Page 98 of The King's Queen

Then she came, and for the first time, I feared for someone’s safety. Someone’s safety that was attached to mine. I had to be cautious for her sake, and slowly, my walls crumbled. She let me dream of a life other than this one. I was drawn to her, fire to fire, as if we had been cut from the same cloth. I realize with a sickening clench that perhaps we truly had been.

“Please.” The whisper leaves her lips in a soft breath. A plea.

Verosa will never allow me to leave her. She will hunt me with more fervor than she did Blaine. She will follow me to the ends of the earth to rectify whatever mistake she thinks has been made. She needs to believe I will be better without her, then she will be safe.

Then you don’t have to live with your sins. Weak. What did I warn you of?

That feminine voice I hadn’t heard in so long returns.

I force my countenance to stone.

“We should have stayed strangers.” I watch her face break, and for the first time in my life, I choose to run.

Vera’s screams pierce through my skin and imbeds itself within the caverns of my mind, echoing over and over to the point of madness as I leap from the balcony. I beg the darkness that cloaks me to mask the sounds of her bone-shattering screams. All the air is lost from my lungs, and I let my tears fall and wet my skin.

For the first time in months, I feel that void creeping back in where her light used to reside. Now I am nothing but an empty shell of darkness. The shadow has come home.

Chapter40

Verosa

“Again.” I huff through short puffs of air. My sword hands heavy at my side, my shoulders and arms burning with exertion. Torin only sighs and nods, sending another wave of soldiers my way. This time there are seven.

The first charges forward with a shout, his hollering voice piercing against my senses. I grimace as I easily deflect his blow then disarm him. If his combat strategy was to both alert me of his presence while rupturing my ear drum, then his mission was successful.

The next knights come in a team of three. I bare my teeth at the challenge and dig my heels into the sand of the training arena. The first one, a small blonde who slightly resembles Torin, makes a clean swipe for my knees. The blow is harder to block. I settle for leaping over the blade then smashing it to the ground on my descent. The knight cries out as the sword is pulled from his grip, and the other two attack simultaneously. One aims for my throat, the other my midsection. I leap back, slamming my heel on the hilt of the fallen sword and propel it into the air. Once the second weapon is in my hand, I engage both of the men, just now breaking a sweat.

The pair work well together, their blows synchronized and each aiming for a lethal point. They act like Kya and Derrín. The thought causes me to falter for just a moment, and one of their blows nicks my arm. The poor soldier looks ready to leap into the grave himself.

With a low growl, I set upon them both with unleashed fury until both lay on the ground, disarmed with a sword tip pointed at the base of their throats.

The remaining four soldiers lower their weapons and set off to run laps around the training grounds instead. In full armor. In the heat of the day. That was the alternative option offered to them this morning when I requested sparring partners.

I’m unsure of whether I should be worried that none of our soldiers can hold a torch to the way Kya fights. Most of these men have trained their whole lives in the palace and have seen battle, while I have only been training a few months with a mercenary and an assassin.

“Next.” My muscles scream for rest, but I refuse. I lift my sword again, prepared to face my next onslaught of attacks. Torin steps forward, lowering my blade from his face with one finger.

“That’s all for today, Vera. You’ve worn yourself out and-“

“I have not!”

“And,” he says with a pointed look, “I have no more knights to offer you. You thoroughly tore through them all.”

I frown when I feel that hollow sense of despair begin to resurface. I force myself to push it down and furrow my eyebrows.

“That’s all? We should have more than this.”

Torin’s face says it all. He knows, but he doesn’t have answers. Krycolis used to boast thousands of skilled knights, and our numbers have noticeably dwindled far too low. Our remaining knights are predominantly inexperienced, the only senior knight being Torin, if you can even call him that at twenty-two years of age.

“I’ve been getting reports from some outside sources.” My heart clenches. Rowan. He doesn’t even have to say it. “They’re finding some of our men. Dead.”

A chill rattles my bones despite the spring sun and the sweat slicking my skin. The question must be in my eyes because Torin shakes his head.He is not one of them. His dark roots are growing out, his blonde hair now scattered it the base with a rich brown color. He jokes about how maybe he will go red next and find Blaine just to see the shock on his face.

“They’re all orphans or have no one who loves them. No one to come looking for them.”

“Where are they finding them? We need to bury them, search for anyone.”

Torin shakes his head. “The king dismisses me. He says he has no proof, and since the reports are coming from Belam and Adil, there are very few nobles or high-ranking knights who give a damn.”

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