Page 87 of Crown of Darkness
All four of them focus on me.
“Worth her weight in gold,” adds the last guard, “if we bring her back to her mother. Alive.”
I take a step back as they all advance. I’d rather die than be returned to my mother. I won’t be the bargaining chip she uses to destroy my husband and our people.
Placing my palm flat on the ground I summon fire. Flames circle me with a hiss; a warning.
And Halvor smiles. “She’s weak. Fire’s her natural gift, but the rest of her arsenal is limited. Attack.”
A rather accurate assessment of the princess who’d been sent to Evernight as a tribute.
But Thiago—for all that he loves me—hasn’t been letting me rest easy. I’d said that I wanted to relearn my magic, and so he’s spent the last three months pushing me to the brink in order to force it to flourish.
I’ve cursed him every day for that decision, but right now, I could kiss his feet in gratitude.
Without a voice, I merely place my palm out flat and gesture toward Halvor.
Come on, then. Let’s dance.
He launches himself over the ring of flames and I step into the movement, driving my sword up to meet his. There’s an instant of shock on his face, and then he lands with a jarring rattle of armor, the force of his blow emanating through my shoulder.
The armor gives him the advantage. It may slow him down eventually, but my blows will only glance off the shining metal.
But if they want me alive, then they can’t hurt me too badly. It’s armor of its own.
I attack with a daring he’s clearly not expecting. Beating him back, I push him almost into the ring of flames, before he looks up with a murderous glare.
A foot hammers toward me, driving into my chest. The breath slams out of me. I hit the ground hard and roll back over my shoulder.
A net shoots through the air, fanning out over me. No time to think. I simply burn it with a thought and little cinders fall to the cobbles.
Ash floats through the air like snowflakes, tangling in my hair.
“You’re better than I expected,” Halvor tells me, straightening as he prowls in a half circle around me.
And he’s done exactly what he needed to do.
Distract me, so that his friends can surround me.
They pace outside my ring of flames, blocking off all my exits.
I can’t beat them.
My mother’s Deathguard are stolen from their mothers at birth, and a knife is put in their hands before they can even walk.
The sword is a living extension of my hand, but it’s not going to help me out of here. And I can’t look for Thiago. He’s busy.
There’s one thing left to try.
“Not good enough,” I somehow rasp.
Halvor laughs. “No. You were never good enough.”
Words I’ve heard a thousand times before, but this time they ignite something within me that’s no longer desperate and lonely and fearful.
They will not take me alive.
I willnotreturn to my mother.
