Page 83 of Savagely Mated

“Are they alive?”

“The mistake all of you made was in running. Only the guilty head for the hills. We didn’t have to monitor the city. All we had to do was monitor the road leading into the wilds. But you and your mates are arrogant and you thought you could run,” he says, smiling broadly at me with that grin that is so wide and so toothy that even I, a predator, recognize the predator in him. He’s completely human through and through, and that does not make him any less dangerous.

“There is no running from the cardinal. Let me be clear, Darcy. Kings come, and kings go—but one thing remains the same.”

He spreads his hands and his grin somehow becomes even wider.

“And that is me.”

I swallow and nod again. I really do not know what to say. I know there are no excuses he would accept, and I am very afraid of the consequences for all of us. Guilt and fright both assail me, making my brain move far too slowly.

“You see, whoever sits on the throne is little more than a puppet. Do you understand me, Darcy? You’re being very quiet. It’s not like you. From what I have gathered, you are rather mouthy.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“The previous king enjoyed collecting female shifters and breeding them. It was a strategy doomed to eventually fail for one reason or another. You were not the first woman to try to kill him. The guy could not go into his harem alone for fear of being set upon by a pack of furious female shifters. You were the first to succeed.”

“What are you going to do to me?” I ask the question hoarsely. I just want to know. I’ve given up in some way. I suppose I could try to run, but I know that the Cardinal’s Guard would have anticipated that. I’m not going to pull the same trick twice.

“The king is dead,” the cardinal smiles. “Long live the king.”

“So his heir is going to be crowned, and I’m…”

“I hope you’re sharper than this when you’re not afraid,” he says. “The king is dead. Slain. There are two main means of succession…” He pauses and gives me a sharp look. “You were not paying attention in your classes, if you attended them at all. That would not be tolerated in my school, but the King’s Guard has always been a den of rough idiots.”

I let the insult go. What choice do I have. I don’t care anyway.

“There is lineage,” he says. “A king dies or abdicates, and a son or daughter takes his place. Or, there is the other kind of succession. The act of the usurper. A king is killed, and the killer takes the throne. You, in other words, Darcy.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You performed the perfect coup and then ran away. You’ve been brought back to finish what you started.”

“You’re not going to kill me?”

“My dear, I am going to crown you.”

I am shocked and confused. “But why?”

He laughs.

“This will entertain the citizenry for years to come. As I said, the king is a figurehead. You are likely to be less of a problem than he was in many ways. Besides, you’ve earned it. And I believe in people getting what they deserve.”

I try to imagine being king. It doesn’t feel real. If anything, it feels outright insane.

“People are going to freak out.”

“Yes. They will. You just appeared city-wide taking down criminals a day or so ago, and soon you will be riding that wave of popularity all the way to the throne. You’ve done very well for yourself, Darcy, very well indeed. It’s a true rags to riches story, and it will play well for the populace.”

He wants me to be a puppet. I find that I do not mind that terribly much, especially as it means I get to stay alive.

“I am sorry, about your guard,” I say. “I didn’t actually mean to kill him. I panicked when the fighting started and I…”

“Don’t apologize. A cardinal’s guard who falls to a barely trained king’s guard is not worth the fabric his cloak is made of.”

“To be fair, I am quite well trained.”

“You are quite good with a blade, yes, but I expect my guard to be better. After all, they need to protect the most important person in Eclipse.”

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