Chapter 37 Trew #2
Kerralyn seemed oblivious to the undercurrents as she leaned forward to gather the dice.
I kept watching, a cold feeling in my gut growing stronger.
Maddox had gone quiet, and he no longer participated in the game or the banter.
His attention remained solely on Isi. When she laughed at something Derren said, Maddox’s jaw tightened.
When she leaned over to say something to Lexie, his hand clenched on the table.
The serving girl returned, this time carrying a bottle instead of a pitcher. Something special, from the way she presented it with a flourish. Maddox caught her attention with a gesture, and when she leaned close, he said something in her ear. She nodded, smiled, and moved away.
She returned with clean cups and began pouring the new wine. Rich red, probably expensive. Maybe he was going to finally let this go with Isi.
He reached into his pocket as the girl moved around the table, her back to him as she filled Derren’s cup. His fingers twitched around a tiny vial as he held it on his lap. After carefully removing the stopper, he slid the vial beneath his palm.
He reached forward with the other hand and gathered the dice before tossing them. They tumbled across the table, one flying off the other side, two landing in Isi’s lap.
She frowned and collected them.
While she was distracted, he sent his hand over her wine, pouring from the vial into her cup. His hand darted back, and he placed the vial back in his pocket.
Fuck, no.
Watch, I sent to Gavelle, yanking myself back, centering myself in me with a sharp jolt.
Tipping my head back, I bellowed.
In an instant, I was on my feet and across the room, ripping the door open and flinging myself out into the hall. As I moved, I watched through the cinderhawk’s eyes.
Maddox said something to Isi, and she studied him for a moment before speaking. Still frowning, she placed the dice on the table. Derren had already collected the one from the floor.
Maddox lifted his mug and waved it toward the others, urging them to do the same.
His voice rose enough Gavelle could hear.
“I ordered something special. I…” He shook his head, and I was sure the look of mourning on his face wasn’t faked.
He’d loved his brother. “To friendship. I hope we can put the past behind us.”
No. No!
The corridors blurred as I ran, taking the stairs three at a time, my boots thundering on the stone. Guards jumped out of my way, their faces full of alarm as their king tore through the castle like a man possessed.
“That sounds more than welcome to me.” Derren lifted his mug and tapped Maddox’s. Kerralyn and Lexie did the same.
Isi stared at Maddox before bringing her cup toward her mouth.
Go, get inside, I snarled to Gavelle, and he sprang off the windowsill and flew toward the door.
Faster. Please. Stop her.
He fluttered around the door until it opened, and he could fly into the room and dart toward Isi…
…who was lowering her now-empty cup back onto the table.
I sent Gavelle into Maddox’s face, knocking the mockery away.
“Bird. Bird!” Maddox flailed his arms, trying to hit the cinderhawk.
Home, I barked, and as the cinderhawk soared toward the open front door.
Let her be all right. Let me be in time. Let me—
Guards leaped to open the front doors of the castle as I surged toward them. If they hadn’t, I would’ve blasted them away with magic and tore through the fragments before they’d hit the ground.
The inn’s main door exploded inward from my magic, the planks splintering like kindling. Every conversation in the common room stopped dead as I strode inside, power crackling around me.
The air in the room changed, the way it always did before a storm hit the coast. People leaned away from me, their eyes wide, feeling the promise in my magic. I made no effort to hide my fury. Anyone standing between me and her would not be on their feet for long.
Isi had slumped in her chair, her face as pale as parchment, her breathing shallow and labored. Lexie leaned toward her, one hand pressed to her forehead, her eyes flaring with panic.
For a heartbeat, I couldn’t move. My mind refused to acknowledge the sight of her head hanging at an unnatural angle, her lips parted, her breathing ragged.
“She collapsed,” Lexie was telling the innkeeper, her voice tight with fear. “One moment she was fine, and then—”
“It’s horrible,” Maddox said, sounding and looking bored. “Did she eat something at dinner that disagreed with her?”
Rage flooded my system. Power crackled around me, my magic responding to the emotion, and each piece of glass in the room—windows, bottles, lamps—sang a high, crystalline note of warning.
Every soul inside this inn knew that if they came between me and her, they’d be dead before they hit the ground.
Maddox’s gaze found mine across the room, and his slick smile faltered, panic taking its place.
As I slammed my way to their corner, he leaned over Isi and yanked another vial from his pocket, flipping off the stopper and dumping it into her mouth.
“Antidote,” he said with a shrill note to his voice. “It was a joke!”
Reeling away from her, he raced toward the back of the building.
I whipped out magic, slamming a bolt into his back. He barked out a cry and staggered forward, smacking into the wall, before falling to the floor. Lifting him, I flung him against the ceiling. Again. Only then releasing him to drop onto the hard planks. He groaned but did not rise.
“Bind him,” I snarled. “Take him to my guards.”
Within seconds, I was scooping Isi up into my arms. Her head lolled against my shoulder, her skin too pale and cold. But her heart still beat, weak, but steady.
She lived, and I’d destroy the very fates themselves to keep her this way.
I ran toward the entrance.
Lexie’s gaze followed Isi. “King Trewyn—”
“Get back to the castle.”
They scrambled to obey, though I barely registered their movement. All my attention remained on the woman in my arms, on the way her lashes cast shadows on her cheeks, and on the barely visible rise and fall of her chest.
I’d carried wounded soldiers from battlefields. I’d held dying friends and even a few fallen enemies.
My father.
My mother.
I’d never felt anything like the terror that gripped me now as I rushed toward the castle.
The journey passed in a haze of single-minded purpose. I took the most direct route to the healers’ wing, passing staff who wheeled out of the way, some pressing their bodies against the stone walls.
I must look ready to rip off someone’s head—because I was. They universally bowed, saying absolutely nothing.
I bent close enough that my lips brushed the curve of her ear, so only she could hear.
“Don’t leave me, Isi,” I whispered in her ear. “Minx. You are not allowed to leave me.”
Inside the ward, Healer Meren took one look at Isi and directed me to place her on the nearest bed.
“Some sort of poison,” I barked. “She recently drank it and received an antidote.”
“Any idea what poison?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
With a nod, she held her palm a wisp above Isi’s face, frowning as she used magic to analyze the toxin. Her face cleared. “Bloodbane.” Her gaze met mine. “You said she received the antidote?”
“Supposedly.”
“I’ll give her my own to be sure.” She hurried to a cabinet and returned with a vial similar to the one Maddox had held, carefully trickling the contents into Isi’s mouth.
Isi thankfully swallowed, though she didn’t wake or otherwise move.
I hovered at the bedside, flexing and releasing my hands, struggling not to reach for her, watching every move the healer made.
“Bloodbane’s nasty stuff.” Meren glanced up at me. “But it’s not usually fatal, especially if the person receives the antidote soon. I’ve added healing magic that’ll help her body get rid of what’s left.” Her serious gaze met mine. “Whoever poisoned her wanted her sick, not dead.”
The distinction didn’t matter. Anyone who’d dared make her suffer had already signed their name in my book. And I always collected.
Maddox had followed her to the inn. He’d pretended friendship. Then he’d sat beside her and watched her drink his poison, waiting for her to collapse before offering the antidote, playing a sick game.
My magic surged, and the lamps flickered.
“I believe she’ll recover fully.” Meren’s gaze shot to the torches before she directed it back at me.
“When will she wake?”
“I hope soon.” Her brow furrowed. “You’re sure that’s all she was given?”
“I truly don’t know.”
“Hmm.” She placed her hands over Isi and closed her eyes, sending out more of her own significant power. There was no better healer in the court than Meren, and I was grateful she was here to help. “I don’t feel anything else. I’ll add extra healing power just in case.”
Finally, her hands dropped. Creases filled her face. That and the slump of her shoulders showed how drained she was.
“I must lay down for a bit, but I’ll send someone to watch over her.” She glided her fingers across Isi’s forehead, leaning close to speak by Isi’s ear. “Rest. Let the magic work.” Her gaze sought mine. “You can leave now, King Trewyn. We’ll take good care of her.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Not until she wakes.” And probably not after she woke and tried to force me away. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” Meren hesitated, then added quietly, “Who—”
“I’ll handle it,” I said.
“Very well.” Meren looked between us before nodding. “I won’t go far.” She walked across the room and entered the one beyond.
Another healer entered the ward and walked over to stand on the other side of the bed. “I’ll sit with her.”
“Thank you.” I shook my head. “I’m staying.”
“I’m a shout away, then.”
“I appreciate it.”
He also left.
Though there were other beds within the ward, they remained empty. It was just us and the raw night ahead.
Sinking into the chair beside Isi’s bed, I took her hand and squeezed it. I brushed a strand of hair from her face.
She was so still. Too still. This woman always held some tension, a coiled energy that spoke of her readiness to spring into action at any time. Now she lay as motionless as carved marble, her breathing so shallow I could barely see the rise and fall of her chest.
I stood and carefully slid my arms under her shoulders and knees, lifting her. She stirred as I tugged her against my chest, her head settling under my chin.
I lowered myself back into the chair with her cradled in my lap.
She fit there as though she belonged, her breath warm on the hollow of my throat, her hair spilling over my arm, soft and golden. I tucked a blanket over her, holding her close.
“You look far too fragile like this, Minx,” I said, my voice rough. “It doesn’t suit you.”
I shifted her nearer, enough that her temple rested over my heart. “Hear that?” I whispered. “It’s still beating, so yours is not allowed to stop.” My voice came out stripped down to bone.
She didn’t answer, but I spoke to her anyway. “You should be smirking at me right now. Arguing. Threatening to smack me for holding you like you belong with me always. That’s who you are. And I…” My jaw flexed. “I’ve no right to want you this much, but fates, I do.”
Her lashes fluttered, though I doubted she could hear me.
I traced my thumb across her hip. “You think I’m the threat in this castle, and maybe you’re right. I am to anyone who tries to hurt you.”
I sensed Gavelle’s concern and told him she’d be alright.
She’d better be alright.
I couldn’t live if she wasn’t.
“I saw what Maddox did.” I kept my voice quiet, not meant for anyone but her. “The way he looked at you as if your pain might buy him back what he’d lost.” My magic stirred, but I kept it banked. “That debt is mine now, and I always collect.”
I rested my chin on the top of her head. “Sleep, Isi. Heal. When you open your eyes, I want you to see me first. I want you to know that no one will ever touch you like that again.”
Her breath evened, deepened, and I let mine match hers. The rest of the castle could burn, the night could stretch on until the sun bled over the towers. None of it mattered but her.
“Maddox thinks he’s clever,” I whispered. “But clever men forget that kings play the long game. And I never lose.”
He’d soon understand the cost of what he’d done.
I’d never sworn an oath without a witness before. But here in the quiet, with her nestled in my arms, I gave her one she’d never hear.
I will end him.
And I will do it in a way that makes the whole realm remember why they should fear the wrath of the King of Syllavar Court.