Page 58 of Steel Heart Iron Claws

His bare chest is slick with sweat, gleaming in the early dawn light.

Clutching the knife, he shouts, “It’s where she belongs, Wolf! Hate me if you want, but if you think about it for one gods-damn second, you’ll see that I’m right. Sabine stood out here like a swan among pigeons.This isn’t her home. Her family is Volkish. Her people are Volkish. She has powers that run as deep as the earth’s core, deeper even than she realizes, and you and I both know it. Do you think she’d be content for one day at my side, ruling the kingdom that’s at war with her homeland? Or atyourside, playing house with field mice while her people are slaughtered north of the wall?”

Maybe it’s the blood loss, but I stagger back until I can catch myself against his bedpost.

I drag in a few strained breaths. Truth be told, I can barely process what he’s saying. If it is right or wrong, sensible or folly.

I spit, “Don’t pretend for a minute that you did this for her.”

He tips his chin up, breathing as hard as me. “No. I did it for me. But I would never do anything that would hurt her—I swear that to you.”

“You swear? As if your word meansshit?” All I can see is a red wash of anger. “Rachillon is a madman!”

“And I am the Lord of Liars!” he explodes. “Do you think there has been a single monarch across the seven kingdoms, over three millennia, that has ruled like a fucking saint? Grand Cleric Beneveto is supposed to shepherd this kingdom’s souls, and he sold them out. Hell, even old Joruun had his vices. Sabine stands a better chance of thriving there than she ever did here!”

I crack my knuckles, seething. “Tell yourself that one more time, and maybe you’ll believe it.”

Rian slams the knife hilt on the table. “You fucked herin front ofme, Wolf!”

A moment of silence stretches to let his shout echo.

“That’s what this is really about, isn’t it?” I stalk forward. “She and I loved one another, when you wanted both of our love for yourself!”

He throws his hands sarcastically in the air. “Oh, what, have you magically recovered your memories? Did you find one of Iyre’s fae bottles? You suddenly remember your love for her?”

I flinch. It’s salt in a fresh wound.

In as steady a voice as I can manage,I say, “I may not remember her face or the sound of her voice, but I know what happened. That she and I were in love. I dream about her, and even if the dreams are gone at first light, my heart remembers. So, I’m going to do whatever it takes to get her back. Herandmy memories. If that means strangling Iyre, all the better. If it means stranglingyou, well, I’m not opposed to that, either.”

Rian stares at me as though I’ve slapped the sarcasm out of him. His mask is gone now—his face is splotchy and flushed, his eyes wavering with a rare vulnerability.

His breath is ragged as it pushes out of his throat.

His brown eyes meet mine and don’t look away—for what feels like years, we stare at one another as if seeing who we’ve become for the first time since meeting over twenty years ago.

He leans over and spits out a line of blood. “I wanted the crown. I wanted to hurt you. But do noteversay that I didn’t love her.”

I take my time stalking across the blood droplets on the floor, over the wrinkled rug, and past his twisted bed sheets until our chests are an inch apart.

I haven’t forgotten about the knife clutched in his fist. Or that, at any second, more bodyguards will come charging down the hall to drag me to the gallows.

It’s just that some things are more important than danger.

I rip the First Sword brooch off my shirt and drop it at his feet. The sound of it hitting the ground feels final, like a door slamming shut.

“Keep your throne,” I growl. “I was a fool to follow you. To believe in you. I should have known right away. Should have seen it—the lies, the manipulations, all of it. I caredabout you. And for what? You played me like you do everyone.”

He adjusts his grip on the knife, biting back his words. “Wolf?—”

“Basten, gods dammit! My name is Basten! I was stupid to think you ever gave a damn about anyone but yourself. But I see it now. You don’t deserve loyalty. Gods, it’s so clear. My dreams were trying to tell me the truth, but I wasn’t listening. I am now. I’m getting my woman—sheismine, whether I remember or not—and the only reason I’m not ripping your heart out is because I’m saving that pleasure for her.”

My shoulder knocks hard against his as I turn, shoving him back an inch onto his gilded desk, causing his priceless set of quills to clatter to the floor.

By the time the last one falls, I’m already storming out the doorway, stepping over the unconscious bodyguards.

As I make my way through Hekkelveld Castle’s tortuous hallways, I’m barely aware of anything except for the sound of my own throttled heart. I take the Faith Tower hallway stairs up a floor to the Valvere family members’ quarters.

The bodyguard stationed there glances at me, vexed, but he doesn’t dare cross the First Sword.

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