Page 8 of Stars May Fall

Callum grunted as Sophie jerked beneath him. “Not the best time, Kasten. Out.”

I obeyed and left the room, returning to pace the dining room.

A nervous messenger, wearing the royal livery, was brought in by servants. Annabelle stood up, expecting the letter to be addressed to her, but the messenger bowed and presented it to me.

“General Kasten, you are summoned to the palace immediately.”

I scoffed. “With my wife at death’s door? You have to be joking.”

Annabelle looked back and forth between us. She turned to the messenger. “Tell my father I am here. Say I agree that Kasten has a right to stay. Tell him I am keeping the situation under control.”

I scoffed again. “I don’t need you to speak on my behalf. I don’t care what the king thinks.”

The messenger looked between us with a worried expression, bowed again, and hurried out.

I turned fully to the princess. “You’re tired. You can barely keep awake. Just go home.”

She glared back with a stubborn fierceness. “Not until this situation is resolved. I’ve seen too much. I’m part of this now. And I’m a valuable witness.”

I downed another glass of whiskey. The power of the starstone throbbed, and I ignored it.

An hour passed. A member of my battalion came to report on the armed men and women gathering in the street. Many had ties to Kasomere or the Red Men, the rebel group who had long been trying to prove Lord Lyrason guilty of illegal haemalcomy. So far nothing had escalated. I nodded but did nothing, trusting Sir Chase with his vast experience and level head to keep things under control. I would deal with that problem once Sophie had survived and was safe. I hadn’t expected support from anybody.

The grandfather clock in the hallway chimed another hour. More food was brought in and left untouched. I sat in my chair, my hands on my knees to stop me going upstairs to Sophie.

One of the doormen entered. “What now?” I snapped.

He bowed again. “We have guests, General. Sent by the king. They’ve come to speak to you and”—he nodded awkwardly to Annabelle—“to retrieve Her Royal Highness.”

Annabelle sat up sharply. “What?”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. This was the last thing I wanted to deal with. “Who is it?”

“Duke James, head of the Adenburg city guard, has come to speak with you, and Lord Venerick has come to escort Princess Annabelle.”

I briefly imagined what would happen if I cut off Duke James’s head right now. Unfortunately, that would likely lead to war before Lord Lyrason had a chance to fix what he had done to Sophie. Shame.

I sighed. I needed to keep my wits sharp. “Bring them in.”

Duke James and Lord Venerick entered with serious expressions. They moved closely together, clearly comfortable in each other’s presence, which increased my wariness. A servant offered them wine, but I didn’t stand to welcome them. Instead, I merely stretched out my legs, slouching back in my seat. Boththe newcomers bowed to Annabelle, who was standing behind her chair as if using it as a barrier.

She shook her head as she looked between the two newcomers. “This combination of people isn’t going to work. Duke James is too close to Lord Lyrason to be a good mediator between him and General Kasten. He’s biased and not on good terms with the general. He can’t replace me.” A thread of panic entered her voice.

Lord Venerick slicked his dark brown hair back with one hand in a nervous gesture. It bounced straight back up again. I was suspicious the central piece was a wig by the strange way it lay, but I had never seen him with anything different. He held out a hand to his betrothed. “Come, Annabelle, your father has requested you return to the palace. He is worried about you.” He slid a suspicious glance my way.

I scoffed. “Is he frightened that I’ll take her hostage if things turn violent?”

Annabelle stared at me as if the thought had only just crossed her mind, but she didn’t go to Lord Venerick, ignoring the hand he held suspended in the air.

Duke James squared his shoulders toward me in a strangely professional stance. “Where is Lord Lyrason?”

I glanced at the doorman and flicked my fingers to signal for him to fetch the man.

Duke James kept his expression blank. “The king is aware of the current situation. He understands that your wife has been hurt by a kryalcomy experiment and orders Lord Lyrason to save her as quickly as possible. He holds him at fault.”

I tilted my head with a grimace and spread my hands to show how little those words were helping.

Duke James continued without reacting. “He understands your anger, but requests you disperse the rabble. If you don’t, I will be forced to muster the city guard around them. Manyare speaking treasonous slanders against the king. He is worried things could get out of control.”

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