Page 66 of A Kingdom of Destruction

She bit down on her tongue hard enough for a bright flash of pain to split her. A second later, blood pooled in her mouth and filled it with a coppery tang. If she spoke now, she’d damn herself more surely than any murdered fae.

Cillian waited for an answer, biding his time as the King worked through his thoughts. Would he give Cillian a chance to prove himself, or would he allow his rage to take the reins? The room seemed to hold its breath in tense anticipation of anger. And blood.

She knew. They wanted her blood to spill on the floor.

“Fine.” The Fae King snapped his finger again, and Aven exhaled sharply. “Get her out of my sight and don’t come back until you hear from me.”

Roran’s face skewed into some warped expression, but Aven hardly had a moment to pay him any mind before Cillian stepped down in front of her. He took hold of her elbow, whirling her around and practically hauling her out of the throne room tucked under one of his arms.

“Ignore them,” he whispered against her ear. “Ignore them all. Don’t speak until we’re clear of this place.”

She vibrated with the need to lash out but said nothing, did nothing, did not fight against him, until they were well outside the palace. Figuring she’d listened to him as well as she was able.

“Take me away?” she exploded, wrenching her arm out of his hold. Her eyes burned. “What are you trying to do, Cillian?”

“I’m saving your life,” he replied gravelly.

Face-to-face with him now, she felt just as ignorant as she had been in the past. She didn’t have the energy to argue with him anymore. The meeting with the King—if one could call it a meeting, because witch hunt had a better ring to it—leached it out of her as fast as the emotion birthed.

“I have horses waiting for us. Let’s get out of here.”

Cillian stepped away and left her no choice but to follow behind him. Was it genuine, she wondered. A ploy? Whose side was he really on?

The lines were blurring. And she could do nothing to stop them.

23

They stayed away from the palace for three days before a messenger appeared, bringing with him a white piece of paper stamped with the seal of the Fae King.

During that time, Cillian kept Aven occupied in a small cabin with a varnished red-tiled roof. The house perched on a small rising cliff overlooking a raging river, and in the distance, she marked the presence of a small city. Low-level buildings were situated on the side of the hill, and somewhere beyond them was the palace itself, too far to note.

The gray-stoned cottage became a haven during those few days, and with two bedrooms, Cillian did not impose himself on her as he might have in a smaller space.

If anything, the time away gave her more of an opportunity to come to peace with the situation.

She hadn't been lying about acting out in self-defense. The only lie had been the true cause of death, and she found herself entirely unwilling to tell even Cillian about that. Not when Roran had physically inserted himself into the fray.

She didn't know what went on between the two brothers, and only the barest minimum about their history, but it felt wrong to betray a confidence.

Cillian did his best to lighten the mood and keep the conversation away from what happened—and the fact that his father wanted her burned at the stake.

He spoke to her about the Darkroot and about his birthdays as a boy.

He told her about his least favorite tutors and the pranks he used to play on them.

Although it took the full first day and much of the second, Aven finally came out of her shell.

At night, with her windows open and the sounds of the city drifting up to her on a light breeze, she relaxed her guard. Those sounds were normal and full of life. Here, away from everyone, no one called her names or blew up when they saw her.

There was only Cillian doing his best to distract her—even if it took him away from his more pressing duties.

He only blew her off when she asked about them.

Once the letter arrived, Cillian moved into action, a whirlwind of activity after too long sedentary. Or so he told her when she burst out laughing at the way he saddled the horses.

Their guard detail was nowhere in sight, but Aven knew they were around somewhere.

“You’re anxious to get back,” Aven said with a laugh as Cillian tugged her toward the Appaloosa.

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