Page 149 of A Court Bright and Broken

The guard I’d kicked scrambled back to his feet and drew his weapon. Its brutally sharp point joined the swords of the other two guards, all of them hovering just above my neck.

I was in trouble. I couldn’t fight them all. And at this very moment Stellon could be making the biggest mistake of his life—one he’d never be able to undo.

My mind raced until it reached a point where I felt rational thought recede and instinct take over.

Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion…

Spotting the tell-tale shadow pooling around the feet of the oldest guard.

Feeling my own glamour burst out of its cage and rush toward him.

Snatching his shadow and expanding it.

Throwing the inky cloud over him and his fellow soldiers.

Confused, they began shouting, trying to locate me and each other. One of them cried out as another, apparently thinking he was stabbing me, jabbed his weapon into the man next to him.

There was a thud as he fell to the floor.

“Get him,” someone shouted from inside the dark cloud. “Don’t let him into the prince’s rooms.”

Another voice yelled, “I can’t see the door. Pull back your glamour, Druven.”

“I’ve tried,” he said. “I can’t control it. I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“We’ve got to do something.”

“I know what to do,” the shadow-wielder said.

There was a sickening squelch, and then jets of blood spurted from the cloak of shadow. Druven crumpled to the floor, his head protruding from the edge of the dark cloud as he fell.

He’d stabbed himself in the neck in a futile attempt to suppress his suddenly out-of-control glamour. Though he was clearly dead, the shadow didn’t recede or change in any way.

The last remaining guard took off running, shooting out from the other side of the dark cloud and fleeing down the hall away from me and his fallen companions.

I watched him go, then recalled the shadow into myself, marveling as it shrank and passed over the still form of its former owner on its way to me.

Reaching down, I lifted Stellon’s room key from the man’s belt as a sick feeling swamped me. I hadn’t intended for anyone to die. The guard had only been doing his duty.

There was no time for guilt though. I was doing the same—my duty was to my family, and my brother was in danger.

Unlocking the door, I ran through the suite’s sitting room without stopping and threw my shoulder up against his bedroom door. The door frame splintered, and I went crashing through, landing on the floor, thanks to the momentum.

When I looked up, the tip of Stellon’s sword was mere inches from my nose.

He was shirtless and barefoot, his hair in disarray. Raewyn was in a similar state, clutching her shift over the front of her bare body as she stared at me wide-eyed.

Apparently I’d arrived just in time.

“What is the meaning of this?” Stellon demanded at the top of his lungs. “You have no right to barge in here like this. I should run you through, brother, for this insult to my lady.”

I rolled onto my back, holding my hands up in surrender.

“I found the assassin.”

Our eyes held intense contact for a long moment before Stellon moved the sword, dropping it to his side.

“Where? Who is it?” he asked, still furious but at least interested in what I had to say.

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