Page 110 of An Honored Vow

I closed the distance between us and grabbed Damien’s neck. “I will break your body until you are on the cusp of death, and then I will hang you from your ankles along this wall. One day for every life you have taken. And when that time is done, when the suns have baked your skin and the crows have pecked gashes between your ribs, I will ram my dagger through your chest, throw your body out to sea, and melt your throne to feed the people you have starved. You will die as you deserve, crownless and in never-ending pain.”

Fear flashed across Damien’s face but he didn’t let it settle.

“May the cleverest prevail,” he said and jumped off the wall.

CHAPTERFORTY-TWO

EVERYONE WAITED IN THE COUNCIL ROOM.Elaran and Gerarda shared a chair. El had not left Gerarda’s side since Volcar. Riven didn’t take a seat at the table but stood behind me, the hand he had left resting on my shoulder as I waited for Nikolai and Vrail to stop whispering in their seats.

“Quiet,” Myrrah chided when they didn’t cease.

Vrail’s cheeks flushed and she tucked her chin into her red collar. “Apologies.”

Nikolai only grabbed some loose nuts from his lap and tossed them into the air.

Gwyn and Fyrel grinned at each other in the chairs beside Syrra, who merely shook her head.

“The scouts have returned with bad news,” I said to Feron seated directly across from me.

He leaned forward on the stone table. “How manywaateyshirakdid they see?”

“Three dozen at least.”

Nikolai’s hand froze mid-toss, letting the nuts cascade to the ground.

“That’s too many.” Vrail shook her head so quickly her face blurred. “He only has three pendants left. Extrapolating for the loss of control in Volcar, he has—”

“Tripled the amount ofshirakhe can control safely,” I finished for her with a stern nod. “It seems that Damien doesn’t care about that. Even now the beasts are tempted to feast on the city. All the residents have been instructed to stay inside.”

“He expects Syrra and I to take down more than a few,” Gerarda quipped, a thin blade twirling through her knuckles. Only she could find the compliment in such grave news.

“Most likely.” I sighed, leaning back into my chair. Riven squeezed my shoulder, and I rested my head against his arm. “Even then it’s ten more than I thought he would dare bring into his city. Our armies have not yet arrived, and he has already put every single person’s life in jeopardy.”

Elaran spun a curl around her fingers. “Damien is past the point of caring. He’s either going to keep his seat on that throne, or take as many lives as possible with him when we push him off it.”

“Into a pool of jagged spikes,” Gwyn added under her breath. The purple bags under her eyes seemed to darken at the idea of it, and I was not certain she was kidding.

Fyrel shot her a worried smile. “It will be hard to kill him with three dozen snapping beaks in our way. They’ll lay the city to rubble before we ever breach the wall.”

“A stolen throne to rule over broken stones.” Gerarda huffed a laugh. “A miserable song for the bards to sing.”

“That’s not all.” I laid a map of Koratha down on the table for all to see. “Damien has the majority of his armada stationed here.” I pointed along the opening of the channel south of the Order. It was within firing range of the field where our warriors would be fending off attacks from theshirak.

“Easy enough to handle,” Myrrah said with a shrug.

Pirmiith clicked his tongue. “Each of Damien’s ships are connected underneath by a net of some kind. It extends far out.” His finger grazed over the parchment past the boundary of the Order. “The scouts can’t be certain what it’s for, but they caught the crews loading barrels of violet dust aboard each ship.”

“The violet fire,” Myrrah whispered. Untamable by wind or water wielding, and so wild that it took the last bit of Lash’s magic to clear it for just a few seconds. We would waste all our resources just trying to protect Myrrah’s crew.

“So invasion by sea is not an option.” Nikolai’s nose crinkled as he looked at the map.

“Not for us.” Riven’s voice was firm but worried. “Though we must prepare for those crews to come ashore to face us.”

“I will have ways to stop that for a period of time.” Feron’s gaze cut to me. “Though we will need to be quick. It will only serve Damien’s advantage if we overextend ourselves.”

“I agree.” I stood and marked the perimeter of the sea net with the bowl of ash that sat on the table. “Myrrah, you and half the Shades will take down as many ships as you can without breaching this threshold. Do not let Damien lure you into his trap.”

“Cautious but deadly.” Myrrah nodded. “I can do that.”

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