Page 49 of Fall of the Ember Throne (Crown and Crest 3)

The woman begins to cry. “It’s not his fault. I sent him—it was me, not him.”

Camellia assesses the situation, looking amused. “Interesting. And you are?”

“I’m Lady Ophelia of the family Tilmanai.”

Her husband appears at her side, his face ashen in the dim light. “What’s going on?”

Camellia ignores the lord. “And this boy…is he your son?”

“No!” the woman cries. “He’s just a young man I paid. He didn’t even want to do it!”

Camellia turns back to the shadow rogue, kindling her magic in the palm of her hand. “That’s fortunate. If you were her child, it would be painful to witness her death.”

Suddenly the woman lets out a bloodcurdling scream, and she falls onto the deck. Her husband falls to her side as she writhes, begging Camellia for mercy. The young man rips away from Dalvin and Bendon, dropping to his knees beside the woman who is so obviously his mother.

A few moments later, she goes limp.

“Toss her over the side,” Camellia says to Bendon. “And kill the boy and his father.”

I move forward to intervene, but Dalvin steps up next to me, pressing his dagger to my side. “You’re no match for me with that injury, Henrik.”

I turn to glare at him, a heartbeat away from attacking.

He grins. “And if you were to cause trouble, Brielle would most certainly die.”

It’s a low threat, but it turns me into the princess’s marionette every time.

I don’t watch as the bodies are tossed over the side of the ship, but my muscles tighten, and I hold back the urge to be sick.

Around me, elves cry and murmur.

“I’m going to retire for the night,” Camellia announces to no one in particular. Before she goes, she turns back to me with a knowing smile. “Thank you for saving me, Henrik.”

I hold out just long enough for her to leave, and then I wretch over the side of the ship.

* * *

I hopeto be arrested as soon as we near the waters outside Dulane, and I’m disappointed when we aren’t. But knowing the power Camellia wields, Lawrence would be callous to risk so many High Vale lives like that. As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t think he would.

I look at Brielle, glad she’s with us but wondering if it would have been safer for her to remain with Audra in Revalane. She stands at the prow of the ship, letting the breeze blow her hair back.

“Are you happy to be home?” she asks when she realizes I’ve joined her.

“Ask me again in a few days.”

I have no idea what Camellia has planned. She wisely hasn’t told me. As far as I know, this is simply a power move to make Lawrence squirm.

Or it might be another way to break me. Perhaps we are here just so I can witness Clover and Lawrence’s wedding. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me.

My sister gives me a soft smile. “It will be all right.”

She is far more optimistic than I am, especially after the events of a few nights ago. Thankfully, she was in her quarters and didn’t watch Camellia murder the family.

Because I don’t want her to worry, I nod.

“This visit must be painful for you,” she whispers. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine.”

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