Page 91 of Shade of Ruin

I’m not entirely sure why it’s so important that we don’t make a scene, but Cole seems intent on it.

When he walks away, I’m left with Nevan, who is ever the silent watcher. This time, though, he speaks. “Master Cole seems… relieved, Lady Maeve. I don’t know if you’ve recognized it yet, but you should. He is not known to be so patient.”

I can’t disguise the frown on my face. It’s something else that I have to work on. “He’s relieved? I feel like he’s constantly on edge, like there’s always something he’s worried about.”

“That’s just who Cole Cyrus is,” Nevan intones in that reptilian voice, each “s” sound coming out as a hiss. “I’ve watched him since he was a boy, Lady. He was raised to focus entirely on his goals. It’s partly who he was born to be and partly who he was trained to be. There’s no pulling him away from his focus, but he has smiled because of you, Lady Maeve. While at home in the one place in the world where he is not the most powerful person. His father may not believe that his betrothal to you is a good thing, but I am here to say that it is the best thing that’s happened to him in many, many years.”

This conversation is the most I’ve heard Nevan speak since we came to Draenyth almost three weeks ago. “I didn’t know,” I say softly. Then there are the soft sounds of two sets of footsteps in the hallway. I don’t know how Cole could have moved that quickly. And… neither set of those footsteps moves with Cole’s normal rhythm.

I turn to look, not sure what to expect, but it certainly isn’t what I see. Rhion and a collared slave. A short and stocky female with a long beard that’s been braided with feathers and beads. She’s a dwarf. They’re the House of Steel’s servants, like the sylphs served the House of Shadows and the salamanders serve the House of Flame. She stands proudly at Rhion’s side, even though her eyes are barely higher than waist level on the Prince of Steel. The steel ring around her neck marks her as a “slave”, yet she looks just as proud as Nevan.

“Prince Rhion,” Nevan says, standing up straight and bowing to the man that I’ve only seen once. A mountain of a man that I’m barely chest high to. Wearing a silver riding coat that shines like metal in the chandelier’s light and a pair of black pants, he looks like he’s come for a business meeting.

I’m wearing something very similar to my traveling clothes, a white linen shirt and pants. They’re clothes that are comfortable to train in, just like every day. They’re not clothes that are meant for going out in public.

Rhion completely ignores Nevan as he walks toward me, a curled smile on his lips. “Lady Maeve. The courts are absolutely buzzing about you and Prince Cole’s betrothal. The first truly insane thing that he’s done. Promising himself to a Wyrdling barely more powerful than a human. A waste of an alliance.”

He looks down at me like he’s appraising me, like a man would look at a horse his neighbor had just bought. “What are you doing here, Rhion?” I ask. “You know Cole won’t be happy with you talking to me without him present.”

“My father is meeting with King Casimir. I’ve spent many afternoons in the Keep of Flames over the centuries, so when I caught an unusual scent, I followed it. Here you are, just as I’d hoped.”

He reaches out, his movements faster than I’d expected, and he grips my chin between his thumb and index finger. I react instinctively when I can’t pull back, his fingers acting like a vise. My hand goes to the belt knife that I carry everywhere. It’s out of its sheath and moving through the air faster than Rhion expects.

The blade cuts across his wrist, and he doesn’t move. His eyes sharpen just a little as a river of blood runs down his forearm to his elbow, where it drips to the floor. “The little kitty has claws,” he murmurs. “It’s a good thing that I like it when they struggle.”

Inside me, the lightning flares to life in a way that I can’t remember it moving before. It’s almost painful not taking my ring off. My knife flashes again and again, turning Rhion’s thick arm bright red, but he only smiles, his fingers not moving or releasing me.

Then every cut heals in an instant and only the blood that coats his arm is left to tell the tale of what happened. “I see yourbetrothed hasn’t explained what the House of Steel is capable of.”

Those steel-gray eyes flash with excitement as he releases me and whirls around in a single moment. His arm raises as a wickedly curved dark steel blade comes down where his neck had just been. The blade clangs against stone covered skin, and Cole growls in rage.

Rhion’s attention is completely focused on Cole, and that lightning inside me yearns to come out. I could take that ring off. I could let the shadows crawl up Rhion’s body and no amount of stone skin could protect him from becoming nothing.

Do not do that.Sia’s voice is in my mind.You will die. Anyone from the House of Shadows is wanted and will be executed.

Fine. I won’t kill him like that. Instead, I’ll kill him another way. Cole swings his blade around, but Rhion’s skin along his neck turns into stone right where Cole’s blade is going to hit. As the black steel bounces off, the skin turns back to normal flesh.

Then Rhion lashes out, a stone-covered fist moves through the air toward Cole’s face, but Cole dances out of the way.

That’s when I act. The belt knife in my hand is just as fast as Cole and Rhion, except that neither of them expects me to do anything. When that knife slides through his spine, his legs give out, sending him sprawling onto the marble. Even Cole gapes at me.

The blade is lodged directly in his spine, and the steel keeps him from healing the wound. Rhion screams in pain and tries to reach around to remove the knife from his back, but those bulky muscles won’t let him bend enough.

“Stop moving,” Cole says as he presses his sword against Rhion’s back right below the knife. Rhion stops. Tension fills the room as Cole stands over the Prince of Steel. “You found yourself in the same room as my betrothed without me present. Then you touched her, and when she obviously tried to make you stop, youcontinued. I have every right in the world to kill you right now, Rhion.”

When I look at Cole, there’s no confusing the fury in that face. If flames were powered by anger, this entire building would be destroyed. Yet, his voice is calm.

He’s more angry and more focused than the night the harpies were sent to assassinate me. Maybe it’s because Rhion could have done the job had he tried to, and the harpies never had a chance.

“I wouldn’t have done anything. I was just playing with your little Wyrdling pet.” The words that slip from his mouth make me want to stab him again, but if anyone’s going to decide what to do with Rhion, it’ll be Cole. I have no idea what the consequences would be for killing or even hurting the Prince of Steel.

“It’s a good thing that you hadn’t. Otherwise, I’d be honor-bound to kill you and start a war that neither of our family wants or needs.” Well, that explains what those repercussions would be. “Rhion, I don’t know why you would think to come here, in my home, and try to play with my betrothed. Do you have a death wish?”

“No. I…” He grimaces, and I can see the knife slowly beginning to be pushed out of his spine. I consider pulling it out, but Cole shakes his head at me. “I was trying to find you. I found your pet instead, and I was just playing. Your servant will tell you I didn’t hurt her.”

Cole bends down and pulls the dagger from Rhion’s back, wipes the blood on Rhion’s tunic, and then hands it to me. Only a few seconds later, Rhion’s climbing to his feet, a wide smile on his lips.

It’s not leveled at Cole, though. “For a Wyrdling, you’re quick with that little thing.” I don’t return the smile, and he looks backat Cole. “We should talk. Soon. Things are happening, and… and I think that there are going to be a lot of debts called in.”

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