The Heart Forger (The Bone Witch #2)(79)

“Really?” I stared hard at the men.

“Really.”

“Well, there’s a compelling reason to hit their faces with something sharp. Are you sure?”

“Trust me.” Kalen’s voice sounded odd, any emotion in his tone stifled. But there was quiet confidence in the way he looked at me, and that gave me courage.

“OK.”

One of the men lagged behind as the other strode forward to face me first. I held my sword at an angle, waiting. He had several inches over me though was still not as tall as Kalen. But the Deathseeker had trained me to calculate my reach against people of varying heights. By the time he’d shifted his sword and lunged, I knew what to do.

My blow took him by surprise. The insult still had me seething, and I’d placed more strength into it than I normally would have, knowing it would hurt worse. The man’s sword passed harmlessly over my head because I had already ducked and slammed the tip of my blade up into his chin. A regular sword might have decapitated him; this knocked him out immediately.

The crowd cheered, Likh and the concubines being the loudest.

“Don’t get cocky!” Kalen yelled at me.

Not wanting to suffer the same fate as his friend, my second opponent was cautious, circling me and biding his time. I took the initiative this time, striking only to have it parried. Without pausing, I moved again and scored a glancing blow on his side. The man was fairly competent, but I’d been training with the best fighter in Odalia for months. To be competent was no longer enough to beat me.

I delivered quicker, more decisive hits on his legs and shins while he desperately tried to move his blade in time to counter mine. But I was faster. I might not have been as strong, but my mind was mapping the holes in his defense, finding the best moves to use. My training wasn’t enough to fight Kalen on equal terms, but it made me much more than adequate when facing others. I just hadn’t realized it before.

I spun, angling my sword as if to attack his midsection. He moved to block, and I switched targets in midblow. The man dropped to the floor, stunned and a little concussed.

The courtyard was silent. Inessa and Likh stared at me in awe, but Fox was beaming. Tansoong looked at me with amazement, and Baoyi was silent, though there was a small, reluctant smile on his face. Even the emperor was studying me carefully, like he was seeing me for the first time.

A loud sound broke the quiet.

“That’s my Tea!”

Never had I ever seen Kalen laugh that long or that loud. He was nearly doubled over, one hand against the wall to hold himself up. But there was no derision in his heartsglass, none of the dry amusement usually on display.

There was only pride—fierce, unabashed pride.





“You have an ulterior motive for coming here, Princess,” the Dark asha said. “You aren’t here to ask me to stop my work. You’re here to plead for my brother’s life.”

Princess Inessa stiffened. “I will not deny that. If you die—”

“Then so will he. Every action I do against the kingdoms and the elder asha will increase the likelihood of retaliation against him. He knew the risks. You knew the risks.”

The noblewoman trembled. “I don’t care.”

The Dark asha smiled and took the princess’s hands in her own. “You trusted me enough to walk past the daeva guarding the palace, knowing you would not be harmed. Trust me for a little bit longer.”

“Is there no way for me to change your mind?”

“If I succeed, then you will have everything you want. No more wars, no more daeva.” She turned back to the window. “No more magic,” she added softly. “How is he?”

The princess hesitated. “Worried about you.”

I watched the asha’s lips move, sounding each word carefully, afraid that they might take the shape of other emotions she did not want to voice aloud. “Tell Fox I am sorry for everything. But there is no turning back now.”

“Apologize to him yourself, Tea!” The princess rose from her seat, trembling with anger. “He’s been waiting for you for all these months! He can no longer sense your thoughts through your bond, but he refuses to believe you’ve abandoned him! Even now, he waits!”

The bone witch folded her hands behind her back. “I did it with his best interests in mind.”

“Then come with me to see him!”

“What would you have me say, Inessa?” The Dark asha’s voice hinted of winter. “Would you have me return to Kion to be tried and executed for crimes I did not commit? For my brother to die with me? You told me of your grandmother’s dalliance with a familiar. Did she regret it? Will you regret loving a dead body given a semblance of life? In time, you will resent him for not being human. Will you spend the rest of your life loving a corpse, Inessa?”

The princess was pale. “You have no right to speak to me that way.”

“My brother lives because of me. I have every right.”

“If you are innocent, then my mother will—”

“Do nothing. The Willows’ influence is far too ingrained in Kion’s psyche to grant me a fair trial.”

“But you killed her, Tea. Fox saw you.”

The bone witch’s hands clenched. I heard the rumblings of the daeva outside, the aeshma’s hiss.