Page 23 of Rise of the Phoenix King (Crown and Crest 4)

Father squares his shoulders, his nostrils flaring. “Even if they did, I’m not at fault.”

“It doesn’t matterwho’sto blame!” I exclaim, losing my temper. Taking a calming breath, I continue, “We need to know how to fight the golems should it become necessary. Will you come with me to speak with the king, or must I have you arrested?”

Father glares at me, but he follows. Bartholomew walks behind us, unusually quiet. A web of tension is woven between my father and me, thick enough we could cut each cord with a blade.

Lawrence watches us approach when we enter the vault. “Roark. You’ve come.”

My father bows his head to the king, looking less than pleased to be here. I don’t think he realizes how fortunate he is that Lawrence chose to show him mercy and didn’t throw him in the dungeon on his return to Cabaranth.

“What can you tell us about this metal you’ve created?” Lawrence gestures to the golem. “Does it have any weaknesses?”

“Armor-wise, it’s similar to steel,” Father says, sneering at the abomination crafted with his creation. “At your sister’s command, I blended the talvernum with several elements to create a metal that retained its magic-carrying properties but was significantly stronger. Camellia also specified it must be a unique color so the High Vales wouldn’t recognize it, and I brightened the usually dull greenish-bronze hue to gold.”

“Did you teach the High Vale smiths how to smelt it while you were in Revalane?” Lawrence asks.

Father’s eyes narrow in the torchlight. “I did not.”

“They had access to a suit of armor Camellia commissioned for Augmirian,” I say to Lawrence. “I believe they studied it and discovered its secrets.”

“Which brings us back to the question of whotheyare.” He looks up when new voices exchange heated words with the guards just outside the vault entrance.

The king strides across the room to meet Audra, Ayan, and Lyredon, assuring the guards they are welcome.

When they join us, Ayan leans a hand against the crate. “It’s like you people don’t trust us.” He gives the golem a pointed look. “I have no idea why.”

“All right, elves,” Lawrence says, mostly to Audra, openly flirting with her just to ruffle her feathers. “Our weak human weapons have failed us. Tell me, how would you defeat a golem?”

“The only way to stop a mechanized creation from performing its task is to remove its energy source,” Audra says.

“And how would you go about getting past its defenses?”

Lyredon leans over the box. “May I?”

Though the king’s knights look uneasy with the High Vales’ presence, Lawrence nods, unconcerned.

Using magic to assist, the shadow rogue hauls the soldier out of the crate as if it weighs no more than a flesh-and-blood man. He then places it on the stone floor, creating an ominous clang that echoes throughout the space.

The Vallen soldier is more disconcerting out of the box. It’s easily seven feet tall, built like a sturdy giant, with a heavy cuirass to protect its inner workings.

Lyredon travels his hands over the golem until he finds a latch on the soldier’s side. The front half of the molded chest opens like a door to a safe, revealing the empty compartment designed for the energy crystal within.

“That’s an efficient method,” Ayan says flippantly. “Though it might be difficult to accomplish when it’s marching toward you, brandishing a war hammer.”

“Your cousin has a point,” Lawrence says to Audra. “How would you stop it in the heat of battle?”

“How wouldIstop it, or how would you stop it?”

The king smirks. “You first.”

“I’d either blast a hole in the chest plate with a white-hot orb of fire, or I’d send the lightning element at it to disrupt its enchantment.”

Lawrence nods, impressed. “And how wouldIstop it?”

Audra crosses her arms, frowning at her people’s creation.

“Well?” Lawrence prods.

She lifts her eyes to his face. “You wouldn’t.”

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