Page 33 of Songs of Retribution

She curled her hands into fists, looked him up and down once more, and turned towards the hall. "May the gods hold your soul, Orman Kuninkaan." She stormed out of the prison, and Orman watched until long after she'd left.

A rush of anxiety drained away from me, leaving me tired. "I suppose we can't count on support from the Kuninkaan family."

Orman snuffed and returned to leaning back on the bars, his eyes falling into the shadows. I could see them, though, in a way I knew would have been impossible when I was a human. Emotions warred across them, like a typhoon ripping up sea water. "Kuninkaan ain't a family name, mate. It's the title given to any elven royal."

I bolted up. "She called you Kuninkaan."

Orman raised his face slowly, the same cruel smile I'd seen on him earlier spreading his lips wide. "It's not my name anymore, but it once was."

"What? Orman are you… Orman, you're a prince or something?"

He chuckled. "Nah. I ain't nothing more than a good fighter and deeply magical. My parents died at sea when I was a child, stopping raiders. When the school realized my talents, they had me sent to the academy. A Kuninkaan family adopted me informally. I was Kuninkaan but also not. My goal was to protect the royal families’ interests."

"But something happened?" I gestured to the hall. "She seemed pretty upset." Orman winced, and I lifted my hands as if to show him I had no weapons on me, physical or emotional. "You don't have to tell me, and, either way you know I won't judge what you had to do to survive. I've been there."

Orman gave me a nod and looked over his shoulder, as if Kirsi with her muscled arms and fierce anger might return. "She's Sigurdur's daughter."

The man he'd crossed.

Everything he said tumbled through my mind, and my lips parted with a pop. "When you asked me earlier if I'd ever taken something I wasn't supposed to and gotten caught?" He nodded, his eyes sharp. "It was someone, for you, wasn't it? You didn't steal something, you got involved with a being you shouldn't have?"

Orman winced and looked back at the hall again, staring like he might will Kirsi to return. He shrugged. "Like I told you, I was Kuninkaan in name only. I was supposed to guard the royals’ interests, not touch them, not…"

He broke off, but from the crunch of his face, the flash over his eyes, I knew how it would finish.

Not fall in love with them.

Saints. Orman had mentioned none of this, including the fact that he'd left some princess or royal behind when he'd run. "Why did you leave?" I asked.

"Sigurdur said he’d kill me when he discovered us." Orman winced. "That wouldn't have caused me to go. Believe it or not, I was once younger and more arrogant than I am now." He offered me a half-hearted smile which I returned. "But he threatened her life."

"He threatened to kill his daughter?"

"She isn't just his daughter; she's his perillinen, the next to take his chair in the neuvosto. It's hard to explain, Neia. You didn't grow up here, but elves are sharper than their blades." He tapped two fingers to his temple. "Discipline and honor are everything. Giving way to emotions is neither of those."

I walked over beside him and leaned on the bars, letting my shoulders rest on his arm. "I don't think it would be dishonorable for someone to choose you, Orman."

He looked down at me, intensity flashing in his eyes before it washed away and returned to a more familiar sparkle of humor. "That's only because you believe in marrying up, as I told you earlier."

I elbowed him. "That's what I get for saying something nice to you."

He grinned at me, his expression softer. "I appreciate it, Neia."

I bobbed my head. I guessed we were waiting for this trial to see what charges they brought against Orman, if it led to his execution, how I'd manage to get him out of that situation if so, and if he got his message to the elf leaders. Oh, saints.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

LIRA

I stumbled through the rain.A vine cut my ankle and caused me to tumble. My hands hit the ground with a smack, and I flinched at the pain that seared through my bones. I'd spent the entire night running. Guards had flooded out the palace as thick as the trees in the forest when I escaped. Twice I'd nearly been caught.

Exhaustion slipped down me. I'd sloughed off whatever good the siren healer had done with my frantic escape. If guards were out searching for me as heavily as I'd seen, that meant the humans in Landre would know my father was looking for me. I needed to make it to Sai and across the border, but I’d gotten hopelessly lost in the dark. The clouds left me with nothing to navigate by.

Now the sky had lightened to a charcoal gray color, dim blue illuminating the woods I'd tumbled through. Ahead, there was a clearing with a few small buildings. I trembled as I grasped the damp bark of a tree and stared out at it. Desperately I wished to knock on a door and beg the residents for mercy and a warm place to rest. However, I couldn't risk revealing myself. These people were, if not loyal, at least afraid of King Carrington.

I didn't know if word of me had reached whatever small farm this was, but I couldn't take the chance. I licked my lips and ran a hand slowly down the tree trunk.

Reid. I tapped into the magic, unsure if Lennox was even awake and would hear me.

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