Page 9 of Unrivaled
Also, I really disliked him.
“Did he threaten any of us?”I asked Kaelson.
Kaelson, knowing what I was thinking chiefly because it washisrecommendations that we show no mercy to the first few who pushed back, smiled a little.“He did not, my lady.He did, however, refuse your commands.”
The buzzing in my head eased a little, which surprised me.I’d known this would happen, and mayhap a little predictability was all I’d needed today.
“Kill him and any who stand with him, then,” I told Kaelson, with a nod.Then, “Can we get into his estate?”
“We can, m’lady.One of the men, well…he’s already asked how he can help us.”
The fear of my house had soaked into the stones this city was built upon.Right now, it served me.I felt dirty all the same.“You have my blessings.Chay, Thomas?I’ll remain in my tower while you’re both out.”
“Tonight?”Kaelson asked me.
I waved a hand.“I don’t know, Captain.I trust you to see it done the best you can, whenever that is.”I just wanted an excuse to abandon the soggy bread that had ruined the entire stew.
“Tonight would be my recommendation,” Kaelson told me, and his expression softened just a little, the barest hint of a smile touching the corners of his eyes.“Before others begin to follow suit, my lady.”He nodded once, standing.“I’ll see it done.”
I knew he would.But I hated the tug of fear that pulled low in my belly as Chay and Thomas both followed him, shields on their backs and eyes clear.We were shorthanded.They were needed.
“We could’ve taken that arrogant cumstain ourselves,” Isolde muttered, quietly.“I owe him.”
“The people need to see normalcy,” I reminded her, pushing aside the bread and scooping out some meat before standing.
Isolde snorted.“No oneneeds more of what’s been normal around here, Audrey.”
She wasn’t wrong.Yet the trappings of day-to-day life and well-functioning power structures were reassuring.
I walked beside her, going in the opposite direction to Kaelson, Chay and Thomas.My head was full of bees again.My guards return to my tower when they could.If I hadn’t thought she’d take the offer seriously, I’d have asked Isolde if she’d like to deal with the next group.But the jest would not work, and right now we needed to calm people, to reassure them that the ruleswerestill being followed.
The number one rule in La’Angi was that nothing was mightier than the sword.
“Thomas is right, you know,” she told me, jolting me from my thoughts.“Youarethe weakest link.”The fierce light in her eyes somehow stopped me from dying of humiliation right there.I waited, my heart thundering, for the rest.“Not all chains should remain intact.”
The shame flooded from me, leaving gaping wounds in its wake.Isolde continued walking, her pace unchanged as if this was an everyday occurrence.Simultaneously aching and freed, I followed.
CHAPTERFIVE
CHAY
When actions speak, believe them.
—Raider’s Ban proverb
14thDay of Winter’s Wife Moon,
Age of the Locways, Year 271
La’Angi Keep
Iwoke after the watch called midnight.I was sure of that, at least, because I’d been staring at the bottom of the bunk above me when I’d heard the shouts ripple through the city, assuring everyone that all was well.It was, of course.We’d rid the city of Dwain and managed to save a majority of his men.I’d wished for Audrey and her bow only briefly.Death was a messy process.At some point, we’d need to deal with the group of rebels holed up in the old whitesmith’s.Three Leaves.Kaelson had asked me again about it.
He knew I’d had the help of someone.He had not the slightest idea thatsomeonewas the lady they all whispered about with such gratitude.
Exactly what had woken me from my doze I wasn’t sure, though I suspected a cool breeze as the door was eased open.But I was sure, immediately, ofwhoit was standing by my bed, a dark blot in the night.
A knot of tension eased out of my belly as I lifted the covers.Audrey slipped in beside me.The bed creaked and she let out a small, pained noise.I tried to wrap her in blankets, but one of her hands had coiled around my bicep and she was tugging gently.
