Chapter Six
Whist moved closeruntil his arm brushed mine. I looked over at him and he searched my eyes. For what, I wasn’t certain. I offered a small smile, and it seemed to help him. His shoulders relaxed the slightest bit.
The sea of purple uniforms parted as the assassins circled us and escorted us towards the palace. Saber, Sky, and Whist kept me in the center, so close it made it hard to walk.
The palace loomed before us, large and fancy, built with shimmering white stone, gleaming pillars and columns made a forbidding entrance.
Sky sighed as the doors opened for us. “I guess it would’ve been too much to ask to let us bathe first?”
“Afraid so, pretty eyes. His Majesty demanded your presence as soon as you arrived. He has a lot of questions for you. Especially about the dead royal guards you left at a safe house he’d never heard about.”
Whist narrowed his eyes on the beautiful assassin. “Since you and Jarod were the only ones that knew about it, perhaps he should blame you for the dead guards.”
Mara laughed. “You knew where our loyalties lied when you told us.”
“Last time we’re doing you a favor.”
“Unfortunately, I believe that’s probably true.” She sounded regretful.
Inside the palace was even more opulent. The king really seemed to like purple and gold. There were hardly any other colors. Everything was carved stone and plush purple velvet and glittering gold. It was lovely, but wildly excessive. My parents worked and starved themselves to death and the royals lived like this?
They led us through a long hallway filled with portraits to a set of intricately carved doors. A hand trailed up my spine, but I didn’t look to see which one it was. I was too busy staring at the doors, barely able to breathe. My chest tightened, like I was already being yanked away from my kindreds.
I never thought I would stand before the king. I never wanted to. And if I did, I had planned to spit at his feet. But if I tried it, it could get my guys killed, so I had to play nice. Which was turning the pool of dread into a stone making my steps heavy and slow.
The doors swept open, and we stepped inside the throne room. It wasn’t only the king waiting for us. It was the entire royal family. The queen, the crown princess, and her two kindred souls.
A line of royal guards spread out around them, eying us like they couldn’t wait to begin stabbing and shooting us with their bows. If we were so dangerous why did the whole family come to watch?
The king gestured for us to approach and the assassins nudged us forward, stopping us close enough to to have a conversation, but not close enough for me to spit on any of them. There wasn’t a hint of saliva in my mouth anyway. There was something wrong with me, my body felt like I was struck by lightning, I couldn’t stop buzzing.
The king glared down at us from the dais. “My three best assassins. The three I’ve done so much for and paid so well. You would repay me with treason?”
Whist took one step forward and inclined his head. “It was not treason, Your Majesty. It was merely an impossible mission.”
The king’s brows shot high. “Oh? How so?”
“We discovered Rhapsody was our kindred right before we carried out your orders, Your Majesty.”
The king sat back in his throne, unable to hide his dismay or his surprise. “I see. That would make it a bit difficult. And you’re certain she belongs to all three of you?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. And we belong to her.”
“What are the chances? And of course you couldn’t kill her or you’d have killed yourself. Not to mention, it’s against our law to kill your kindred. This is certainly a mess. One I didn’t want back here. It was supposed to be cleaned up without so much fuss. Now, what do I do with the four of you? I doubt you would continue to serve me so loyally if I had your kindred executed, but I can’t let her get away with what she’s done.”
The princess sat forward in her throne. “Father, she hasn’t broken any laws. It’s why you sent them in the first place. If you execute her and them as well, you could make a martyr out of her.”
“Who would know? I have no worries that the people in this room would spread vile rumors about their king. And soon, what she’s been doing will in fact be illegal. We can’t have any trash off the street try to brew an uprising against us. We have enough to deal with in keeping our borders safe.”
He was gripped with power and madness. I couldn’t hide the disgust on my face and I didn’t bother trying. He wasn’t going to pardon any of us. For whatever reason, he wanted to make a spectacle of it.
“Father, I do not think it would be a good idea. Executing three of your best assassins just because of who their kindred is seems needlessly cruel. Especially since she isn’t actually a criminal. We’ve lost soldiers and spent a lot of time and money on someone who hasn’t broken the law. Perhaps there’s another option.”
“You are not yet Queen, Indigo. And what do you suggest? We give her a job? Lock her in the dungeons and let her kindreds visit her once a week?”
“No. I thought we could give her a chance to see we aren’t the enemies she thinks we are. You can show her mercy.”
Ah yes. Mercy. For not breaking the law. For speaking truths about those who believed they could do no wrong.
At least the Princess seemed like she wasn’t a complete spoiled fool. Too bad her father appeared to be in excellent physical health.
A door opened on the side of the massive room, and a beautiful man sauntered inside, his blond hair gleaming, a lazy smile on his handsome face. “You started without me, Father?” It was the prince.
He turned his head and caught my eye and all the air sucked out of the room. I couldn’t breathe and my body flushed with heat and tightened. What was going on? It was impossible to look away.
A blinding smile spread across his face and he leapt towards us. Before anyone could say a word or stop him, he swept me into his arms and pressed a kiss to my lips. The pain and tension fled, something inside me locked into place.
It broke whatever spell I was caught in and I jerked back, forcing him to drop and release me.
The king was on his feet and screaming. “What is the meaning of this? Have you lost your mind, boy?”
The prince turned back to his father. “She’s my kindred. I’ve finally found her.”