Page 116 of Of Sword & Silver

“Are you ready?” I ask Caedia quietly, because I swear to the gods, if this doesn’t go the way I have planned, I don’t know what I’m going to do.

Well, that’s not true.

I’ll die if this doesn’t go the way I have planned.

And I’m not giving Hrakan the satisfaction of taking me before I’ve done everything in my power to undo all of Sola’s evils.

Finally, we reach the King of Diamonds’ treasure room, lit up with dozens of smoking torches, light blazing off the jewels and gold, dazzling my eyes after the darkness of the stairway down.

There it is. My eyes stray to it immediately, a thin silver circlet set with iridescent opals.

I sigh in relief, making a great show of plucking it off the stone statue’s brow and plopping it onto mine. A ring sits on a velvet pillow next to it, a dull, tarnished thing with one small onyx stone in the middle. I grab it, too, and tuck it into a hidden pocket in my skirt as I stroke the crown on my head.

“I bet it looks really lovely with my dress,” I say loudly. Probably a touch too loudly, but overacting has always been my specialty.

“What a good little dryad,” a familiar voice says. “Immediately came running to me, as though I needed help knowing exactly what you would do, you red-headed bitch.”

It doesn’t matter that I expected to run into him tonight. It doesn’t matter that I told Caedia to do exactly this.

My blood runs cold all the same.

“That is such an unimaginative insult, Alaric,” I tell him, sweat beading on my forehead despite the cool touch of the metal against my brow.

Alaric stands before me, blond and beautiful and slightly older than I remember, but all the more handsome for it, a scar along his throat that wasn’t there the last time I saw him.

Mostly because it was a gaping wound. I grimace.

“Well, that healed nicely,” I tell him, my hand still on the circlet in my curls.

Focus. Focus.

Steel on steel rings from above, and dust falls from the ceiling as something heavy smashes into the floor.

“Sounds like your lover is making some new friends,” Alaric says, his ice-blue eyes stuck on the crown on my head, not noticing the empty spot the ring occupied.

My palms sweat. This is exactly what I wanted to happen.

Still—It feels real.

“He never has been big on conversation,” I tell him very seriously. “He’s much more interested in handling his sword.”

Half of Alaric’s mouth quirks up into a smile. “Too bad you never were very good at that.”

My eyes widen in shock. “That’s a lie. I am an expert sword handler.”

“You would be,” Caedia trills. I let my gaze slip to her, hurt and confusion on my face. A trio of barrels are behind where she stands.

Don’t look at them.

“Why?” I ask her. “Why would you…” I trail off, letting the question hang in the air.

“Money.” She shrugs in that easy way she has. “You paying me seemed likely, but Alaric paying me to turn you in… that’s a guarantee. Plus, he has more to pay.”

Alaric grins at her. “She’s smart,” he tells me, like I don’t know that.

Self-satisfied little bitch. I seethe.

His smile widens, showing his lovely teeth.

---