Page 74 of Grave Situation

“The king and I will intercede if necessary,”Haftel says, not even needing me to ask for help.“But our influence won’t hold once you leave.”

“That’s tomorrow’s problem. Just support me now.”

Hierane’s eyes are narrowed, and Coryn shifts away from me. At first I think he’s distancing himself, but when I glance over, I notice the way his hand rests on the pommel of his sword.

Aww. That’s sweet, but… he can’t seriously be thinking about striking a high priestess?

“Don’t play games with me,” Hierane murmurs.

“I wouldn’t dare,” I say truthfully. I know perfectly well that I’m fighting for my life right now.

“Talon?”Master’s voice is sharp. Finally.

“Having an altercation with the high priestess of Malna. You might need to run interference after I shake her off.”

His vicious curse echoes through my brain.“Couldn’t you have avoided this?”

“She confronted me in the middle of a party at the king’s palace!”

“Hand over the stone,” Hierane demands, no longer trying to be subtle. Fuck. Tia tugs at my mind, and when I reach out, she sends the impression of being behind me but holding back. Good. Hopefully I can still defuse this.

“The stone isn’t a holy object,” I demur, giving the stone a mental nudge. It declines to respond, which I guess means it’s confident I can handle things. Great.

Hierane draws herself up, affronted. “Of course it is,” she hisses. “It’s thesourceof creation. And your refusal to comply with the temples places you on very shaky ground, Mage.” Somehow she makes my rank sound like a curse.

Duke Kelter draws a sharp breath. “The life stone?” he asks. Dammit, this is getting out of hand.

“That’s confidential,” the king orders, taking at least one worry off my shoulders.

“Your grace.” I make a last attempt at conciliation. I’m a little concerned about the younger priestess, to be honest. She hasn’t moved, spoken, or reacted in any way, just watched everything with solemn eyes. Something’s not right there. “While I understand the temples’ desire to look after so valuable a treasure, I can assure you that I don’t deny you lightly. The gods have entrusted me with this most sacred task.” I’m not going to tell her the stone is sentient. It’s my fallback argument. “Once it is complete, I will most gladly surrender the stone into the keeping and care of the holy orders.” If that’s what the stone wants.

She regards me coldly. “That is unacceptable to me. You will give it into my safekeeping immediately.”

The tension ramps up unbearably, but when I glance around, the other partygoers seem oblivious, enjoying themselves just as they were before. Idiots.

“I refuse.” The words are heavy. I donotwant the temples as enemies.

“Then you leave me no choice but to?—”

“Before these witnesses, I demand a convocation hearing,” I interrupt. I might not think much of the priesthood, but I know the laws and customs of every temple. “It is my right as a son of the gods to plead my case before the convocation of high priests.”

“Witnessed,” the king and Haftel say in unison. From the way Hierane glares at them, they’ll pay for it later.

“Witnessed,” Duke Kelter adds reluctantly, two beats behind. He clearly doesn’t want to, but the law is firm on this.

Hierane knows it. The thwarted fury on her face speaks volumes, but she can’t act against me now, not with three witnesses—high-ranking ones, at that—to my demand for a convocation. If she did, it would be a blow to the trust people have in the temples. Or at least, it would when I finished telling everyone I know.

“Very well,” she concedes. “I will call a convocation.”

“Wonderful. I’m going to get some rest.” I take a step back, then another. I’m not even lying. We’ll be leaving even earlier than planned, if we want to avoid that convocation. And we have to—I’m certain the other high priests and priestesses will agree with Hierane.

“Good night,” the king says firmly, forestalling any further attempt to delay me, and I turn and beeline for the door, Coryn keeping pace at my side. Tia and Jaimin fall in with us halfway across the room, but it’s not until we’re in the hallway and putting serious distance between us and the ballroom that I start to relax.

“Well?” Tia asks.

“We’re screwed.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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