Page 65 of A Court of Ash and Midnight
“We heard you received a challenge last night,” she asks, with all the casualness of asking me how my tea tastes, rather than stating that someone is trying to kill me.
Considering the ridiculousness of her question, I take a sip of my tea, making a show of savoring it, before answering her question with a mock smile. “Why yes, I did receive a challenge from someone who wishes me dead. It will take place tomorrow at sunset.”
Kildari lets out a deep-throated laugh. “I like this one. She looks death in the face, and she is not afraid.”
“There is only one thing to do with people who want you dead, girl,” Quelan adds. “Kill them first.”
His brother laughs again, and he adds his own chuckle to it, shooting me a look that sends a finger of dread down my spine.
I’ve met people from outside of Aureon in port cities before, usually seafaring merchants who travel to and fro the lands beyond. Sometimes humans, sometimes fae. But I’ve never met anyone who looked like these two. Wherever they’ve come from, I have a feeling it’s much farther than any place I’ve even seen on a map.
“So, do you have a strategy for the fight, Embyr?” my grandmothers asks, lifting a grape from her plate and placing it into her mouth.
“I’m working on one,” I respond. If they’re going to be hedgy about answering where their guests are from, two can play at that game.
She opens her mouth like she’s going to press, but the servants save me, returning with plates piled high with meat and potatoes and dark, crusty rolls of bread with butter. Kildari and Quelan shove aside their fruit and set into the meat like they haven’t eaten in a year.
“You’ve sparred with this man before, yes, at Shadow’s Keep?” Cillian asks. “So, you know all his moves.”
Yeah, all the ones where I end up face down in the dirt. “Yes, I’m quite familiar with his tactics. Of course, he’s familiar with mine as well.”
My grandmother levels her gaze to mine. “Did you spar much with magic at Shadow’s Keep?” She asks it innocently enough, but there’s an intensity in her tone that is not missed.
“Everyone practices magic at Shadow’s Keep.” It’s as close to the truth as I can get. Everyone that actually belongs at Shadow’sKeepdoespractice magic. I’m not about to admit that I’ve only just begun wielding mine. Julian told her I lost my memories, so she no doubt suspects I don’t know how to use my magic… and is trying to figure out how terrible a mistake they made bringing me here.
Well, she couldn’t have thought after running from her for nearly a decade that I’d show up like a good little soldier and defend House Harkyn with my life and my honor. And now these strange men from some far-off land are here? What exactly is everyone playing at?
My grandfather turns to our guests. “Embyr will make your long voyage worth it.” He hooks me in a cold look from across the table. “And there are many other fine women here of marrying age.”
Horror washes through me as the obvious answer falls right in my lap. They couldn’t possibly…
“She would make a fine fourth wife,” Kildari says, shooting me a wicked grin. “Beautiful and deadly. Just how I like them.”
“I don’t even have a third wife yet,” Quelan adds. “I may have to fight you for this one, brother.”
My grandmother laughs as I shoot Cillian a mortified look across the table.
“Like I said, plenty to go around,” my grandfather says with a chuckle.
“I am not marryinganyone,” I growl, my shock wearing off and fury pulsing through my veins. My gaze sweeps back and forth between my grandparents. “Is this why you brought me here? To sell me off to some cutthroats from across the sea?”
My grandmother straightens in her chair. “How dare you speak that way, you ungrateful child…”
I stand, spilling over my tea as I do. “I am not a child. And I donotfollow orders from you.”
“Oh, this one hasfire!” Kildari laughs.
Spinning, I stalk toward the front of the tent, but two of the guards block my way. Heat pulses behind my eyes, and it feels like my blood is literally boiling. I’m not sure what they see there, but their mouths fall open and they stagger out of the way, letting me pass.
I know I can’t go back to my tent because they’ll just send more guards after me. Or worse, Kildari or Quelan will come for me themselves, seeing as how they find my disobedience enticing. And I can’t go find Daemon because he can’t be seen with me. This whole valley is filled with people who want me dead. Except…
I stride down the main path between the tents, gaze panning left and right until I see the banner for Shadow’s Keep, two swords crossing inside a crown. It’s a black tent, large but not as big as some of the others. No one is guarding the entrance. I stop at the flaps that lead inside, pausing awkwardly. It’s not as if one can knock on a tent.
I clear my throat. “Um, Professor Julian? Are you there?”
I hear a sound inside, something clinking, perhaps a wineglass or a potion bottle. A few moments later, one flap of the tent is opened, and Julian stands there, blinking into the sun like an owl.
“Embyr! Come inside, come inside.”
