Page 5 of Secrets of Graves and Gold

We fended off the attack. King Konram and his family are alive and relatively uninjured.

My magic settles into a restless churning within my chest, uneasy but satisfied that it’s pitched in as much as was necessary.

Julita’s voice travels through my thoughts. Well, I’d rather not ever do that again.

I might have chuckled, but right then I notice the king staring at me.

Konram’s gaze flicks upward to the mended ceiling and then back to my face. His expression has tensed even more than it was during the battle.

A chill pools in my gut.

His head jerks toward Stavros. “You heard what that one traitor said. You saw what she did.”

Stavros’s forehead furrows. “Your Highness… Ivy saved your life.”

The king stares at him for a moment before a sickly pallor creeps over his face. “You already knew. You brought one of them into my palace, straight to my family…”

Stavros’s entire massive frame goes rigid, as does his voice. “She saved your life,” he repeats, as if he thinks possibly Konram missed that point the first time.

The king adjusts his grip on his sword, though he doesn’t dare raise it toward me. At least, not yet. “She might have been behind this whole attack. My own guards turning on me?—”

“The scourge sorcerers were behind it,” Alek snaps. “Look at those guards now. We told you the conspirators were conjuring creatures out of clay that looked alive, and probably people too.”

Julita gives a soft huff. He can’t seriously think we went through all the madness of the past few weeks just to turn on him now. I’d hope the man who governs all Silana has more sense than that.

I can’t summon much hope of my own. King Konram has been one of the biggest advocates for slaughtering all riven sorcerers. He parades every captured riven before his people so they can watch the sorcerers hang and know the country is that much safer.

I swallow against the sudden dryness in my throat. “Your Highness, I mean you and your family no harm. Now that the threat is dealt with, I’ll leave.”

Konram flinches as if my words were a threat themselves. He glances at Stavros again. “You know what needs to be done.”

“Wait!”

I know that voice, but my pulse still skips in surprise when a familiar light brown face framed by sleek black hair appears from the corner the king and queen were guarding.

Petra must have been visiting with the royal family when the attack started. I didn’t realize she associated with them that closely. From what Julita said, she’s only a distant niece of the queen’s.

But I had started to wonder if King Konram asked her to spy on me at the college. Maybe this is confirmation of my suspicions.

“F— Your Highness,” she says with a brief fumbling of her words. “I don’t think Ivy— We should at least hear them?—”

“The laws are clear,” the king interrupts, holding out his arm to push her back. “Stavros, if you’ll continue to harbor a riven sorcerer, I have to consider you a traitor to the Crown as well.”

The former general’s jaw ticks, but that’s the only sign he’s affected by the words of the man he swore to serve to the death. “Please, Your Highness, if you understood?—”

King Konram’s knuckles whiten where he’s clutching his sword. “The only thing to understand is that I’ve been betrayed from all sides.” He raises his voice. “Guards! Guards!”

I don’t know how many are left from the fighting to answer his summons, but footsteps pound against the ceiling overhead.

Stavros lunges forward to grab my arm. “We’re getting out of here.” He cuts his gaze toward the king. “Because this is how I can best serve you.”

Konram takes a stiff step forward. “How dare you?—”

Stavros doesn’t give him time to finish his caustic words. He yanks me toward the doorway, and all at once I’m running again.

Alek and Casimir dash after us. We’ve barely made it to the stairwell before the king’s voice reverberates through the air again, and I realize he’s got some blessed item that’s amplifying it through the palace. “Guards, don’t let Ster. Stavros and his companions leave the palace! Cut them down if you must.”

“Shit.” Stavros hustles me even faster, but I don’t need the encouragement. My feet fly up the steps.

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