Page 227 of On Wings of Blood

I made myself look in the other direction and my eyes fell on Regan. She was seated in a wooden chair to the left of Kim’s desk. She looked every bit the spoiled highblood princess, with her pointed chin held high and her mouth fixed in a smug pout. Behind her stood her father, Lord Pansera, a tall man with many of his daughter’s features but even less of her charm. His gaze swept over Pendragon as if she were something stuck to the bottom of his boot.

My stomach tightened. I stayed close to Pendragon’s side as the door clicked shut behind us.

Headmaster Kim cleared his throat. “I don’t believe introductions are required. We are gathered here today to discuss the conduct of Blake Drakharrow’s triad during the Consort Games. There are questions regarding the actions of his consorts, specifically the lack of cooperation between them, as well as several broken rules. Consequences must be determined.”

My heart was already pounding. Clearly Regan’s father was here to act as her representative to Kim. And ours? Good old Uncle Viktor.

There was no way I wanted Viktor defending Pendragon. I was here for her. I’d speak for her. If there were penalties to be paid, I’d take them upon myself. No one would harm a hair on her head.

Headmaster Kim was turning towards Regan. “Miss Pansera, a great deal of this centers around your conduct so let’s begin with you. Would you care to explain your actions during the Games?”

Regan lifted her chin defiantly. “Explain? What’s to explain? I did what I had to do,” she said, her voice edged with prideful anger. “I wasn’t going to sit back and watch while she–” She narrowed her eyes at Pendragon. “–made a mockery of our traditions. She doesn’t belong in Blake’s triad and she doesn’t belong at Bloodwing.” She looked over at Viktor. “With all respect, Lord Drakharrow, she never has and I hope the Games have proven this once and for all. She only survived because of me.” She shot a glance at Pendragon, her eyes full of poison. “Did I want to cooperate with her? No, of course not! I wasn’t about to trust my life to her incompetence.”

Pendragon’s hands were curled into fists by her side. I could see her shoulders shaking.

Everything Regan said had been lies.

Was Pendragon going to point that out? If she didn’t, I would, I decided.

I took a step forward. “With all due respect to Miss Pansera,” I said–in other words, none whatsoever. I turned to look at Regan, my eyes holding hers. “I’d be fully sympathetic to her dilemma if I didn’t happen to know for a fact that every word out of her mouth was a lie. Weallknow that. We were as good as there. We saw exactly what happened. Miss Pansera–” I saw Regan stiffen a little more each time I used her title and not her first name. “Abandoned my consort and went off without her, leaving her to navigate the first challenge alone. It was only thanks to the selfless actions of Visha Vaidya and Evander Sylvain that my consort made it across at all.” Giving Evander any credit was a little rich, but I figured mentioning his name wouldn’t hurt. After all, the Sylvains were another powerful highblood family. “And what did Miss Pansera do next? Did she go to Miss Pendragon, apologize, and offer her assistance for the rest of the Games? No. She underhandedly and cowardly enlisted the help of two other consorts to try to murder Miss Pendragon.”

Lord Pansera cut me off. “My daughter acted with the strength and resolve of a true highblood,” he said, his voice firm. He refused to look at me. “She was placed in a completely untenable situation, paired with an unworthy blightborn girl who should never have been allowed to participate in those Games, let alone serve as a consort to an archon of one of our noblest families. If you ask me, that error is where the real problem lies.”

He swept his gaze across the room, from Headmaster Kim to my uncle. “Lord Drakharrow, I understand the dilemma you faced that day in the Keep, with the heads of the other four houses all watching to see how you would react to this strange girl’s arrival. But Medra Pendragon, this supposeddragon rider–” He fairly spat the words. “–is the reason things went wrong in the first place. She’s the reason my daughter almost died. She lured us all in with blightborn trickery. There is nothing noble about her. And as even she admitted that first day, she is useless–for despite what we all may wish, there areno dragonsand there never will be again. My daughter’s triad has been doomed to failure from the moment it was formed, from the moment you allowed the blightborn girl to take up a place here where she does not belong. If you want to ensure the future success of your nephew and my daughter, I insist you cut her loose now. Expunge her from Sangratha.” He turned to rest his eyes on Pendragon. “Execution is too good for her, as far as the Pansera family is concerned.”

I growled low in my throat. “Watch yourself. If anyone deserves to be cut loose, it’s your treacherous daughter.”

I scanned the room. “Who requested the Crown of Bones be used on Pendragon?” I looked over at Regan. “It was you, wasn’t it? I want you to admit it. You purposely tried to sabotage your fellow consort. You did so repeatedly, over and over. Every act of disloyalty you committed towards Pendragon was an act of disloyalty towards me and my house.”

I could only hope Viktor would see it that way, too.

I could hardly stand to look at Regan. We’d grown up together. Our parents had been friends. Now the sight of her filled me withnothing but loathing. Had I really ever let that snake into my bed?

There was a tense, uncomfortable silence as Regan stared back at me, refusing to confess.

“It doesn’t matter,” Headmaster Kim finally interjected. “It doesn’t matter who requested its use. The Crown of Bone was used fairly. We were within our rights to allow it. And your consort survived. That’s all that matters.”

I felt Pendragon tremble at my side. Yes, she’d survived. But what about her friend, Naveen? I knew she had to be thinking about him.

At least now she knew that the Crown of Bone had nothing to do with me. Its use had been cruel and monstrous. Even for fucking highbloods.

Regan’s face twisted in frustration. “You think you’re better than me, don’t you Blake? Why, you’re the biggest cheat of all. You used your own blood on her. Do you want to tell everyone aboutthat?”

I’d known this was coming.

The air in the room took on a greater chill.

I felt my uncle’s gaze hone in on me, razor sharp, even though I knew Marcus must have already told him what I’d done. Still, he stayed silent. I wondered what he was hoping the outcome of this hearing would be exactly. It was evident he had his own objectives in mind as usual.

I glanced down at the flame-haired woman by my side. I longed to wrap my arm around Pendragon’s waist and hold her against me, giving her my strength, steadying her.

But I settled for going on the offense. “What of it? It was my right to protect my consort. Even if it was from her co-consort. I did what I had to do and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“If there’s to be a punishment for what Blake did,” Pendragon said, stepping forward, her voice cutting through the tension in the room. “Let it be mine to accept. I only did what was necessary to survive. I was desperate. I didn’t want to go up against Regan. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I met with Regan before the Games and asked her to work with me. I truly tried. When she and Gretchen and Quinn came after me, I defended myself. But I tried to show restraint.”

I couldn’t help it. I chuckled. “You certainly did. Far more than most would have.”

And now her restraint might actually pay off. If she’d dared to kill a highblood consort back on that island...

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