Page 16 of The Shadowbound King

Rane looked at me. “She tried to kill me.”

I tensed. Whispers raced around the courtyard, along with several low growls. The image of my head tumbling across the stones flashed in my mind again. But Andrin didn’t need a blade. Some of his people were shifters. Maybe all of them. He could probably snap his fingers and order someone to kill me with a slash of their claws.

Andrin’s blue eyes fastened on me. The menace I saw there made me suck in a breath. “So she’s a feral little thing,” he said. “Does she travel?”

Rane studied me with a dispassionate expression, as if he examined livestock in a pen. “I didn’t test her. But considering who she is, I believe we can count on it.”

Andrin stepped past Rane, his eyes like chips of ice as he slowly approached me. The weight of his power threatened to bow my head again, but I managed to keep my chin up even as I longed to sink into the ground and disappear.

The crowd was deadly silent as Andrin towered over me. He extended a hand, the gesture almost courtly.

Indecision wavered through me. But what choice did I have? Swallowing the lump in my throat, I slid my hand into his.

Magic sparked against my skin, thesnapof power pushing a little cry from my throat before I could stop it.

Andrin’s eyes widened as if he was just as startled. But he recovered quickly as he pulled me to my feet. He dropped my hand, only to capture my chin. My scalp prickled as menace flowed back into his eyes.

“In the Autumn Court,” he said, “feral little things wear collars.” Without breaking my stare, he raised his voice. “Bring me a binder.”

Murmurs rose behind him, followed by quick footsteps. My stomach knotted as a knight appeared at his side, a golden collarin his hands. Sunlight gleamed along ominous-looking glyphs that circled the band.

“No!” I cried, trying to step back.

Andrin tightened his grip. His brows pulled low as he nodded to the knight. “You don’t have a say here,” he told me. “And you certainly don’t sayno. Eliminate that word from your speech, Mirella of Purecliff. You won’t need it again.”

The knots in my stomach tightened. My chest heaved, my breathing ragged in my ears as the knight lifted my braid and fastened the collar around my neck. There was a softclick, and then heat circled my throat. It burned uncomfortably hot for a moment before spreading down my body. A subtle weight settled around my shoulders. I knew without asking that I was blocked from running the shadows, my gift rendered dormant. For as long as I wore the collar, I was trapped in Ishulum.

Andrin released me. I tugged at the collar, fury and humiliation as hot as the metal around my neck.

“You can’t do this,” I blurted. “I’ve done nothing—” I snapped my mouth shut as images of Rane’s intestines formed in my head. I looked at him, all the injustices I’d endured at his hands making my voice hoarse. “I defended myself, and you know it.”

His eyes were as hard as Andrin’s. “This is what I know, my lady. You struck with the intent to kill. That makes you a murderer in truth if not completely in deed. Your father was a thief.” He drifted closer. Behind him, orange leaves spun slowly toward the ground. He spoke softly, but his voice carried over the hushed courtyard. “Your father escaped. Rest assured, you will not.”

“Take her,” Andrin said. Knights sprang forward, gripping my arms.

Andrin spun in a swirl of emerald green mantle.

“What did my father do?” I demanded. When Andrin ignored me, I raised my voice. “At least have the courage to face me when you level your baseless accusations!”

Gasps rose from the crowd.

Andrin spun around, his eyes wide with obvious fury. He stormed back to me, and I shrank in the knights’ grip as I prepared for a blow.

But he didn’t touch me. He stopped an inch away, stormclouds in his blue eyes. “You’ve seen his deeds. You walked through them on your way to my court.”

Confusion pummeled me. Did he mean the forest? Visions of the twisted trees and stifling shadows filtered through my mind.

Andrin’s nostrils flared. “You dare to speak to me about courage. Walto Lornlark ripped the beating heart from this kingdom. He stole the Kree, and now we die by inches, every day blacker than the last.”

My mind raced.Kree?My father as a thief? It didn’t make sense.

“Walto Lornlark took my people’s future,” Andrin continued. “So I’ve taken his daughter. You better hope your sire believes you worthy of an exchange. Because until then, you’ll serve this court with elven gold around your neck.”

Andrin turned again and stalked away. As I watched him go, my hopes sank along with my heart. Because I knew something he didn’t.

My father didn’t think I was worth whatever trade Andrin had in mind. And he wasn’t coming for me.

The knights swept forward, hurrying me across the courtyard. Heads turned as we passed, the elves’ expressions ranging from curious to outright hostile. The collar was a stifling weight around my neck. Impossible to ignore or forget.

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