Page 101 of Queen of the Night
“Vera.” Ikar’s voice stops me in my tracks.
I turn back, hope springing up inside me at the same time as a rush of nerves as I wonder if this is the moment we’ll be able to talk.
“May we come in and talk for a moment?” I don’t miss thewein his question, and I sigh. His expression is all business as he awaits my response.
I nod. I figured they’d want to know all the nitty-gritty details sooner rather than later. I resign myself to recounting the chill tale as the three men enter after me, crowding into my cramped room.
Ikar eyes a small chair by the wall warily before he carefully settles his large frame into it. Seeing that it holds his weight, he relaxes against the back with his legs sprawled wide. “Can you tell us what happened?”
I take a seat on the edge of the bed, leaving a somewhat tiny stool for Darvy to take. Rhosse stays standing, leaning against the wall near the door. Everyone appears weary, but they’re alert. I resist the urge to fidget—it’s uncomfortable with the three of them staring at me so intently.
“What do you want to know?” Just thinking about the last week has goosebumps rising along my skin as I remember the chill of gloam and Renton’s cold eyes on me.
“Everything,” Ikar says.
My mind races—I don’t know where to start.
He seems to sense the overwhelm that washes over me and offers me a place to begin. “Who’s the leader?”
I can answer that. “A man named Renton—apparently, a long-lost uncle of yours. He said your grandfather was Ricard, his twin.”
“It’s as we assumed, then.” He looks between Rhosse and Darvy.
“They knocked me out, and I woke up in a house made of gloam. I spent most of my time there locked in my room with Tatania?—”
“Tatania?” Rhosse asks.
I nod. “She’s my… friend. He still has her captive.”
“Go on,” Ikar urges.
“Renton believes he’s the rightful heir to the throne, and told me he’s been waiting over three hundred years for lucent to weaken enough for them to return and battle for it.”
“What else did he tell you?” Ikar’s gaze has darkened, and I hesitate to share the rest.
That he wanted to marry me.“That gloam isn’t bad.”
“And?”
That I would be worshipped.“That he wouldn’t kill all your people.”
“That’s mighty kind of him,” Ikar growls.
“Why did he captureyouwhen he had the high king in his hands?” Rhosse speaks from the wall where he leans.
Suspicion oozes in the room, but I’m not spilling all my deepest secrets in front of a crowd. I look at Ikar again, and he seems to sense my discomfort because he changes the subject while giving me a look that promises we’ll be talking later. I swallow. It’s what I want, but that doesn’t mean the thought of it isn’t terrifying. I still don’t know how to tell him.
Darvy speaks next. “Did he say when he plans to attack?”
I think back carefully. “No, but I don’t think it’ll be long. You saw his army… his beasts.”
I look around the room at their sober expressions. It’s not a good sign.
“Did he hurt you?” Darvy glances at my torn boot.
I shake my head. “A deathstalker claw tore my boot, is all.” I stretch it out in front of me, inspecting the once-beautiful leather with a frown. “But Tatania is still there…” Unless she happened to escape after I did.
“We can’t go back for her right now,” Rhosse says, with an apologetic note in his voice. “But hopefully we can defeat Renton soon, and she’ll be free.”
