Page 47 of A Court So Dark
He gave me a look that suggested he thought I had no more than two neurons to rub together.
I smiled inwardly. He’d bought it.
“I need to warn Cardian.” He took off in the direction of the palace.
“Wait.” I went after him, trusting that Larina was keeping up but staying out of sight. “I was the one who spotted him. I should be the one to tell Cardian.” Maybe I was laying it a bit too thickly, but if he thought I was trying to gain favor with Cardian, he might mistake that pettiness for loyalty.
Of course, Varamede didn’t wait for me, so I took off my uncomfortable shoes and rushed over the meandering cobbled streets, barely keeping the thunderlord in sight.
When I arrived at the palace’s gates, I bent over, breathing hard. The guards eyed me with amused expressions.
“What’s so funny?” I straightened and stomped by. They composed their expressions and went back to looking blank. “Assholes,” I mumbled under my breath.
As I entered the palace, I searched for a sign of Varamede but found none.
“Which way did that thunderlord go?” I asked the guards stationed there.
“Toward the throne room, my lady,” one of them answered.
“Thank you.”
He raised his eyebrows at my good manners, something I’d come to realize most people in the upper echelons didn’t waste on those they considered beneath them.
I burst into the throne room, considering for the first time that none of Cardian’s appointed guards had tried to stop me. It was a good sign. He must have told them I was one of his crew. But now came the real test.
Eyes roving all around as Varamede stood in front of the dais, I was glad to see that Cardian wasn’t there. Panting, I joined the thunderlord’s side.
“Where is he?” I asked.
Varamede gave me a sidelong glance and didn’t bother answering my question. My answer came in the form of a page boy, who entered through a side door and announced that the king would arrive shortly.
Good, it would give me a moment to compose myself. I was finger-combing my hair back, when Cardian marched through the door, looking peeved.
“What is so important that you had to interrupt me?”
Interrupt what? His nap? He was known to enjoy daytime leisure as his nights ran late almost every day of the week. But maybe he was finding out that being king and mounting a war wasn’t at all compatible with sleeping until noon.
“You are—” Varamede started, but I jumped right in, not giving him a chance to finish.
“I spotted Kalyll in town.”
Varamede glowered, bits of an electric storm crackling in the whites of his eyes.Witchlights!What if his looks could actually kill?
Cardian considered me for a moment, examining my disheveled hair, then focusing on my bare feet and the shoes I carried in my right hand. I resisted the urge to hide my dirty toes under my dress and stood straighter instead.
I thought he would judge my appearance harshly, but to my surprise, a smile stretched his thin lips.
“You are a wild one, aren’t you?” he asked.
What? Was that what he chose to focus on after what I’d just said? This time I did hide my toes under my dress. I didn’t like the lecherous expression on his face as he looked at them. Disgusting!
“Cardian?” Varamede said the name like a question that, had he spoken at liberty, would have probably beenWhat the fuck, Cardian?
Very slowly, Cardian swiveled his head to look at the thunderlord. “She must be mistaken. There is no way that—”
“I saw him too,” Varamede interrupted.
For the first time, Cardian appeared concerned. “Are you sure?”
