Page 33 of Immortal Sentry

The duke darted forward and backhanded Eron across the mouth. Eron’s head whipped backward, but he refused to fall. “How dare you speak so to your king?”

Eron spat blood on the marble floor, attempting to wipe traces of a split lip away with manacled hands.

King Bain rubbed his hands together, darting his tongue out to lick his lips. “My men have watched you. You’ve evaded capture for far too long. With the help of my mage”—hard to miss Miisov’s wince — “you’ll no longer terrorize the nobles.”

Bain reminded Eron of a snake. This was his great uncle? Well, Kene spoke of her own uncle, whom the family seldom mentioned. Perhaps every family had at least one embarrassing member.

“I have use for you,” Bain said with a gleam in his eyes Eron wanted to back away from. “In exchange for you performing a task, I’ll set you free. Turn a blind eye to your past misdeeds if you leave my kingdom and never return.”

“Exactly what is this task?” The next words spoken wouldn’t be good.

Bain gave a triumphant smile, likely thinking he’d already won. “I’m holding a ball, and I have invited very important guests to the castle. I want you to kill them.”

What? “How many are we talking? All of them?”

The king’s smile fell. “Only three are to die.”

Three or three hundred didn’t matter. While Eron had taken lives before, he only did so when necessary. “I’m not a murderer.” He’d gladly make an exception for the king and duke.

“You’ll do this if you want to live.”

“Why do you want them dead?” If this asshole of a king didn’t like someone, they were bound to become Eron’s lifelong friends.

Miisov stepped forward. “There is a legend among commoners that a child of King Lothan’s line will one day come to claim the throne from King Bain.”

Eron swallowed hard. “Who is this you want me to kill?”

King Bain resumed the telling. “My queen has yet to produce a legitimate heir. The former king has one remaining child, a daughter. She has two sons. Lately, word has reached my ears that her conniving husband, ruler of another kingdom, wants to put one of them on my throne. I want the mother and both boys dead. No one must trace the deed back to me.”

“You want me to kill a woman and helpless children?” How had no one assassinated this asshole yet?

Bain inclined his head, lacing his fingers beneath his chin. “In exchange for your life, I want theirs.”

Miisov’s face remained blank. The duke grinned. What a deviant.

Bain wanted Eron to kill his sister and her sons just to remove a potential threat to his rule. What a worthless piece of horseshit. Trading their lives for Eron’s? Eron wouldn’t buy his own life with the death of the lowest peasant.

“I invited her husband and insisted he bring his family,” Bain continued. “His queen is my dear niece, after all. I’d like a chance to get reacquainted.”

And somebody believed such shit? “You’d kill your own flesh and blood?” Eron barely controlled his temper. He supposed that if you murdered your way to a throne, killing every new threat might become a habit.

“It is none of your concern,” Bain spat. “What is your answer? Consider carefully what you say. Your life depends upon your next words.”

Oh, how petty little men liked to lord power over others. If Eron wanted to leave, he’d leave, and not even iron shackles would contain him. Then again, his shackles would slow him down.

A brief flicker of what might have been a memory showed a girl with dark hair and green eyes, hands on her hips, berating Eron for some wrong. Princess Lessa, or rather, Queen Lessa, might put up a good fight herself, which made her even more valuable as an ally.

Eron forced a smile and answered honestly, “I cannot wait to meet them.”

Chapter Fourteen

Eron waited in his cell. Would Cap appear tonight, bringing food? The moldy bread the guards brought tasted awful, but Eron ate anyway. He’d need his strength. What he wouldn’t give for a bowl of rabbit stew.

Shuffling sounded outside his doorway. A ball of mage light appeared, painting the old mage’s beard a soft blue.

Zetuna’s tits! Or should Eron still swear by the Goddess of Commoners? He took a few even breaths to calm his racing heart.There are no good mages,he heard in Kene’s voice.

Keep practicing your magic.Had Kene included herself in that declaration?

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