Page 82 of Court of Treachery

Standing beside her in a suit of the darkest blue that was almost black, they looked a fitting couple… in any other scenario.Anywhere but here, Harper thought. She would stand beside him in Tournai thusly, if it meant she was free. She swallowed.

He smiled at her, but his eyes creased with worry as his smile faded. Despite his neat presentation, she had noticed the developing dark hollows under his eyes.He looks like he is in mourning. Perhaps he was. There was much lost, and much left to lose.

“He’s waiting. Let’s go.” Dimitri offered her his arm, but Harper strode past him, back straight, kicking away the folds of the dress with every step.

She shivered at the frigid air that rushed around her legs, but she needed it too. Needed to put some distance between them, because she could not face up to the things he made her feel. Needed it to quench that heat rising within her and to ground herself in fear once more—because fear would keep her alive.

69

HARPER

They convened in the jarlshalle once more. Dim faelights gave no hint as to the time of day. Under the mountain, day was night and night was day in the everlasting gloom. Harper despised it. Despite the vastness of the space, there was a terrible sense of claustrophobia at not being able to see the sky and have the wind upon her skin.

She drew closer to Dimitri as they entered, though she still did not take his arm until they reached the dais, where the steps were too large to clamber up without tripping on the folds of her skirt. They bowed before Saradon—a flicker of displeasure showing on his face when Harper did not curtsy—before they advanced. Dimitri helped her up to her seat, the small throne beside Saradon’s, bowing as he placed her hand in her lap. He turned away, face blank, to survey the empty hall, before retreating to stand beside her throne.

“When we relocate to Tournai, I will see that you are educated in etiquette and all things you shall require as my heir, daughter.” Saradon frowned at her before casting his attention upon Dimitri.

“I am pleased with your progress in Tournai, Lord Ellarian. I took the opportunity to visit this night hence, and I am mostencouraged. Rioting has once again commenced in the streets, and the Winged Kingsguard look harried and are too few to hold back the tide.” He grinned menacingly.

Dimitri bowed his head. “I am pleased to hear it, Lord Ravakian. We are ready to move when you give the command. The general will swear in as regent any day now, and my allies are poised to overthrow his rule before it begins. The common people will rise to any banner that promises them what they desire—fairness, prosperity, security—revenge.” His voice held no emotion. Harper turned over his words in her mind.

“Excellent. I shall offer them all, and more besides.”

Dimitri bowed again and took a seat below the dais on the side of the hall. Saradon clapped once. At his unspoken demand, Harper looked up. It was as though a leash tugged her mind and body into place every time she thought or moved to defy him. Harper’s heart sank as the great doors swung open and Saradon’s latest sport was dragged in.

She did not want to look. Not as they dragged Aedon in by his bound legs, trailing his torso and head across the floor with no consideration for injury. Not as they scurried back at Saradon’s command, kicking and clawing at Aedon as they retreated with his bindings and left him prone upon the floor. It was Aedon’s turn to answer his summons. Saradon seemed determined to take his pound of flesh from Aedon for the death of his granddaughter, Harper’s mother, Ilrune, for when he ordered Aedon to stand, Harper could not hold in a gasp of shock.

When he gradually pushed himself to his hands and knees, Harper could see he wore only the remains of a shirt, but he was so blackened with dirt, blood, and bruises that she had not realised it at first. His trousers were ripped and tattered, the fabric trailing below his knees, and his feet were bare—and blue with cold. He slowly forced himself to his feet, with obvious painin his shaking limbs. Shoulders slumped, he glared at Saradon defiantly, refusing to lower his gaze.

“Would that I could exact punishment upon your brother, but you shall do in his stead, whilst he is more useful to us elsewhere,” Saradon said, his lip curling.

“My brother would have nothing to do with scum like you.” Aedon’s vehement hatred spilled to Dimitri as his glare flicked between the two males before him.

Saradon laughed. “So you say, yet he acts for me, whether he knows it or not. As I said, you will suffice. Besides which, you are his predecessor. What heinous acts have you committed, I wonder?”

Aedon’s gaze dropped and he glared at the floor. Saradon stared at him in silence, and Aedon’s jaw clenched. Harper realised Saradon invaded his mind—or tried to. After a moment, Saradon straightened and scowled.

“You would do well to not be so rude. I can make your suffering far worse, elf.”

“You have no business prying into my affairs, half-breed,” Aedon hissed at Saradon.

Harper gasped. Never had she known him to be so cruel. At the escape of air from her lips, Aedon finally saw her. His face paled as he stared at her in a daze, as though he had seen a ghost. Then his eyes slid away, like he had never seen her.He tries to protect us both. She wished she could protect him. After seeing Brand’s and Erika’s cruel treatment at Saradon’s hands, she held no hope that Aedon would not suffer the same, or worse, for his brother’s crimes.

Saradon advanced upon him, seeming not to have noticed Aedon’s attention wavering. “I will not be called such by the likes ofyou.” Black fire crackled from him, racing toward Aedon. Harper leaned forward, but Saradon’s leash tugged her back. Aedon cried out as the inferno engulfed him.

70

HARPER

As the fire dissipated, Aedon stood, blackened but alive. Harper sagged with relief, though her heart still raced and she felt light headed, her breath frozen in her chest alongside the cry that longed to burst free.

Aedon laughed, baring his teeth in a defiant grin. “Your half-breed magic is nothing against dragon-blessed power!”

Saradon sent an even bigger blast in answer. Aedon howled from the midst of it. Harper tried to reach into her own well of magic to send any help his way, but it was trapped behind an impenetrable barrier. She cursed silently, jerking against the invisible bonds that held her, to no avail, whilst Aedon’s own orange flames licked at the edges of Saradon’s black fire, tearing it to shreds. Smoke rolled across them all, sending Harper and Dimitri into fits of coughing.

When the blaze cleared, Aedon was on his knees, breathing heavily, but still glaring defiantly at Saradon. The attack had taken much from him. Despite that, Harper knew he would not submit. “Is that your best, half-breed? No wonder they put you and all your kind down.” Aedon bared his teeth in a feral snarl.

“Don’t goad him, Aedon!” Harper cried without thinking.

---