Page 13 of Savage Is My Kingdom

Who was here to kill them all.

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“I am Solok.”All sound died off, fading to nothing. “I was sent by the King to complete the Scything.” Solok firmed his grip so I could not pull away. “A blood sacrifice, to make sure the ward between our realms remains intact, and our lands separate and safe.”

A lie, if everything he said was true.

He stared straight at the duke, whose face was as white as his pressed shirt, his wife clinging to his arm as if she couldn’t stand on her own. “Will you pay the price promised in the Covenant?”

The duke was Descendant through and through, chances were, he’d never heard one of the Mistress’s stories and imagined Solok was here to whisk him away to riches and power.

The duke never hesitated; his gaze fixed on our joined hands as he puffed out his chest. “Of course. If a slave’s life is your price, then I shall gladly pay it, a thousand times over. Tell your king Duke Edric Ravenshade always fulfills his debts.”

Solok pulled me closer, until his cold cheek pressed tight against mine and I fought not to throw up. “See how eagerly they offer you up as a sacrifice, Anaria. Such an easy life to throw away, a worthless slave girl, so easily bought and sold.”

He straightened, but didn’t release me. “Tell me her name, and I shall take her and be gone from this place.” Solok’s smile turned wicked. “One chance is all you have. Do not waste it.”

Beads of sweat popped out on the duke’s forehead, his wife released his arm and backed away, fear painted all over her pretty face. “Name?” The duke looked about wildly, as if someone in the crowd might know. “Slaves do not have names, they just…”

“Serve their masters?” Solok finished for him.

“That is correct.” Relief softened the duke’s voice, his shoulders slumping. ‘That is the way of things. Names just…complicate everything.”

“Cananyonehere tell me this slave’s name?” Solok studied the crowd. “Even one of you?” They remained silent, someone in the back biting off a sob of fear. “I will spare the life of anyone who knows her name.” The Axe shook his head in mock disappointment.

“Anaria.” Someone said and I squeezed my eyes closed, my heart bleeding in misery. Ember knew when to fade into the background, and this was one of those times. Why would she jeopardize herself?

To help me, of course, because that’s what friends did.

“Ah, so refreshing. Step forward, let me see the only person in this ghastly place who can answer my question.”

Ember looked impossibly small when she stepped beneath the lights. Her red hair was plastered to her forehead in ringlets, hands clenched at her sides from nerves.

“It is my habit to leave one survivor behind to remind your kind of the price to be paid for peace.” I stilled when Solok continued, “It’s your choice, Anaria. Should we leave the little slave alive?” He studied the now-trembling crowd. “Or one of these parasites, who don’t deserve to draw air?”

I swallowed. This was a trick. Ithadto be a trick.

Slaves didn’t get to make choices.

And the Mistress’s stories…the survivor was always left blinded. Disfigured. A lesson to the others, of the wickedness the Fae were capable of. What if this was a trick? What if I chose Ember, and Solok savaged her?

“Anaria?” Solok asked sharply. “Who should I spare?”

I was shaking when I met Ember’s silver-flecked gaze. She’d always been there for me, my only friend, shielding me from my worst impulses. If this wasn’t a trick, if Solok was truly letting me choose…

“Her. Spare her.”

“So be it.”

Of course, that was when Solok stepped away, leaving my too-naked body on full display. “Since you have been busy with your party, you are unaware of the fact I arrived a short time ago and found Anaria, about to be raped in the formal garden by your spoiled, entitled sons. The good news is, they are all dead.”

A low, pained whimper echoed over the utter silence before the crying began.

His grin widened. “Now my soldiers are ready to begin the Scything. Your blood will replenish the magic in the ward, keeping Varitus safe for another hundred years.” The crowd panicked and rushed the doors, only to discover every threshold and window filled with a Fae warrior, spears pointed at the Descendants.

Solok tipped his head to the stunned duke, “As you were so eager to insist, you always pay your debts, so I assume you would like to go first.”

With that, Solok disappeared.

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