Page 88 of The Prince's Mage

“I’m not—” Marcella tried again, but her mind couldn’t make the connection. Nikias was too close.

All she could feel were the leather straps sinking in and the wood creeping up on her skin. And the knife.

Her heart had stopped.

“Get away from me! Stay back!”

But he didn’t.

They were going to put her back on the table. She could feel it, and all her reason left her. She acted on instinct alone. On the burning, screaming in her that said never again.

He’d killed her.

Never again.

Nikias hit the ground, screaming as he grabbed at his chest. Where her ball of pure vitae had struck him and sent him flying back and burning through the fabric.

The one she cast with two hands.

“Marcella!”

She looked up from her rune to see Gavril running toward her.

Her husband.

His parents right behind him.

That wasn’t how this was supposed to go. The king was barking something behind him, orders of some sort, but she was too focused on Gavril.

She started to run toward him, but right as she passed Nikias she was jerked back. Nikias had scrambled to his knees and a limiter was clasped around her right wrist.

She gasped as the muffled feeling crashed onto her while Nikias got the second limiter onto her left wrist, covering up some of the lines—lines that meant she was married.

Nikias fell back to the ground, wincing and hissing at the burn on his chest. Marcella stumbled, and Gavril was almost to her, but then he was out of reach again. Inimicus guards were surrounding her, grabbing her by her arms. Two were holding Gavril back as he fought against them the whole time he was dragged to the side. More of them started helping Nikias up.

There was a flurry of yelling and orders being thrown that she couldn’t translate because she was too busy looking at Gavril. At the band on his wrist and the lines traveling up it.

Her husband.

Her husband.

The ravens trapped in the runes cawed, their backs revealing her lies like his wrist revealed his.

He’d lied. He’d been lying this whole time.

So had she.

And now it was all finally out there.

Marcella was going to be very blessed if she simply woke up dead.

But with Hypatia’s army on the way… wouldn’t they all?

Chapter32

MARCELLA

Marcella wondered if they had kept her old cell exactly as she’d last seen it out of the expectation it would be hers again or just laziness.

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