Page 155 of A Court Bright and Broken

We were trapped, surrounded, and at the end of so many exposed blades I felt faint.

Stellon’s neck and shoulder muscles were bunched as if he was preparing himself to fight his way out of here, or at least fight to the death to protect me. I couldn’t let that happen.

“You can’t win,” I said quietly. “You have to hand me over. They know. Pharis broke his promise.”

“No,” he grunted in a guttural tone.

The word contained so much pain it ripped my heart in half. I couldn’t be sure if he was more distressed over handing me over to the guards or his brother’s betrayal, but one had led to the other, so it didn’t really matter.

“Stand back,” Stellon warned the soldiers, drawing his own sword. “The first man who tries to take her will be the first to arrive in the Land Without Stars.”

“Everyone sheath your swords,” King Pontus said in a tone that sounded almost bored.

The soldiers obeyed instantly.

“You too, son,” he said to Stellon, who still held his blade aloft.

Stellon ignored him, moving the sword in a slow arc as he eyed each soldier, one by one.

“She is innocent,” he said. “She meant no harm—no matter what Pharis said.”

“Pharis?” his father said with a look of confusion. “Put down your blade, Stellon. No one is going to hurt you.”

The king’s eyes moved to me, scanning me quizzically.

“And if you surrender her peacefully, no one will hurt your little human pet either,” he added.

No one would hurt me? If I hadn’t been so terrified I would have laughed.

Pharis had told them I’d come here to assassinate the whole royal family. They’d do worse than hurt me—they were going to kill me.

Strolling over to join the guards blocking our stall, the king gave his son a warning look.

“She’s not a pet,” Stellon spat, furious. “She’s a person, and she happens to be the woman I love. I’m going to marry her, Father.”

In an instant, King Pontus shifted from beleaguered patience to fury.

“No son of mine is going to marry ahuman. You are not in your right mind. Guards, take her to the dungeon forsafekeepingwhile I speak sense to my son.”

Two soldiers moved forward, and Stellon pointed his sword at one then the other. “You willnottake her. I’ll die before I allow it.”

Rolling his eyes, the king focused his attention on Stellon. “No one needs to die today over this… misunderstanding.”

His next words came out slowly and deliberately. “I want you to drop your sword.”

Stellon’s arm began to shake, then the tremor moved to the rest of his body. The sword tip bobbed in the air like a flutter-by drunk on nectar.

And then it clanked to the stable’s stone floor.

The king’s glamour. He’d forced his son to bend to his will.

Immediately the guards rushed forward and grabbed Stellon, hauling him, thrashing and cursing, out of the stall.

Another one came in and pulled me down from Malo’s back, moving me out into the open as well. The two of us were restrained several feet apart, our gazes locked.

“I’m so sorry, Firebug,” Stellon said. “I never should have trusted Pharis.”

The king studied the both of us, his eyes moving over my body and then to his son. They sparked with suspicion, and his tone held a note of doom.

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