Page 161 of House of Embers
Chapter Fifty-Seven
The Forum
His shadows swept away from him as they landed in the sand to a chorus of gasps. “Always love a good entrance.”
Kerrigan barely suppressed a laugh. This was not a laughing matter. And yet…
The dragon tournament arena had been hastily reconstructed over the months since Bastian’s coup d’état. The once-grand arena still looked as if someone had cleaved the space in half. Bits of mortar and some creative earthwork couldn’t cover what Bastian had done when he had seized power.
Even with all the new seating, the place was only about a third full. Typically a forum brought in the entire city of Kinkadia and a show of force from all the houses. Everyone wanted an excuse to speak their mind to the Society, even if Fae were the only ones to get a voice.
The humans and half-Fae still came to listen to the problems of the day. It was a good excuse to drink and feast. It helped that it usually aligned with the last days of fall, when no one reasonable traveled up north—except perhaps dragons, and even they had limits with the weather. The only winter travel after this was for Geivhrea.
Which meant that if their forces didn’t accomplish their mission, the next chance would be with the spring thaw.
“Did we miss the party?” Kerrigan asked as everyone in the forum turned their eyes to the intruders. “I do love a good faerie punch. The red kind is my favorite, but I’m not picky.”
Screams rang up from the audience as members scrambled away from the intruders. The line of Fae waiting to speak with the council about their concerns scattered like ants in an overturned anthill. Kerrigan had no intention of hurting these simpering sycophants, but they certainly didn’t know that.
Her eyes were only for Bastian, who sat clearly at the head of the erected platform at the end of the arena, not a hundred feet away from where she and Fordham stood. The twenty additional council members were arranged around him. She knew all their names, who had been added to replace Helly after her murder, who among them were seated for power or fear or shame. Only Alura did she truly believe felt regret for what had happened. The rest would pay. They would all pay for what they had done.
But first, Bastian.
“No punch then, I guess,” Kerrigan said as she stepped forward.
Her walking toward the council broke the spell on the arena floor. Guards rushed them, drawing swords and magic. Most guards weren’t incredibly proficient with magic, but a quick assessment of the dozen who approached her proved that they were probably the best of the lot. These were Red Masks in guard uniforms.
Fordham shot her a grin. “Ready?”
“My favorite part.”
She might not have been at a hundred percent, but as soon as she’d stepped into the arena, her nerves had settled. The what-ifs cleared. The planning was over. There was only the here and now. No more waiting. Just the fight that she’d stepped into. And from here on out, there was only forward.
The first guard came at her with such poor form that she didn’t even feel bad when she cut him down like a scythe through a wheat field. Fordham was at her back, hacking at guards with the ease of a practiced soldier. It was almost unfair to the guards, but they had made their choice. Whether because of their beliefs or their duty, this was who they had stood behind.
Kerrigan kept waiting for Society members to join in. For someone with real power to try to stop them. But no one did. The council members stood from their seats until they were ordered to sit again, but no one else came forward.
That was when she took another look at the crowd. No black robes. Therewereno other Society members in the arena. Which meant…
“He has all the dragons in reserve,” Kerrigan said as she slid the crystal blade through the gut of another guard.
Fordham elbowed one in the face and then kicked the next Fae’s feet out from under him. “Just guards in the arena. Why?”
“Aerial assault,” she said.
“Society members can voice their opinion at the forum too.”
They could, but they weren’t. That wasn’t what this was for. This was a trap.
She’d known they were walking into it, and that didn’t surprise her. Bastian wanted her and Fordham here while he had the Society dragons and riders engaged with her forces. She just hoped that he hadn’t been expecting the lack of bonds. That was their greatest strength right now.
“Good for us. Bad for our allies,” she said.
Guards would always be easier than a contingent of battle-hardened Society members. Dragons had chosen them for their power, which meant any one Society member was worth a dozen guards. Add their dragons in, and it would be a bloodbath. She just had to trust in her advance that they could handle the dragons with their own.
Kerrigan met the next guard, who was easily a foot and a half taller than her. Her eyes widened in alarm. Fordham was otherwise engaged, or else he probably would have taken on the brute.
Luckily Kerrigan had fought against people this size back in Domara. Constantine had drilled into her that her size was an asset and not just a liability. It had been the same way in the Dragon Ring, back when Dozan was king of the Wastes. Her size made people underestimate her.
