Page 99 of Kingdom of Crowns and Daggers

Iam furious. In fact, I am ready to murder someone, and if I won’t be allowed out of my rooms soon, then it will happen sooner rather than later. The large male currently leaning against the doorframe would make the perfect victim.

It has been days since I woke up. Days. Not to mention the fact I was sick for days before that. So much wasted time.

The rest of the palace knows I am unwell with an infection and that I became ill when the king was attacked, yet they have no idea how close I came to dying. Apparently, the attack was on such a large scale, there was no way of hiding it. Plus, there were witnesses when the king carried me back to my rooms, unconscious and bleeding.

Orion is currently my minder for the afternoon. He, Crux, and Joha have been taking turns spending time with me, but it has turned more into guard duty, making sure I do not leave the safety of my rooms.

“Will you stop pacing and sit down?”

It’s phrased as a question, but I hear the order in his voice—an order I am going to continue to ignore. I have done nothing but sit and lie down for over a week, and I need to be doing something.

“If you tell me to sit down one more time,” I grumble, my voice dark with my frustration as I grab the closest thing I pass, “then I will jab this candlestick holder so far up your ass, you’ll choke on it.”

He snorts and continues to watch me with a raised brow, clearly not worried about my threat in the slightest. “I see you’re in a good mood today,” he comments wryly.

Making a noise of frustration, I spin around and grit my teeth, my hands balling into fists at my sides. “Orion, I’m fine! I need to get out of here. I need to investigate who tried to kill us. The longer I stay in here, the harder it will be to find any evidence.”

As it is, there is probably hardly any left, which makes it all the more important that I get out there. Joha and I almost didn’t survive this attempt, and I need to do something to make sure this does not happen again. Why does no one understand that?

“Alyx, you almost died.” Orion strides over to me and grabs my shoulders, shaking gently until I look up at him. “This is serious,” he insists, concern flashing in his eyes.

That in itself is almost enough to get me to stop pushing—almost. It is not often that Orion lets himself feel any of the more vulnerable emotions. However, I will not be swayed.

“I understand that, but I’m not dying now!” My irritation finally breaks through, and I grip his shirt to make sure he’s paying attention to me. “Please, Orion, I need to do something to redeem myself!”

Oops. He’s certainly paying attention now. I didn’t mean to say that last part, and any hopes I might have of him missing the comment are quickly dashed as his gaze narrows on me.

“Redeem yourself for what?” He watches me carefully.

For a moment, I think about playing the I almost died card to get out of answering him, but I know that is a step in the wrong direction. I want him to trust that I know how far I can push my body and know what it can handle. Still in the frame of his arms, I glance away, unable to meet his eyes as I admit my faults.

“I’m supposed to protect Joha, and I got myself so badly injured that Crux had to terrorise the city to find someone who could heal me.”

When I first woke up, the three of them told me what happened and how a specialist healer was tracked down, hogtied, and brought to heal me. It was almost too much to believe, but I know Crux would do anything for me, and that was exactly his style.

I haven’t spoken to any of them about this, but I feel as though I failed Joha. Failure is not an option for me, not for any assassin, as it leads to death. My failure almost got Joha killed as well. I am not sure exactly when I started caring about him more than just protecting him for my job. If Joha died, I would be devastated.

“But you did protect him. He would be dead ten times over without you,” Orion scoffs and shakes his head, looking as though he can’t believe that I would even begin to think any of this is my fault.“You did nothing wrong, and he would tell you the exact same thing. You were poisoned and had an infection from the lake water,” he states matter-of-factly, like he’s expecting me to suddenly agree with him. When that doesn’t happen, his frown deepens.

Sighing, I close my eyes for a moment, exhausted by this conversation. He doesn’t get it. “I just need to do something useful,” I counter, finally opening my eyes to take in his concerned expression.

He’s silent for a moment, and from the look on his face, I am guessing he’s thinking hard about something. I’m about to make a joke about not hurting himself when he makes a strange grumbling sound in the back of his throat.

“If I take you somewhere, will you agree to rest for the next couple of days?” He sounds unsure, and I know it’s not because he’s doubting if I will agree or not. No, we are past that point, and he knows to trust my word now. I am guessing he is unsure about taking me to wherever he has planned. Is it dangerous? Excitement flickers through me, my heart racing.

“Does it have something to do with the attack?” I ask, shifting from foot to foot. To be honest, I would agree with him at this point just to get out of these bloody rooms.

“Yes.”

Before he even finishes speaking, I pull away and hurry over to my wardrobe, grabbing a cloak to throw over my simple blue day dress. Pulling on a pair of boots, I quickly do them up and return to my spot before him, a wide smile on my face.

“Lead the way.”

Sticking to the shadows, Orion leads me through the palace grounds, making sure not to attract notice. It would cause too many questions if anyone were to see me out in the middle of the night with Joha’s head guard.

We round a corner, pausing outside a familiar building—the cells. Of all the places, this is where he chose to bring me?

“You really need to work on your date locations,” I murmur wryly, following him inside the quiet building.

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