Page 13 of A Promise of Peridot
“Could this be who I think it is?” boomed an arrogant male voice.
The soldiers parted slightly, and my breath nearly fled my lungs at the sight before me.
The honey-stone courtyard we were being held in led to an expanse of glittering white steps, smooth like abalone and almostblinding in the sunlight. Standing atop them was a lavish palace, different from the intimate, bohemian ranch of Siren’s Cove or the gothic, gloomy beauty of Shadowhold. No, this white-peaked spectacle built into the rocky cliffside was adorned with pearls and gold and rubies, each window and spire and turret glistening in the midday sun with clusters of jewels. The lively city of Azurine spread out around the palace before us, but I couldn’t appreciate its beauty. Not as I fought to keep my throat from splitting open against a blade.
Standing atop the white stone steps was a regal man with a square jaw and curled hair. Beside him stood a pinched woman with a permanent sneer, earlobes sagging under weighty rubies that hung past her shoulders. The royals were flanked by at least a dozen more of the sapphire-blue-clothed guards.
“King Broderick, what is the meaning of this?” Eryx sounded almost as insulted as he did afraid.
“Your Majesties.” Kane’s voice was calm somewhere in the crowd. “I think there’s been a simple misunderstanding.”
Despite my fury with the man, relief washed over me in hearing his cool, deep voice. Even at his most polite, that deadly power—that commanding, predatory intensity—carried out into the courtyard. I couldn’t see over the swath of soldiers, but I was sure no Citrine guard had laid a hand on him.
“No misunderstanding,” the king on the steps replied. “We recognize your crest, King Ravenwood. And the Provinces’.”
“Siren’s Cove has been sacked,” Kane said. “Burned to the ground by King Gareth of Amber and King Thales of Garnet.”
The shifting of the royals before us told me they either hadn’t known or didn’t much care.
“Please, let us discuss this in a more civilized manner,” Eryxcalled out. “This is wholly unnecessary. Our people here are refugees from battle. We mean your city no harm.”
“Not yet, at least,” Kane purred, and a chill broke out across my arms. I knew now what he could do. How easily he could massacre this entire group with his barbed, shadowed power.
The regal couple at the top of the marble stairs conferred silently. Agonizing moments passed in which I saw violence, bloodshed, guttural sobs... I strained to lay eyes on Leigh or Ryder, and felt the arms around my middle tighten. At best I was looking at another dungeon, more rope around my wrists, more suffering for those I loved, more—
In an instant the guards released all of us, and the blade at my throat was sheathed. I loosed a breath and rubbed at my neck before spotting the royals striding down those sprawling white steps toward us. They must have given their guards the all clear. I scanned through the crowd for my siblings until finally my eyes found a little disheveled blonde head of hair. I pushed through a sea of blue-clad men and reached for her.
“Are you all right?”
“Fine,” Leigh said, wrenching from my grip.
I glowered at the soldier beside her and only released his eyes when Leigh forcibly yanked me away. We shuffled through the throng until a warm, calloused hand encircled my arm and pulled me back.
“You’ll need to stay with us,” Kane said. “Ryder, can you take the little one?”
I looked up to see Ryder shove through blue armor and wet gray clothes. “Yeah, I got her. Go charm some royals.”
Since when were they so friendly? Kane hated Ryder.
I peeked down to Leigh. “I’ll be right behind you.”
My siblings, along with the rest of the ship’s passengers, were ushered around the wide bright steps and through a set of great stone doors wreathed in vines and peach wildflowers. Once they were safely inside, and my heart rate had slowed to a more manageable pace, Kane and I climbed the endless stairs behind Griffin, Amelia, and Eryx toward the royal family. I found a few grains of sand still lodged between my teeth, and spat discreetly onto the opalescent stone.
“Not very ladylike,” Kane murmured.
“Why don’t you find one of those guards with the pointy blades to bother?”
“So violent,” he hummed.
“What can I say? I learned from the best.”
“I think you’re plenty violent on your own,” Kane mused as we came to a halt. But something like irritation flicked across his eyes. “The numbskull with the sword at your neck did come close to losing his hand, though.”
Eryx bowed when he reached the royals, his pear-shaped body nearly toppling with the performative gesture. They only glared at us.
“King Broderick, Queen Isolde. You remember my daughter, Amelia; King Ravenwood’s commander, Griffin Bolt; and this is his healer, Lady Arwen.”
“Greetings,” the queen said to us all, lips pursed.
