Page 112 of Crownless King

But I felt hurt, too.

And angry.

“You did this, Voron. You did this to yourself.” He must have known that, too. And maybe that made him hurt even worse. But it didn’t make me feel any less angry. “You did this to both of us.”

I slammed the open journal onto the desk, leaping to my feet. Tortured by regret for all the time we’d lost, I paced the room, letting the anger bubble and boil inside me.

Hesent me away.Heordered me to be thrown into the River of Mists.Hegave in to the demands of the court. In that one moment, he chose the crown over me. And maybe he’d regretted it right after. But the harm had been done. He broke my trust.

I pressed my forehead to a vine in the wall, needing to feel the comfort of him even as he was the source of my anger.

“Fuck you, Voron!” I slammed a hand into the wall panel. “Fuck you for what you’ve done to us. You have no one to blame for that but yourself.”

The vine pulsed warmly. Voron’s magic reached for me, touching my skin, dipping into my very soul.

“You own me.”His words echoed in my ears, as if he’d said them, not written them.“My mind, my heart, my body… My very spirit belongs to you and only you.”

Voron was mine.

The mark on my chest throbbed in affirmation.

He belonged to me, just like I belonged to him. And neither the protective magic of Elaros nor the malicious sorcery of the World of Under would keep him away from me.

“Give him back,” I ordered to the vines, willing them to move.

But they didn’t budge. I felt the magic flow and ebb, but I didn’t have enough power to direct it. I had no magic of my own to force it to move as I wished.

This palace, however, was filled to the brim with magic I needed. Everyone from the top councilors to the last kitchen helper wielded it here. They were fae, born with magic. And I was a human.A vessel,as Alcon had put it.

A vessel. One that needed more power to hold.

I pushed away from the wall. It was late. The clock over the fireplace showed the time was just past three o’clock in the morning. The palace must be asleep. But I was not afraid to wake them. All of them, if needed.

The door to the king’s chambers was open, and I marched out into the corridor, then down the stairs to the floor with Voron’s old suite. It was one of the best suites in the palace. I figured whoever lived here now must be important enough to occupy it.

I banged on the door with both fists until it opened and the sleepy face of a guard appeared in the gap.

“What’s happening? Councilor Alcon is asleep.”

Alcon. He was exactly the man I needed.

“Wake him up.”

The guard made a face, looking at me like I was a pile of cow dung he’d stepped into.

“I need to talk to him. Urgently.” I waved both hands at him impatiently, then added a little softer, “Please.”

“It better be fucking important,” he grumped.

“It is,” I assured him. “It’s a matter of life and death. King Voron’s life and death.”

ChapterThirty

SPARROW

Alcon was fully dressed. Despite his guard’s complaints, I didn’t believe the councilor had been asleep when I came to his rooms. There were enough things to keep him awake.

“The palace is coming under attack,” Alcon warned me. “Lord Vautour was the one who procured the bolt and the dagger from the World of Under. He did acquire a seat on the Royal Council for his service to King Tiane, but Voron expelled him shortly after his coronation. It looks like the lord has been holding a grudge against the king ever since.”

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