King’s Shadow (The Cursed Bonds #4)

Chapter 1

Roksana

Truso was beautiful in the winter. I was looking out through the window, hoping the gentle light of the moon would brighten my mood. Nothing, not even the serene, sparkling snow on the rooftops, eased the sense of dread building in my core since learning of M?ot’s invasion.

My workshop was my sanctuary. Here, I could escape the pressures of life. Still, the fae lamps surrounding me couldn’t banish the darkness lurking in my mind. I was safe while Rey was not. Behind this heavy wooden table, the shelves filled with books and experiments, nothing could harm me.

‘Roksana.’

The softly spoken word came from the door, and my sense of safety shattered like the vial that slipped from my grasp and broke on the floor.

‘Veles’ balls!’ I coughed, eyes tearing as the half-made poison filled the room with noxious fumes. Jagon’s dry tone, the voice that had scolded me countless times, was unmistakable. I just didn’t know why he was here.

With my hands still trembling, I grasped the cord to open the small vent above me, yanking it angrily to disperse the smoke. Tova’s inventive approach to alchemy’s pungent problems saved my blurring vision.

‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ I said, turning towards Jagon, grasping another vial of poison. He moved closer, carefully studying me, as if expecting an attack. Good. You’ve learned to be wary of me.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then again, but the anger in my veins refused to abate. The sad remains of the concoction I’d been making hissed and bubbled, scarring the tiles, but I wasn’t worried about the poison, not when real danger stood before me.

‘Jagon, I won’t ask again. Tell me what you want and get your sorry arse out of my house before I kill you.’ It wasn’t an empty threat. Not here, not in my sanctuary, and he knew it. Yet he’d come alone, and this, more than anything else, gave me pause.

My former master looked around the room, and the corner of his mouth twitched. ‘Impressive workshop, my dear. I can offer something so much better. Pack your essentials and make haste. We need to go.’

I snorted sourly, shaking my head. ‘Did the poisons you work with finally melt your brain? What in Svarog’s name makes you think I’d ever go with you?’

Jagon’s head snapped back towards me. His expression was as haughty as usual, his spine straight as if fused to a steel rod, but I noticed how haggard he looked.

His cheeks were hollow, his eyes bruised, and a deep frown seemed to be permanently etched on his forehead.

Then it struck me. He didn’t just look tired; he looked afraid.

He sighed in exasperation. ‘I’m trying to save your life. This isn’t a war Reynard can win, even with your help.’

‘Because you know all about the art of war.’ I shrugged, but the way he said it set off every warning bell in my head.

‘War, no, but I’ve seen what he’s up against. I saw the galleons in the South, while you don’t even know who the real enemy is, woman!’ He stepped closer, eyes boring into mine with a silent plea. ‘Whatever else you think, you’re still my apprentice, and I want you to survive.’

I stepped forward, face flushed in anger. After all those years of abuse, he wanted me to survive? Now? Then he’d better start spilling his secrets. ‘Tell me then, Master, what are you so afraid of? What is worse than a fractured court and a dwarven army?’

Jagon placed his hand on my cheek, and my mouth opened in shock. He’d never touched me like this, not with this softening expression, eyes resting on my lips. I shivered but held my tongue, trying to ignore the sour taste in my mouth.

‘Cocky as always, Roksana.’ He sighed, thumb stroking my cheek. ‘You think you know it all, simply because your friend stole some schemata, and your king has his army… What if I said there are traps all over the city? That M?ot’s mines are empty, and the real enemy isn’t who you think it is?’

‘What traps?’

‘Tut, tut, tut. Truso is beyond saving. I came for you. Only you.’ Jagon’s fingers tightened on my face. ‘We can start anew. I won’t even hold this fling with Reynard against you.’

Pure, unfiltered rage filled my mind at that statement, but the need to find out what he knew was stronger than my repulsion to his touch.

‘I already know about Tivala… but if you tell me everything, I can guarantee your safety. After all, we’re both assassins.

Everyone in the Brotherhood knows all dark deeds can be washed clean when you have something valuable to sell. ’

Jagon’s hand trembled. ‘Safety? Survival? Unless you know how to fight the Void and disable the Wey Gates, Dagome will never be safe. Not that you have the schemata to do that.’ His nostrils flared as he pulled me close to his chest, but I was more focused on his mention of the Wey Gates.

Has Tivala recruited the fae, or has he found a way to use the portal gates without them?

As far as I knew, the Care’tavos and Lumivitae fae were our allies.

‘Then help me. Help Dagome. You wanted to be the Grand Master. Prove to Boyan you can be trusted.’ I could have sworn I saw Jagon hesitate, but it was so brief I might have imagined it.

‘I have no time for your games,’ he said, his hand moving from my face to my arm. ‘Let’s go.’

‘No!’

He never saw it coming; even I was surprised by my reaction. The next thing I knew, my former master was staggering back, bleeding from a wound in his side. I looked down in shock and dropped the bloody paring knife I’d grabbed from my table by instinct.

‘You stupid bitch. I’m trying to save you from being burned at the stake!’ he said, blood dripping from between his fingers.

‘By forcing me to wear your leash? No thank you. I’d rather die than be near you.’ I fell silent as two men entered the workshop.

‘Sir, we need to go. Someone’s coming.’ They both stumbled to a halt, taking in the scene. ‘Do you want me to handle her?’

‘She’ll kill you if you try, fool. Let her rot here,’ Jagon said, stumbling as they slowly withdrew. My former master paused at the door. ‘One day, Roksana. One day, when your king is dead, and I’m the only one who can keep you safe, then you’ll come crawling back to me.’

‘Out!’ I shouted, throwing the vial I’d grabbed earlier. It smashed against the closed door, shattering into hundreds of shimmering shards. I was alone, the oppressive feeling that had haunted me earlier was gone, but now something I couldn’t identify had replaced it.

Calm the fuck down, Sana. My heart hammered against my rib cage, and I was shaking like a leaf. Just as my knees were about to give way, the sound of heavy hooves thundered on the cobblestones of my yard, focusing my erratic thoughts.

‘What in Perun’s, pox-infested… Can’t a woman have a moment to fall apart?’ I muttered, pulling myself together to face whichever idiot had decided visiting me in the dead of the night was a good idea.

‘Viper!’

Only one person used that nickname, and despite the urgency and need I could hear in his tone, something loosened in my chest. A sob escaped when I heard the deep, masculine baritone, and somehow, I could breathe again.

I rushed to the window, just in time to see a massive stallion rear back in my courtyard, the crash of its hooves easing my trembling.

Sat astride the fearsome beast was King Reynard, clad in gleaming armour, majestic and terrifyingly handsome.

His messy raven mane and lupine mask only added to his allure.

I wiped my hands on the apron I’d somehow removed, and rushed outside, only for him to jump down and take me into his arms, lifting me into the air.

‘Rey, I thought you left hours ago.’ My comment masked the tension lingering in my heart. However, when he covered my face with frenzied kisses, it melted away completely.

‘I was supposed to, but I couldn’t leave without seeing you. I should have kept you in the palace. At least then we could have been together.’

‘As if that would’ve worked.’ I grinned as he crushed me against his chest, lips brushing the side of my neck.

‘Why are you so tense? Are you still having nightmares?’ At my baffled expression, he smiled. ‘Ciesko told me. I may have been busy in the garrison, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t keeping an eye on my deadly little Viper. Not after what you went through.’

We’d spent the last week apart. After my ordeal in the Geas Chamber, Rey had rushed to the garrison, the preparations for war taking all his attention. I missed him, but the time apart allowed me to recover and reconcile everything I’d learned when the Geas Ceremony revealed my secrets.

Reynard had enough things to worry about without being burdened by my nightmares, and I’d always dealt with my problems myself.

He smiled as my finger trailed over his brow, the faint web of wrinkles smoothing at my gentle caress.

My wily king is exhausted. Has he slept at all since we parted? What prompted his sudden appearance?

I inhaled deeply, burying my head in the crook of his neck. Musk and lemongrass soothed my senses the way only Rey’s presence could. Yet I was unwilling to admit how much I needed this… needed him, even for a moment.

‘I’ll be fine. They’re just nightmares,’ I said with false bravado, shrugging my shoulders and wriggling for him to put me down, but Rey tightened his grip. ‘Come on, Kingling. You can’t lead an army carrying me around.’

His eyebrows shot up. ‘Wanna bet, sweet Viper?’

The clouds decided it was the perfect moment for snow, the sparkling flakes landing in Rey’s hair, giving it a magical glow. I brushed them away with a soft chuckle. ‘No, because you’d do it just to prove you can.’ I gestured to him to lower me to the ground, but he shook his head.

‘I don’t want to. Don’t tell me to let you go, Viper. You’re wounding my gentle, manly heart,’ he said, leaning into my touch, his stormy-grey eye closing. ‘I’m torn between taking you with me or locking you in the highest tower to keep you safe. Which should I choose?’