Page 110 of Crownless King

A leather pouch dropped onto the floor, released by the vines that had hidden it.

Hope pulsed in my chest. My hands shook with impatience as I untied the golden cord. Inside lay a tightly wound scroll. I opened it, running my eyes down the black ink of the letter written in the fae language I now spoke and read.

“Sire, I’m pleased to deliver on your royal wish,”the letter read.“I have descended into the world of shadows and traded with the creatures void of joy to obtain this wondrous weapon for you. My dreams will forever be marred with the memories of this journey, and my spirit will remain tainted by the deal I have made. I trust all of that will be worth your happiness and your favor in my regard. By granting me a position on your Council, you will forever gain in me the most fervent servant to Your Majesty.”

Another long paragraph of flattery mixed with requests for favors followed. After that, came the instructions on how to use “the weapon.”

“Score the human’s skin lightly and make sure the cuts heal fully before you inflict too many more. If the blade perforates her skin and penetrates the muscle, her mind will leave her, only her body will remain. It’ll move, obedient like a doll to all your orders, as she will no longer be able to think on her own.”

It wasmethe letter was talking about. The sender knew exactly what King Tiane wanted the dagger for.

The former king had “scored” my skin “lightly,” allowing me to keep my mind. But I had no doubts it had just been the beginning of the long, sick game he had planned. His ultimate goal had been to turn me into the mindless moving doll, to do with me as he pleased without me being able to think or to speak for myself.

Fear chilled me at the thought of what could’ve happened had I not fought back that night. My instinct was to toss this scroll and the leather pouch it’d been kept in into the fire, but I forced myself to keep reading.

“If the dagger penetrates deep enough to pierce a vital organ, her spirit will leave her body, making her unable to move. However, for as long as the blade remains in her flesh, her body will be free of decay and therefore still usable for Your Majesty’s pleasure.”

Bile rose in my throat in a ball of disgust. How so matter-of-factly the sender was discussing my mindless, motionless body being “used” by the king.

“And finally, to let the human expire, you will have to remove the dagger from her body completely. Her spirit will then be released, and her body will rot, the way humans do after death. Apparently, human body decomposition is foul and exceedingly unpleasant to witness. I highly recommend you get rid of her at that point.”

That would have been my future. Had I not stabbed King Tiane that night, I would’ve remained his plaything—consciously and otherwise—for him to use me until there was nothing left of me but a rotting corpse.

A shudder rocked my body. A tyrant never acted alone. He was surrounded by a flock of enablers who helped him do the most horrific things.

Who was this person who supplied the dagger?

There was no seal and no signature on the scroll. Whoever wrote and sent this letter clearly wished to remain anonymous in case the scroll fell into the hands of anyone else but King Tiane. I wondered if the king had granted them all their wishes. If so, there was a chance the person was still on the Royal Council. They’d be inside the palace right now—a predator in the place everyone thought was safe.

I rolled the scroll and shoved it into the pouch, climbing to my feet.

“Magnus!” I called the bird, waking him from his nap on his perch. “Come, buddy. I have a job for you.”

I unclipped the silver chain from his anklet, and he followed me to the door of the suite. I opened it for him.

“Go find Alcon. Bring him here. I have something he should see.”

ChapterTwenty-Nine

SPARROW

As Alcon read the scroll, his expression darkened.

“Why do you think the late king kept this?” I asked.

He frowned, his eyes narrowing. “Maybe he wanted to have the instructions on hand. Or maybe he kept it as evidence against the person who wrote it.”

“Do you know who wrote it? Is this person still on the Council?”

“I hope not.” He put the scroll back into the pouch. “Voron replaced quite a few members of the Council put there by King Tiane. He didn’t trust any of them. Some were dangerous, but many were just lazy, not showing up for sessions in decades. However, we have to be careful. I’ll talk to Farion. We can trace the favors mentioned in this letter to the person who received them.”

“Should I come with you?”

“If you wish. But it may be best for you to stay here, my lady. At least until more of the royal army arrive to defend the palace. Ataureanwho came to Elaros for the festival says he saw a large force assembling just beyond the hills. I fear an attack is imminent. I’ll inform you about what’s going on as soon as we know more.”

Alcon was gone, and I was left in the king’s rooms alone, in the company of only my troubled thoughts.

Sauria was expecting me back at the farmhouse tomorrow. Yet here I was, trapped in the palace. For how long?

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