Page 184 of Promise of Darkness
I should have known.
My mother doesn’tlose. No matter what she must do.
“Vi,” Thiago says, pushing me behind him and drawing his sword. Somehow, he’s cut his hands free. “Are you armed?”
Only with the knife she gave me to kill him. Instinct must have made me bring it. “Not really.”
And then chaos descends as banes tear through the outer flanks of hobgoblins and courtiers.
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“Stay behind me!” Thiago yells, settling into a defensive stance.
The first few moments are mayhem.
Fae scream and scramble for cover, trampling each other in their wake. Hobgoblins go down, ripped to shreds by beasts that were curse-twisted for war.
The Queen of Aska turns furious eyes upon my mother and starts to conjure a cloud of darkness between her hands.
“Walk away,” my mother tells her coldly. “You and your court are free to leave.”
Queen Maren considers it. The darkness between her hands dissipates. “We will talk once this is done.”
A wise decision on my mother’s behalf, for Maren did not earn her title lightly.
Lucidia is not so lucky. Turning toward the approaching pack, she doesn’t see the bane that stalks her from behind.
“Look out!” I cry, but as she turns, its teeth sink into her throat and she goes down with a startled cry, buried in more snapping banes.
“We need to retreat,” Thiago tells me, shoving me back through the stones.
Retreat isn’t in either of our natures, but a swift glance proves him right. The Queensmoot is—orwas—a place for peace.
To bear steel on this hallowed turf is against all the rules.
To draw blood is cause enough for execution.
Each queen or prince is only entitled to twenty-five courtiers, guards, or retainers. And right now, they’re all being overrun. Nobody was prepared for this. The break in tradition is catastrophic.
I knew my mother had ambitions, but to watch them play out like this…. She knew. She planned for this. She always intended to strike at the Alliance and place herself firmly on a throne that rules the entire south.
If she’d succeeded, then Thiago, Kyrian, and Lucidia would all be dead.
Kyrian foiled her plans by walking away with his entourage, and I ruined her intentions toward Thiago, but we’ve lost a staunch ally in Lucidia and the Kingdom of Ravenal.
And with the Kingdom of Evernight in the north of the Alliance and Kyrian ruling the Island of Stormhaven, far to the south, the entire center of the Alliance will be split between my mother and Maren.
Not to mention, the Unseelie in the north are like a knife to our throats.
I nod as Thiago starts to cut a path back to his people. Retreat is the only option.
“Vi!” Thalia yells from the melee ahead.
“There they are!” I tell him, pointing toward her pale face.
The only problem is, between us lurks an entire pack of banes, tearing into a gaggle of Lucidia’s courtiers.
“Can you summon your magic again?” Thiago demands, catching sight of a bane lunging toward us. Timing it perfectly, he steps to the side just as he brings the sword down. Steel slices through matted fur, and the bane’s headless corpse crumples to the ground.
