Page 43 of Of Blood and Fire
“She doesn’tneedthe authority,” Damon cut in. “Aside from the fact she is a princess and the only surviving direct descendant of the Silva bloodline, she is fully within her right to protect herself by whatever means necessary when attacked.”
“She ishiswife. He has conjugal?—”
“You really should have checked the church registry, Father, before you devised your plans for rape. As to where he and Makki are…” Damon shrugged. “Somewhere in the badlands, making their way back to Zephrine.”
Aric’s fists briefly clenched, though his expression and voice remained calm. Cool.Dangerous.
“You were warned, Damon, about what would happen if you did not play your part. And now, thanks to your actions here today, your mother and siblings will pay the price and be forever banished to the prison isle.” His smile was brief and savage. “There is, I’m told, a decided lack of women there, so their presence will be most welcome.”
Damon made a low sound in the back of his throat, then quickly closed the distance between them, one hand gripping his sword, the other clenched.
Aric didn’t move. “Touch me, and they will die a very ugly death.”
Damon didn’t answer, didn’t stop. Aric’s eyebrows rose, but he remained in place. When little more than several yards separated them, he raised his voice and called to his guards.
I turned and, as the door opened and two men rushed in, corralled them both in a white-hot net of fire, pressing it againstthe stone on either side of the door but keeping it well away from anything flammable—including flesh.
“Get out and shut the door,” I growled. “Or I’ll burn your souls to Vahree’s plains and back.”
The two guards—who were barely even visible through my fiery net—hesitated, then quickly did as bid. As the soft click of the lock falling back into place echoed, I turned.
Damon had pushed his father back against the wall and was now holding him in place via the hand he’d wrapped around his parent’s neck.
“You will do no harm to my sisters or fuck my mother ever again.” Though his voice was low and even, fury radiated from every pore of his being. He shoved his face inches from Aric’s and added, “They are beyond your reach, safe from your?—”
The rest was cut off as Aric produced a knife from the back of his pants and stabbed hard at Damon’s stomach. My heart leapt, as did flames to my fingertips, but Damon didn’t move or make any attempt to avoid the blade. Then I saw why. The blade’s sharp and deadly tip simply slid along the front of his gut, an inch away from clothing and flesh, then rolled off his hip.
“Do you think,” Damon said, voice low and deadly, “that I am fool enough to come here unprotected when I’m well aware of the lengths you will go to to erase a problem?”
“This treachery will be remembered, Damon,” Aric growled, “and my revenge will be had, whether in this decade or the next.”
“Hurt my husband, me, any offspring we may have, or indeed my cousin and his family,” I said, tone sharp, “and my drakkons will come a-calling.”
“What the fuck is going on here?” a familiar voice said behind me.
I spun around. Garran stood in the reopened doorway, barely visible through my fiery web. I immediately released itand smiled sweetly. “Why, nothing more than a little family discussion, cousin.”
His gaze narrowed. But then, he was very familiar with that tone and knew it meant trouble. “It would seem to be a ratherenergeticdiscussion, given one man holds a knife and the other has his hand wrapped around his counterpart’s throat. I take it the man belonging to said hand is the real husband, not the fake?”
“Indeed.”
“And the reason you’re both in this room, armed to the teeth?”
“Aric’s heir tried to consummate his supposed marriage to Bryn,” Damon growled. “Unfortunately, neither he nor Aric thought to check the church records first. It was Damon Tor who married Bryn, not Damon Velez, and I am well within my rights to protect my wife from assault. The only reason he is not dead is my vow not to shed blood unnecessarily.”
“Ah.” It might have been a single word and softly said, but it conveyed a whole lot of nuance to someone who knew Garran as well as I did. Aric would pay for this treachery. “And if he is not dead, then where might he be? Not still in Bryn’s suite, I take it?”
“No. He is currently making his way back to Zephrine on foot.”
“Really?” Garran said, surprise running through his voice. “And how was this feat managed, given I’ve no reports of him leaving?”
“I’m a blood witch,” Damon said. “When we were researching spells to give fire to drakkons, we found one for distance slipping. It comes with usage restrictions that make it both dangerous and impractical for everyday use, but it nulled the immediate threat he represented to Bryn and yourself.”
He hadn’t eased his grip on his father’s throat, but he’d now positioned his body between us and Aric. While it was unlikelyAric would be so foolish as to throw the blade he still held at either of us, tonight had shown just how far he was willing to go to achieve his goals.
“I suspect said spell was used to do more than transport your brother out of here, but that is a story you can tell me over a good flagon of ale. As for you, King Aric, I believe a revisit of the trade agreements once this war has been won is in order.” Garran’s even tone and cool expression was such an echo of my father’s that I found myself blinking back tears. They might not be related by blood, but Garran had learned the craft of kingship well. “In the meantime, you will be confined to your quarters, and your men removed to the military quarters. In the morning, you will all be escorted out of Esan so you can return to your ship and your fortress.”
“This is not a good way to start a relationship with a needed ally when Esan’s defenses have yet?—”
