Page 89 of Court of Vipers (The Lady of Innislee)

The Lady

“Auberon…”

His name slipped through her lips as she lay on the cold wooden stage, tremors wracking her body. Something warm and sticky coated her skin, pooling around her. Blood. She didn’t know how much of it had come from her or how much had come from the man she’d killed. Soon, it wouldn’t matter.

Footsteps thudded toward her. She didn’t have the strength to pry open her eyelids, but she knew who knelt beside her even before he spoke.

“Au—Auberon, I can’t…”

I can’t feel my fingers.

“Shhh.” His deep, warm voice wrapped around her. “It’s okay. I’m going to get you out of here.”

The world suddenly tilted, the floor falling out from under her, and pain shot through her chest. Auberon was carrying her, cradling her in his arms. Distantly, she registered the dagger he had given her slipping out of her grasp, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Riona, stay with me. I need you to open your eyes.”

“Mm-hmmm…”

“Riona, please. Open your eyes. Listen to my voice. Don’t you dare go to sleep, you understand me? Keep listening to me,aramati.”

You have such a beautiful voice,she tried to say, but the words tangled on her tongue.I never told you that.

Darkness lurked at the edge of her consciousness. The pain in her chest had begun to ease, ebbing and eddying with her weakening pulse.

Such a lovely, lovely voice…

“Open your eyes, Riona!” Auberon snapped, and then she heard him yell to someone nearby.

A door slammed. Reins cracked. Hooves clattered against cobblestone. He’d found them a carriage.

Auberon held her close, warming her with the heat of his body. When he pressed down on the wound in her chest, agony momentarily pierced the fog around her mind. Her eyes flew open. Auberon’s face was inches from hers, terror scrawled across his features.

“I’m sorry,aramati. I’m so sorry. I’m going to get help. I’m going to fix this,” he said in a jumble, the words tripping over each other. “Listen to my voice. Riona,open your damn eyes!”

She tried. By the Creator, she tried.

But the haze swept over her mind once again, and darkness claimed her.

* * *

“Rijat du’omo, Iei sao. Rijat du’omo, Iei sao. Rijat du’omo, Iei sao.”

Riona slowly swam through the fog muddling her mind, vaguely aware that the person speaking wasn’t the one she had hoped to hear when—if—she awoke. She tried to pry open her eyes and found that her lids refused to obey.

“Rijat du’omo, Ieisao.”

Heat pulsed within her chest with each repetition of the strange words. It wasn’t anything like the white-hot flames that had ignited within her when the dagger pierced her chest. There was still pain, but a different kind—like the feeling of sitting too close to a hearth. The warmth grew incrementally, easing away the chill that had crept into her limbs.

“Please,” the voice whispered. “I’m doing everything I can, but I need you to fight, my lady. Stay with me.”

I’m still here,she thought faintly, the words slipping away before she could force her lips to part.

I’m still…

ChapterSixty-One

The Liar

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