A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)(10)

He doesn’t flinch from my gaze. “I have done nothing to your friends, my lady. And I would never hold them accountable for your actions.”

“Is that a threat?” I demand.

He blinks, startled. “What? No. I do not—”

“Because Grey spent his life doing everything you asked, and the first time he didn’t, you strung him up on that wall.”

He jerks back like I’ve slapped him. We’re not dancing anymore. There’s suddenly an icy distance between us. Music pours across the dance floor, but we’re motionless in the center of it. The crowd has gone silent, and there’s a weighted tension in the air.

I’m breathless, too.

I can’t believe I said that.

Until the words fell out of my mouth, I never admitted to myself that I felt that.

Rhen’s gaze could cut steel. So could mine, I’m sure.

Zo appears at my side. “My lady,” she says smoothly. “A matter requires your attention.”

My body feels like it’s turned to stone. Rhen hasn’t moved, and I can’t breathe. I probably could have slapped him and generated less interest.

Maybe he’s right—I should have talked to him privately. But I can’t undo what’s been done. I can’t unsay what’s been said.

I grab hold of my skirt and give him a curtsy. “Your Highness.”

Without waiting for a response, without even a backward glance, I stride out of the hall.





CHAPTER SIX

RHEN

I’d forgotten she could be like this.

Right now, I’m so angry that I want to tell Lilith to go to hell, that she can take Harper back to Washington, DC, and I’d be glad of it. I’m alone in the middle of the dance floor, and while our words weren’t loud enough to carry very far, there’s no disguising our argument as anything other than what it was. As piqued as I am with Zo, I am glad she took Harper away before we said anything else.

Dustan strides across the dance floor to stop in front of me. “My lord.”

He’s been my guard commander since Grey left. He’s strong and competent, and generally well liked. He was part of a private army in the west before I put out the call for more guardsmen, and he was one of the first to swear to me. Where Grey could be stoic and aloof, Dustan is more jovial, and he has a good rapport with the guards. He was an easy choice when I was desperate.

But while he’s good at doing what I say, sometimes I wish he were better at doing what I don’t.

Grey would have stopped Harper from entering the party without me.

Grey would have interceded before Zo did.

Grey would have—

I need to stop thinking about Grey. He’s gone. He’s my enemy.

You strung him up on the wall.

The words are like a dagger she plunged into my chest, and it’s hard to breathe around it. I wish Dustan had brought me a glass of sugared spirits. Grey probably wouldn’t have done that either—but he would’ve thought to tell a servant to do it.

“Go after her,” I say to him.

He frowns. “My lord—”

“Go after her,” I say again. The castle is full of people whose motivations—and whose loyalties—would scatter across a map. Harper just made me a target, but she made one of herself as well. “Keep her safe. Make sure she doesn’t leave the grounds.”

“You believe she would?”

I remember the numerous times Grey and I had to race after her in the beginning. “Right now, I’d be more surprised if she stayed here.” I turn away.

He hesitates. “But—”

I turn back, and there must be enough ice in my eyes, because he gives me a nod and says, “Yes, my lord. Right away.”

Grey wouldn’t have hesitated.

Finally, a servant approaches with a tray, and I seize a glass of wine. It takes every ounce of my self-control to keep from downing the entire thing in one swallow. As it is, I drain half.

One of the Grand Marshals approaches. Conrad Macon, from Rillisk. Because of his city’s distance from Ironrose, I don’t know him well, but that’s not a bad thing. The only Grand Marshals I know well are those who live nearby—or those who were at odds with my father.

Conrad has been quick to respond to any request since Grey was captured within his borders. And he showed up here tonight.

“Forgive me,” he says, and his voice is conciliatory. “I did not intend to cause tension for the princess.”

“There is more than enough tension to go around,” I say. “You are not the cause of it.”

He looks relieved to hear that. “Ah … yes, my lord. I agree.” He hesitates. “I understand you are preparing the army for another attack by Syhl Shallow.”

Now I do drain the glass. “Yes.”

“Rillisk has a small private army, as you know,” he says. “I know you have faced … conflict with Silvermoon. But I was speaking with the Grand Marshal of Wildthorne Valley, and we believe that by aligning our soldiers, we could present quite a large force in the west, which may be large enough to prevent any other cities from attempting to defect to the false heir’s rule.”

My thoughts were still tangled up in what Harper said to me, but this gets my attention. “You believe your armed forces would be enough to stand against Syhl Shallow?”