Page 123 of What Fury Brings
She was so angry at him. Yes, because he’d lied, but even more so because he wasn’t his brother.
She couldn’t keep him, and that made her furious.
When Olerra reached the top of the wall, she looked out at Atalius’s troops. The king’s forces were larger than what she’d managed to put together on such short notice. But the Amarrans were stronger, and they had the home advantage. A fight would likely go their way, but they would take heavy losses.
Glenaerys and her mother stood twenty feet away along the wall. They’d no doubt come to watch Olerra fail and to get as far away from the southern gate as possible to claim innocence should they be found out.
Queen Lemya stood in the dead center above the main gate, andOlerra took her right side. Sanos, true to his word, kept pace with her. Ydra took his other side.
The army waiting beyond the gates carried torches. They flickered in the night, showing hints of Brutes in full body armor. At Olerra’s appearance, King Atalius separated from the majority of his forces, riding forward on his horse with a large retinue of personal guards surrounding him, all bearing shields. As though she would resort to firing an arrow at him. Tempting though that would be, it would only lead to war. And there was no honor in killing a monarch before they’d had a chance to parley.
Olerra took her whipblade from her side and wound the rope up her arm until the blade was grasped firmly in her hand. She put her arm around Sanos’s neck, letting the blade rest against his jugular.
“This is all a show for him. Play along, and we might pull this off.” She leaned forward to kiss his cheek.
She could see Atalius’s lip curl even from this distance. Olerra hid her smile.
It was impossible to forget the sheer size of the Brutish king, but Sanos had forgotten what the mere sight of his father did to him. A couple of months in Amarra without his father’s wrath had done that to him.
Now, seeing Atalius ride forward on his horse, Sanos remembered what it was to be afraid.
If he thought his father wouldn’t recognize him trussed up in Amarran clothes, beardless, and covered in makeup, he was very, very wrong.
The king’s eye cut toward him like a knife. It pierced his skin with disapproval. With hatred, even. Sanos could tell his father was trackinghis skin, mentally mapping out how he would beat him once he got him alone.
Or perhaps the king was plotting how he would make Sanos’s death look like an accident.
With Andrastus handed over to the Amarrans, his father had to be considering if Canus would make an acceptable king.
“Well, you made the trip,” Olerra called down to the king. “Hope the weather was good to you.”
The blade wasn’t exactly digging into Sanos’s neck, but he brushed it whenever he swallowed. He may have been taller than Olerra, but she had no problem angling him into the deadly position. He knew the chaste kiss from earlier had been for his father’s benefit, but his cheek still burned from the contact. He ached for her. Ached to make things right between them before he was handed off to his father. Almost as much as he wanted to throttle her for his current predicament.
“I’ve come for my son,” his father said.
“I don’t suppose my missive reached you on your travels here?” Olerra called down. Sanos was surprised that the queen did not speak. Why was Olerra handling negotiations? She may have been general, but Atalius was at the queen’s gates.
Glenaerys also seemed surprised by this.
“I received no missive,” Atalius said.
Olerra nodded as though expecting this. Sanos could feel the motion with how close she was. She was so careful, though, not to nick his skin.
“If you will recall,” Olerra said, “I said a son was the price of your life back in Shamire.”
Sanos didn’t know what she was talking about.
“I never agreed to that trade,” Atalius said.
“You also didn’t take the alternative, which was begging for your life, so I made the deal on your behalf.”
Olerra stroked a finger down Sanos’s cheek. It was masterful the way she managed to hold the blade still in the rest of her fingers while she did it.
“I will decimate your city if he isn’t returned in one piece,” Atalius threatened.
“Will you? And tell me, do you think you can take the city faster than I can slit his throat?”
She was putting on a show for Atalius, but Olerra couldn’t deny that touching Sanos was nice, too. She let her mouth hover above his ear. “Why do you have to smell so good when I’m so angry with you?” She leaned into his neck until her nose brushed his skin. No one else could hear the exchange with her low tone.
