Page 99 of Forged By Heart and Claws
Ember and I would take the groom’s side.
Finbar’s men would attack after Colm finished his speech but before he could crown himself king, so long as it didn't look like he was going to execute Vad first. While that attack washappening, both my group and Thalen’s would rush the dais, free Vad, and then get him to safety and treatment.
It was a strategic plan, but no plan ever went perfectly. And Colm had proved time and again that he didn’t fight fair.
Still, it was our best shot.
I rose, forcing strength into my spine. “All right. Let’s move.”
My group and Thalen’s traveled together until we reached the split in the tunnels. The air grew colder as we advanced, the scent of blood and iron thickening with every step.
Thalen pulled me aside just before we parted ways. “At the hallway past the statues, turn right after the broken alcove. Groom’s entrance is the second arch. Repeat it.”
And I did twice, knowing that we couldn’t afford to get lost.
He nodded. “Good. See you at the dais.” He turned and disappeared into the shadows with Rhielle, Veralt, and Myantha close behind. Myantha cast one last look over her shoulder before following.
Ember and I continued down the right passage. The corridor narrowed, and the air smelled of rust and rot. Bile rose in my throat.
Ember’s nostrils flared. “It reeks,” she whispered grimly.
“What do you smell?” I asked.
“Aside from a lot of corpses, it smells like smoky wolves.” Ember looked behind us. Her breath hissed through her teeth.
“Shadow wolves. They’re all over the place.” I cradled a lamp in my right hand. Despite its heat, it couldn’t warm me. “They’re like our wolves but bigger, with very strong jaws, and their fur looks like it’s made of smoke.”
We moved quickly, making the necessary turns into narrow passages lined with blood-soaked rugs and torn paintings. Not long ago, Vad and I had been racing through here with our friends, desperate to escape. My heart clenched.
Soon. You’ll be with him again soon.
But the closer we got to the Ceremonial Hall, the more my skin prickled.
We reached the final hallway leading to the groom’s preparation room. The outer door had been ripped off, its hinges twisted and mangled. Scraps of artwork and broken frames had been shoved to the sides. Inside, the room was just as we’d left it, except the barricade had been pushed over and the furniture smashed and splintered, like someone had torn through it in a rage.
Colm’s voice filtered through the door, muffled but unmistakable.
Ember dropped to her knees and pulled her lockpicks from her boot. I pressed my ear to the door, tensing as I listened, one eye fixed on the doorway behind us.
Colm’s voice sent prickles of dread down my spine. “The kings and queens of our realm have proven themselves unfaithful and incapable of leading. Why have multiple rulers when their interests so often conflict with one another? Multiple crowns only bring division.”
Dread coiled in my stomach. The darkness beyond the lamp’s soft halo felt suffocating.
Ember slid the pick and lever in, the golden lamplight making her copper hair glow like fire. She bit the tip of her tongue as she focused. The pick and lever clinked ever so faintly. “There,” she whispered.
I seized the handle and opened the door.
The Ceremonial Hall had been cleared of debris, and in its place, a far more horrifying display had taken shape.
Knee-high blackwood shelves now lined the back wall near the twin thrones. Upon them sat dozens of severed heads of men and women, their faces frozen in agony, dried blood crusting the wood and marble. I spotted Ceana’s pale face front and center, her vacant eyes wide open.
But not Vad’s. I released a choked breath, even as Ember gasped softly beside me.
Where is he?
Surely Colm wouldn’t waste the opportunity to make a spectacle of him.
Eight wingless helmeted guards stood behind Colm, each clad in full plate and holding spears, their attention locked forward. Colm wore long black and silver robes and had his silver hair bound back, as usual. Calla Lily stood beside him in a feathered blush-pink gown, her hands folded demurely in her lap.
