Page 88 of Splintered Shadow
A guard appeared with a chair for Baris. He sat down stiffly, clearly in pain.
Vekele marched down the line of five prisoners. He needed to end this quickly. Baris would not let the medic attend him until this was finished.
“You and your mate murdered my parents. You kept me and my brother as prisoners for years.”
“We should have killed you when we killed your parents, but I wanted the heir and the spare. You are welcome,” Cassana said.
“This information is known. If you wish to hurt me, try harder.”
She sneered up at him, blood streaking her face. “Is your mate happy with a half-blind prince?”
He sighed. “I am disappointed at how dull you are, Aunt. Where is the grand reveal? The gloating over your malicious schemes? Do you not wish to dig in your claws one last time before the king’s justice is delivered?”
“The king’s justice? Is this the speech you gave my mate when you executed him? My only regret is that I let you live twice.”
Twice.
He knew then the answer to the question that haunted him for the last year. “Was it a failed assassination attempt, or did you want to blind me?” he asked.
She spat, blood and spit landing on his boot.
He moved behind her, grabbed a fistful of hair, and pulled her head back to expose her throat. A guard handed him a blade.
Vekele glanced across the room at his mate. Sarah crouched on the floor, arms wrapped around Ghost. Rather than hide her face, she stared at him, eyes open in horror. He wished she was not present to witness what happened next, but it was unavoidable.
“A better male would tell you that this gives him no pleasure.” He leaned down, mock -whispering in Cassana’s ear. “I am not that male.”
The blade sliced cleanly across her throat. She gurgled, thrashed, and eventually stilled.
Vekele released his hold, and she fell to the floor. He turned away, unwilling to meet his mate’s eyes.
“Dispose of her out the airlock and clean up that mess. Do not ruin the king’s floor,” he said, accepting a cloth to clean the blade.
He turned his attention to the Starshades, standing directly in front of the head of the house, Corde. Rasti and Kasim flanked him. Joie kneeled at the end. Her eyes were fixed on the blade.
“What is your judgment for these traitors, Your Highness?” he asked.
Sarah
Baris heaved himself out of the chair. “They thought to torture me. To kill my bonded karu. To break my spirit.” Physical and mental exhaustion weighed on him. Sarah could see it in the way he moved, stiff and hurting. “They thought they would bind me to them, but they were wrong.”
He stood directly in front of Joie. “They tied themselves to me.”
“Baris, please—” Joie’s voice was little more than a whisper. Her entire body trembled. Tears rolled down her face. “They made me. I did not want to. I can still be a good mate. Your queen.”
The king’s face remained expressionless. Perhaps Sarah did not know him well enough to read his mood, but Vekele could. He gasped. “You are not considering such a reckless action.”
“I am tired of bloodshed. It is an endless cycle of vendettas. It will not end until one of us shows benevolence or we finally kill one another.” Baris considered the four prisoners. “Despite negotiating in bad faith, despite conspiring to attack the palace, killing my subjects—innocent people, despite forcing me to sign the treaty, despite murdering my bonded—” He paused, closed his eyes, and took a moment to regain his composure. “And despite binding myself to this wretched, treacherous house, I will be benevolent.”
Joie slumped forward, her head hanging low and muttering thanks.
The older man with gray in his hair stared at the king with absolute hatred.
Sarah had a feeling that despite Baris’ intention to end the cycle of vengeance, it wouldn’t happen.
“The House of Starshade is confined to their principal planet. Any member of the house is not to leave. If they do so, they face execution,” Baris said.
“You cannot do that,” the older Starshade man said.
