Page 38 of Tales of a Deadly Devotion
Only I was their last mistake. They’d kept me too close. Let me see all their flaws and there was no escape for them. Not now.
‘This Council has been made aware of alarming allegations against yourself and your partner mage, Miss Woodrow. Lord Percy has stated—’
‘I think Lord Percy has forgotten, it washewho made illicit advances,’ I interrupted. ‘Heated comments I made relating to hisimpotencymight have upset him.’
I watched the white smoke dance, listening to the hissed outrage move through the mages as if we were in the company of snakes.
Gideon let out a choked sound that I could only imagine was a laugh he’d been surprised by.
They began to splutter, seats creaking. Trying to deflect from things they couldn’t discuss. Lies they couldn’t keep.
‘Speaking of breaches. You bring us to the next point ofcontention, Miss Woodrow.’ Grima flipped through his short stack of parchment before he pulled another free to read. ‘The removal of a serving fey without authorisation from this Council. An indentured maid has been removed from these premises.’
No.
A churning, inescapable fear burnt through me. Taking me back in an instant to the small creature I’d been. Begging and whimpering for mercy.
Master Hale surged forward, meaty palm on the desk with outrage. ‘Miss Darcy has been working with Miss Woodrow for—’
‘The maid signed her agreement to the Council halls, Master Hale. Not your private house. Nor Miss Woodrow’s who, I will remind you, is unable to ownproperty.’
Property.
Alma wasn’t their misplaced possession, nor their property.
‘The maid’s housing cost this Institute and she has not paid back the debt of it.’ Madame Bernard practically preened under my distress.
Alma never would be able to free herself. How could she when they didn’t pay her at all?
‘Miss Darcy’s debt to these halls has been paid by the Blackthorn accounts.’ Emrys’s voice didn’t sound his own.Too dark and tightly pressed with his anger. ‘It seems you’re behind with your records.’
My heart stuttered in my chest. Turning me foolishly towards him. The imposing form of him, just as he’d been the first time we’d stood before this Council.
His deadly stare focused on the Council who seemed to shift with unease under its might.
He’d paid for Alma’s freedom. When? Too many emotions ploughed through me. My heart pounding against my ribs.
Master Grima choked, rifling through his papers. ‘No agreement was made—’
‘You bound a child to an indenture and forged a guardian’s signature to make it so.’ Emrys’s furious gaze dragged over the bench, landing for a longer moment on Master Hale, who had gone quite pale. ‘Her boarding debts have been paid, so she is no longer your concern.’
Hale had never done that. No matter how close the Council had got to her. How many burns she’d acquired or abuse she’d endured from the maids. When exhaustion made her bones wary. He’d never once suggested it.
No matter how I’d begged in the end.
She’s safer with you, Katherine.No. He’d made her nothing but a chain to bolt me in place because Daunton had taught him one truth – I’d never leave her.
A strange hum began in the back of my skull as I sank further into my body. Allowing the sharpness of my magic to rise closer to the surface. A deadly calm settling over every inch of me. Reminding me of something this Council should never have forgotten – how deadly a Kysillian is when challenged.
‘Taelacor.’ I straightened my spine, ignoring how it pulled at the base of my back. The ache of the old wounds awakenedby everything I’d been forced to endure. The reminder of everything they’d allowed.
‘You dare invoke the—’ Master Grima began to stutter, only for Ainsworth to silence him with a raised hand.
Taelacor. Their saints’ word. An ancient demand for truth. To speak without interruption.
One they couldn’t challenge.
I’d allowed them to humiliate me in this very room, the sharpness of their words stinging more venomously than any lash.
