Page 126 of Savage Is My Kingdom

“Your daughter seems willing enough. What do you say, good king?”

“You don’t have the money.” The king snarled and Tavion snapped his fingers. Two blue-clad males set a trunk in front of the king and flipped open the lid. More gold than I’d ever seen before glittered beneath the faelights and my father swallowed hard.

Gravelock cursed beneath his breath.

I blinked.How in Hades…

“It seems I do.” Tavion’s smile turned brittle. “Did you really think I was merely a dissolute gambler, my king? The Montgomery’s are an ancient family and our roots run deep in Solarys soil. You do your bloodline no disservice in joining the two.” His green eyes dipped to mine for an instant, before he winked. I choked down a nervous laugh, not sure if this was a joke.

This had to be part of the game.

Part of our dangerous game, and somehow, Tavion had set aside his hatred and decided saving me was better than losing me. I blew out an unsteady breath.

A surprise, but a welcome one.

“I would have preferred your brother.” The Shadow King growled, and a muscle twitched in Tavion’s jaw. “But for that price, you can do what you want with her. See the money makes it to the royal treasury.”

Tavion clenched his teeth together so hard I heard them grind. Serpens’ insult about Julian affected him, and I half-wondered if he’d spent his entire life trying to live up to his brother.

“Andyou. Crawl somewhere else.” Tavion’s deathly stare sent Gravelock stumbling backwards, his face twisted in outrage.

“The back of the room would be preferable. The fucking Shadowlands would be even better.” I edged away. We were making spectacles of ourselves. From the hum of conversation, the courtiers would be gossiping about this for weeks.

“Where do you think you’re going, Anaria?” Tavion’s hand snapped out and caught my wrist. “We are not nearly finished.”

“You can’t be serious.” I hissed; my father’s concentration focused on the disappearing trunk of gold. “Thank you for saving me, but you cannot possibly intend to actually…marry me right now.”

He just chuckled mirthlessly. “You owe me a life debt. Now you will repay it.”

“No.” I jerked away and one of the bands slipped down my arm, the sudden surge of power leaving me breathless. “Shite.” I blinked and starlight danced in the air around us, until Tavion slid his hand slowly up my arm, pushing the iron back into place, never breaking our stare.

His hand squeezed tightly around the iron band in warning before he focused his cruel smile on me again. “Make a decision, princess. Me or the Shadowlands. As much as I despise you, I guarantee Lord Gravelock hates you far more.”

Fucking hell.

“A life for a life. That is the way of it. In Solarys, all blood debts must be paid, and this is the price I demand. Make your choice.”

How I wished I could give Tavion’s brother back to him. How I wished I had taken Julian’s hand that night and left with him—left and never looked back.

Ember wouldn’t be a Reaper.

Everything would be different.

Agreeing to this…I would not allow this manipulative bastard to come between me and Raz. Irefusedto allow Tavion Montgomery to ruin what we had.

The future I was already beginning to imagine for the two of us.

I narrowed my eyes, wishing I could turn him to ash and be done with it. “Fine.”

“Now, my good man. Keep the ceremony brief, I have places to be.”

The cleric mumbled a few words, then Tavion whirled away and stalked out of the throne room, leaving me swaying on my feet in front of the entire court.

“Don’t you dare faint.” The Shadow King snarled. “I expect you to show the proper decorum in my court.”

“I’ll show you the same respect you showed me.” I stormed down the center aisle, racing toward the already-closing double doors. I flew past Lord Gravelock, squeezed myself between the narrow gap. The doors banged as loud as an axe on a chopping block.

Tavion waited in the outer chamber, watching everything—my utter panic, my fury, my helplessness—and the bastard grinned. As if he understood just how powerless I was in this moment and meant to exploit every weakness.

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