Page 38 of Kingdom of Crowns and Daggers

My heart is trapped in my throat, a fluttering, broken thing as I watch her right up until the moment she heads inside, and then I turn away, trailing the king. My heartbreak and pain turn to anger, which is directed at him for seducing her away from me and being a man she could love.

She cannot if he’s not here.

It’s an irrational thought, a foolish one, but my hand goes to my blade. I am not even thinking as I stomp after him, uncaring who sees as I chase the king, ready to end his life for daring to look at my Alyx.

She is mine!

I move on instinct, my hands fisting the dagger, ready to drive it into his back and end his pitiful life. She might mourn him and hate me for it, but she will be mine again. He is oblivious, playing with the tattered edges of his cut shirt as he walks between the shadows of his palace and the one she is staying in.

No guard, no protection.

A vulnerable king.

My assassin’s blade gleams as I draw it and move closer. I am about to strike when I see it, and I blame my own consuming emotions for not seeing it before—a figure. It darts out of the shadows of the small bridge separating the palaces and heads right for the king as he passes. I see a blade gleam and blink.

He’s stealing my idea, but I react before I can think.

I throw my blade, and it soars through the air with a whistle before sinking deep into the man’s shoulder. His hand twitches, causing him to drop the blade with a gasp, and the king whirls. I am a blur as I head to the cloaked, wannabe assassin. Plucking my blade free, I grip the cloak’s edge and slice the man’s throat, letting the blood spray over the king as he looks wide-eyed from the fallen dagger that was aimed at his back and the man dying in my hold.

He struggles before giving in, and I drop his lifeless body to the ground. My need to kill the king disappears as quickly as it came. “You should be more careful,” I warn, my voice deep.

I know all he sees is my silhouette before I fade back into the shadows as he searches for me, leaving him with the body and the blade.

If this is what she wants, then so be it. I will help her. I will kill them and free her of her revenge and her job. I will end this entire world before I lose her, even to a king.

Alyx is mine. She always has been and always will be. She just doesn’t know it yet.

I won’t wait a moment longer. I will make her aware. I was so worried about ruining us before and losing what we had, but I did not realise until it was almost too late that I was already losing her.

Not now.

My eyes go to her palace, where I see a lantern on inside, and my hand drifts to the carving below my belly button, above my trousers.

I made it the night I met her, when I realised what she would mean to me.

My fingers trace over the familiar, scarred letters as a new determination fills me.

ALYX.

She will be mine.

Chapter

Twenty-One

JOHA

My whole body aches in a good way, and I know I am going to be covered in bruises come morning. Despite this, I have never felt more alive. Adrenaline courses through my body, and although it is the middle of the night, all my fatigue has vanished, dispelled by our little sparring match.

I was so lost in my own world that I did not even know what I needed. She found me when I least wanted to be found, especially by her. This should not have been a surprise to me, as the woman is like a bloodhound, sniffing out any display of weakness.

The very last thing I wanted to do was to spar with her, needing solitude to clear my mind, but Alyx is not the type of woman who can be denied, and she goaded me into a fight.

I knew what she was up to then, but looking back now, I recognise that she was trying to give me what I needed—an outlet for my anger. While I could have sucked it up and refused to fight with her, which would have been the sensible option and what I would have done with anyone else, with her it is . . . different. There’s something about her that does something to me. She awakens me from this façade.

I let everyone believe I’m placid and easily manipulated while silently trying to keep my power. However, over time, my mind has begun to slow from having all decisions made for me. I didn’t realise it until now, though, when she literally smacked it out of me, but I’ve let Queen Mother and the advisors get to me.

If I’m honest with myself, hiring Alyx was my last-ditch attempt at doing something, anything to try and regain control, and if this doesn’t work, then I fear I will either be killed by an assassination attempt or I’ll truly become what they whisper about behind my back—the puppet king.

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