Page 17 of A Shattered Kingdom of Steel

That bastard’s been playing me this whole time. Just like I attempted—and clearly, failed—to trick him into thinking I was fast asleep.

When I don’t move, he says, “Despite what you might think, I’m an extremely light sleeper. Thus, I don’t find it necessary to tell you what’ll happen if you try to leave.”

Irritation claws at my chest.

Asheros opens his eyes and looks right at me. “Do I need to get up and put you back to bed?”

“Don’t you dare,” I warn.

“Why not?” he taunts. “Daring sounds like fun.”

“Try it then,” I challenge. “It’s been too long since I messed up a male’s pretty face.”

His lips part into a sinful grin, eyes glinting in the low light. “Ah, so you think I have a pretty face?”

I grit my teeth. “I didn’t say that.”

“Mm-hmm,” Asheros muses, satisfaction dripping from his words, “sure you didn’t.”

“I’m going to punch you,” I say, balling my hands into fists. But I make no move toward him.

He flashes me a wicked look as if daring me to try it and see what would happen if I did. “I’ll play however you’d like me to, Bladesinger.”

“Urgh,” I grumble, letting out my frustration. I storm back to my bedroll and lie back down, aggressively tugging the blanket up and over my head.

Clearly amused, Asheros laughs.

I wrap the blanket around myself tighter and squeeze my eyes shut. I can already tell this male will be the death of me.

There’s barely a hint of sound before something cool grips my arm, and my eyes flash open.

I pull the blanket down.

Clasped around my left wrist, is a pale, gray-brown cuff, seemingly carved from a gemstone. In the light, a hexagonal structure is visible within the stone, refracting a sheen like that of darkened gold, though its shimmer is nowhere near as impressive. Immediately, a weight settles into my body, and my limbs feel as though I’m trudging through rough waters.

“Troilite,” I seethe, recognizing it instantly. Ceren had warned me about it.

A rare mineral formed by the mixing of iron and sulfur deep beneath the earth, troilite combines the adverse magical effects of both. Notably, iron’s ability to weaken and harm the fae, and powdered sulfur’s ability to amplify the existing magical properties of its paired mineral. While the dilution of the iron in troilite lessens the burning sensation that pure iron would cause, reducing it to an annoying sting, the sulfur within the stone ensures that I won’t be at full strength so long as I wear this cuff.

Settling back into his bedroll, Asheros leans his head back, smugness tugging at his mouth.

“You truly are a prick.” I clench my jaw. Even that takes more energy than it should. “Where did you even manage to find this?” Given its rarity, troilite isn’t particularly easy to come by.

The amusement playing at his brow tells me I won’t get my answer. “If I tell you that, Bladesinger, it won’t be a secret, now, will it?”

“You will tell me or gods be damned, I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” He lies back down, eyes trained on me. I want to slap the amusement from his face. “You’ll punch me?”

I grind my teeth. Anger blazes through me, raging like the fires of hell.

Fuck trying to escape. I’m going to stay, simply so I can gather evidence of Asheros’s treachery and uncover how deep it goes. When I’m through with him, and I’ve exposed his schemes, Viridian will have more than enough proof to deal with this traitor.

I’ll make sure of it.

Chapter Six

“Bladesinger,” a voice says, rousing me from sleep.

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