Page 86 of The Shadowbound King

Twenty

RANE

The morning after I pleasured Mirella in the stable, I went to the King’s Grove to talk to the gods.

I wasn’t good at praying. People claimed the gods answered if you asked the right way, if you were earnest and penitent. But I’d never been either of those things because the gods had never answered me. Not when the priests separated me from my parents and forced me to learn how to swallow the shadows. Not when the guards shoved me up the steps to the auction block. Not when my first master spoke the enchantment to weave chains around my wrists.

But I prayed now. Or tried to. I knelt before the Edeloak, unease drifting through me, and cleared my throat.

“Um. I need a favor.”

The grove stayed quiet, the only sound the gentle splash of the fountain behind me.

Fuck. This was stupid. But it was also important.

“I’m not asking anything for myself. I want to make that clear. Well, maybe I am.” I drew a deep breath and then spoke in a rush. “I need you to help Andrin. He can’t shoulder this burden much longer. It’s killing him.”

As if the gods didn’t already know. The dead grass around the base of the Edeloak had spread since the last time I visited the King’s Grove. More withered leaves littered the ground, their edges shriveled.

“The Edelfen is at our doorstep, and I’m terrified he’s going to sneak into the forest alone.”

Nothing. The fountain continued its unbothered splashing.

I clenched my fists at my sides. “If you don’t help Andrin, the kingdom will die.”

Fuck. Threatening the gods probably wouldn’t persuade them to intervene.

I glared at the tree. “Youwill die. Is that what you want?”

A noise made me jerk around. Othor passed the fountain, his robes trailing the path behind him. He didn’t carry his staff, which was unlike him. Normally, he never missed a chance to remind everyone he had the Edeloak’s favor.

I shot to my feet, my nape heating. “You can have the grove in a minute. I got here first.”

He stopped in front of me. “Actually, I was looking for you. I hoped we could talk.”

I didn’t bother trying to conceal my surprise. “Those are two sentences I never thought I’d hear you say.”

He looked up at the Edeloak, the hint of a smile teasing his lips. “Yes, well, we’re living in unusual times.”

Enchanted leaves drifted toward the ground. Othor continued gazing at the tree. My surprise turned to irritation.

“What do you want to talk about?”

He looked at me. “You’ve spent a lot of time with Mirella over the past few days. You and Andrin both.”

“So?”

“Everyone noticed the collar’s absence, as well as her spot on the dais during feasts. People are asking questions.”

My temper spiked. “Are people asking questions, or are you asking questions?”

He raised a brow, and I waited for one of his usual insults. I was uncouth. Mannerless. Intemperate. Anything to remind me that no matter how many titles Andrin gave me, I’d never shed the stench of slavery.

Othor was a Verdalis, his likeness emblazoned on the Edelfen’s sacred leaves. And I wasn’t fit to water the tree’s roots even to save it from dying.

“She’s good for you,” Othor said. I must have looked startled, because he gave a small nod. “You and Andrin. I didn’t want to see it at first, but some things are impossible to ignore.” His lips twitched. “Or maybe I should say, some women are hard to ignore.”

Mirella’s wide, golden eyes and soft mouth appeared in my mind.“…you arenotgarbage. You absorb the shadows so the light can shine.”

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