Page 74 of Court of Vipers (The Lady of Innislee)

Another wail rose from the tunnels outside. This one was different, though—it was higher, keening, almost an imitation of the howling wind that had given the mountains their name. Riona straightened, recognizing the voice.

Dig!

“Wind madness,” the taller guard breathed, pulling his sword from its sheath. Riona was taken aback by the strange weapon. The long blade was made of a rich black metal that shone like obsidian and seemed to swallow the light around it—the same metal that hung at her collarbone.

Eudorite.

“Rennox!” someone shouted, and the word sent a wave of terror down Riona’s spine. “All men to the northern tunnels! Grab your blackblades and get to the northern tunnels!”

“Southern! They’re coming from the southern, too!”

“—half to the storerooms, half to the tunnels!” another voice cried, overlapping with all the others. In the chaos, Riona could hear the pounding of heavy footfalls, the ringing of blades, and the bloodcurdling screams of the dying. “A dozen Rennox! Remember, men: kill a dozen Rennox and earn your freedom!”

Lies. All to keep them from lying down and letting the Rennox slaughter them.She had never heard of anyone being able to kill a Rennox. No one even knew how they werealivein the first place. How could one kill a creature of living stone?

The guards shifted their weight from foot to foot, clearly disturbed by the cries, but they didn’t leave their posts. Riona suspected they were more than happy to stand watch and avoid the fight. While they were distracted, she shifted, trying to slip her hands free of the rope. She only succeeded in shredding her skin on the rough fibers.

I willnotdie here!

The sounds of fighting drew nearer. Would the Rennox reach them? She struggled more, tearing her wrists raw. Pain shot through the torn flesh. She was too far from the desk to try and reach something with which to free herself, so she had to hope that the knots would give way before her wrists did.

“Check over there! We have to find her!”

Riona froze, recognizing the voice.How—?

Before she could even finish the thought, Auberon burst into the cavern, wild-eyed and breathing hard. He reacted with incredible speed, pivoting and jamming his sword through the gut of the stocky guard before the man could even cry out. The miner staggered and fell, blood pouring from the hole in his stomach. Auberon pulled his blade out and turned just as the other guard drove his sword toward the prince’s chest. The other man was larger, but Auberon had been trained by the finest swordsmen in Erduria. He deflected the guard’s blow and then cleaved the man’s head from his shoulders.

Riona flinched as itthumpedto the ground.

Auberon turned to her. Blood was splattered across his face and body, and his knuckles were white around the grip of a eudorite sword.

“Riona,” he gasped.

In a heartbeat, he was behind her, slicing through the rope at her wrists. It hit the ground with a softwhump, and the rope around her chest and arms followed. Then he swung the sword down on the chains binding her ankles, and the blade sheared through the iron as if it were twine.Once eudorite blades are forged, they will retain their form until the end of time,she recalled her mother saying.The sharpest blade cannot scratch it. The hardest stone cannot blunt it.

Auberon dropped to his knees before her and gently cupped her face in his hands, running his fingers over the bump by her temple, the gash in her cheek. His touch was so light, she was half-convinced that he was merely a figment of her imagination. She reached up and brushed a strand of hair from his brow, afraid that the movement would break the spell. “Are you truly here?”

A tender, crooked smile tugged at one corner of his lips. “Did you really think I wouldn’t come for you,aramati?” he whispered, devastation in his beautiful gray-blue eyes. As he took in her raw, bloody wrists and swollen cheek, his features twisted in fury. “Where is the overseer? I’m going to tear him limb from limb for what he’s done.”

Riona gripped his wrist. “Leave him to the Rennox. I want to go home,” she said, her voice breaking on the last word.

Auberon leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. She heard him let out a quiet, shuddering breath as his thumb traced the curve of her cheek, holding her as if he couldn’t bear to let go. “I’m going to get you home,aramati. I promise.”

He took her hand and helped her to her feet. Pain rushed through her ribcage and down her bruised spine, but she forced a brave face as she stood. “The overseer—he has your dagger. I’m so sorry.”

“You think I care about that? Daggers—even heirlooms—can be replaced. You, my lady, are not quite so expendable.”

“With that, I wholeheartedly agree,” the overseer said as he strode into the cavern. He glanced at the bodies of the guards, his gaze lingering on the severed head before meeting Auberon’s glare. He raised his sword, which Riona now saw was outfitted with a blade of shining eudorite. “Looks like her knight in shining armor has come to save the day.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Auberon stalked forward, but before he could take more than two steps, the overseer’s chest erupted in a spray of blood and gore. Riona lifted a hand to cover her face. When she lowered it, her heart stopped at the sight of the crude eudorite spearhead protruding from the man’s sternum.

The overseer staggered, gaping down at the spear in horror. A crimson stain spread across his fine doublet as he slumped to his knees, then fell face-first to the ground beside the bodies of the guards. The shaft of the spear stuck straight out from his back. It quivered once, twice, as he sucked in two wet, shallow breaths, and then fell still.

Riona moved to Auberon’s side in a daze, staring at the weapon. She found the prince’s free hand and laced her fingers through his. “The Rennox,” she whispered.

Just as she said it, a man—no, acreature—ducked through the archway. It was stooped to keep from hitting its elongated, humanoid head on the ceiling of the cavern, but Riona could tell that it was easily more than eight feet tall. Its body appeared to be made of the same gray stone as the walls around it, struck through with veins of eudorite ore, yet it moved with as much grace and dexterity as a human. The creature set one foot on the overseer’s back and pulled the spear out of the corpse. Its onyx eyes locked on them, and it lifted the spear, the point dripping blood as the Rennox fixed it on Auberon’s heart.

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