but I didn’t lower it.
This was officially a hostage negotiation.
My training and the tutors’ constant instructions came back with a vengeance, tamping down my fear.
I’d been prepared for such a danger since childhood.
“Who did it?” I asked, voice now just as cold and controlled as his.
“I know as much as you seem to.” His voice–so different than the gentle inflection he’d used with the children–was a low, jagged rasp that demanded attention.
I barked a laugh that would have made a lesser man hesitate. “You Blood Brotherhood scum discover our secret, sacred Sanctua Sirena island–for the first time in history–pass our wards–” They probably found some ancient magic to annul our powers, too, but I wouldn’t reveal that weakness until he mentioned it, on the slimmest chance that he didn’t know their machinations had worked. “–crash my cousin’s wedding and kill her groom just as we’re attacked by a cloud of arrows tinged with a poison never seen in Malhaven. Then my father is assassinated on the same day. That is not a coincidence.”
“We lost Brothers and Sisters, too.”
True. I’d had to crawl over Blood Brotherhood bodies. They would haunt me, too.
I tensed my shoulders. “Casualties of a planned attack.”
“We only planned to uphold the marriage contract between The Dragon and the Lost Daughter.” Finally, the Commander’s gaze–ice-blue, unflinching, unforgiving–slashed toward me. That was the kind of stare that made seasoned war generals andkings hesitate. “The one you planned to void with that sham of a secret ceremony.”
If he expected me to feel ashamed for putting my cousin’s one wish above a relic of a Clan Code rule, he would be waiting until the entirety of Malhaven froze over.
“So massacring us was your revenge?”
