Page 55 of Savage Is My Kingdom

We’d prepared everything. Decades of careful planning in place for her arrival and she’d thwarted us every step of the way.

Gotten two innocent guards killed, aroused Solok’s suspicions, when she could have laid low.

Nearly handed the king back his stolen power and sentenced us all to another millennium of hell.

But even as angry as I’d been, seeing her laid bare on that table, her pale flesh sliced through from Solok’s whip, my heart had clenched with an inexplicable fear, though I’d seen that scene a hundred times over.

In that moment—I’d wanted nothing more than to whisk that girl away and protect her with my life.

I gripped the reins tighter. Only to find out she’d killed the only person I’d ever cared for.

Because I wasn’t a complete fucking monster, I’d called the healers, then ridden out to see if Anaria’s claims were true.

I wished I hadn’t.

I’d give anything not to have seen my brother like that. My friends torn to shreds, parts of them missing. I hadn’t dared bury them, in case Solok returned. I’d wiped my scent from the scene, tucked my brother’s sword into my saddlebag, slipped his ring on my finger and followed Solok’s trail back to the Crossing.

The air had been black with flies and bees, the thick stench of rot fogging the air.

One hundred guards lay in a perfect circle, spread out like saplings felled in a lightning blast, weapons still gripped in their hands, armor still intact.

No wonder the Fae King wanted his power back.

From the looks of it, she’d killed them in one fell swoop.

I shuddered, imagining what the king could do with all that power and a thousand years of experience. No, I’d made the right choice getting her out, though I’d enjoy seeing her punished for her sins.

Solarys would punish her plenty.

Yet doubts churned inside me, doubts I could not afford. For a full hour I’d held her sleeping in my arms in the dark, her face as innocent as a babe’s, dark lashes lying against her pale cheeks, her small hand curled helplessly on my chest.

Her scent still covered me…a delicate jasmine-amber scent that suited her perfectly.

It had been a long, long time since I’d held a female like that.

A long time since I’d wanted to.

But Anaria…I dragged my hand down my face, trying to erase everything between Anaria and me, willing myself toforget her.

Anaria was the dream Julian had been in love with for a hundred years.

My brother had given his entire life to her, in a way. Sworn to protect her. To serve her. To worship her. If Julian was here right now…I could just imagine the look on his face, how he would treat her.

Like a fucking queen.

But he wasn’t here.

Because she killed him.

I dug my heels into the stallion’s sides. Zor had chosen a good mount for me, and we raced through the foothills. By tomorrow we’d reach the northern road and follow that straight into Blackcastle, the Shadow King’s kingdom.

We’d have to stay north of the vast armies, north of the war that raged between Caladrius and Solarys. The war fought between two brothers that had lasted a thousand years and cost a million lives.

“Where are we stopping?”

Zor had an arm around the girl to hold her in place, and guilt swelled through me. Zorander Vayle despised females. Hated touching them, hated looking at them, but I hadn’t lied about him being the best rider, and right now, our lives depended on us staying ahead of Solok.

“Just past the Caverns. It’ll take the Tempeste guards a full day to reach the Northern Gate and the caverns are ten miles past that. We should be safe enough there for one night.”

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