44. Raengar
“Did you know?” The question tasted like ash in Raengar’s mouth, so he swallowed it back with a mouthful of bourbon. He had been drinking a lot lately, enough that Tag had started making worried comments about it, but Raengar didn’t care. It was the only thing keeping him from jumping on his dragon and flying to the Northern Castle, breaking all of the Guardian’s fucking Laws, just to demand answers from her. Rorax. Why didn’t you tell me? Do you not trust me? They were only the beginning.
Out of the corner of his eye, Raengar saw Jia flinch.
She nodded, rubbing a hand down her arm nervously. “Yes. The whole unit knew. We were all there when she was marked.”
Something hot seared through Raengar’s chest, and he gritted his teeth. The grip on the glass got so tight the glass cracked. Betrayal, anger, disbelief . . . it was all there.
Raengar wished he could spit ice fire at Jia, and if it was anyone else and at any other time, he would have.
But Jia wasn’t whole. She looked even more haggard and fractured than Raengar felt. She’d lost weight while she had been at the castle, her eyes seemed to have sunk into her skull, and any light she might have had when she’d gotten married was completely absent. There wasn’t a shadow in her of anything besides desolation and ruin.
Raengar tossed back the rest of his drink then threw the glass against the wall so hard it shattered into tiny fragments. Jia flinched again, but he didn’t hesitate as he turned to her and jabbed a finger in her face. “Tell Rorax if she ever lies to me or hides anything like this again, I will lock her in the dungeon for so long she forgets what the sun looks like. And if you ever hide something like this again, I will have you executed for treason. Rorax’s actions put the whole fucking country at risk, the world if this all goes to hell because of her.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” Jia’s face fell.
Raengar stood there, grinding his teeth, breathing like a dragon. Jia needed to get out of his sight before he did something he truly regretted.
“Get out. Have Eshaal take you to Volla’s body.”
“Wait.” Jia ignored him and took one tiny step closer. “Is it true you fought a Minotaur in the woods?”
Raengar nodded. “But my testimony was not enough to prompt the Council of Houses into action.”
Jia reached into a bag at her side and fished out five vials. Two of them were full of hair, the other three were filled with blood. She stuck her hand out, offering them to him. “Take these. Kiniera said they needed to get to the University of Poison as soon as possible. They’re samples of our blood after we . . .” Jia’s voice broke, and she took a long settling breath before trying again. “They are samples of our blood after we were exposed to the blocker. Kiniera wants to know what it was, who made it, and who ordered it. She thinks the evidence will help convict the Alloy King in his trial. Maybe it will change the Council’s mind.”
Raengar’s eyes widened a fraction, and he took the vials very carefully from Jia’s hands. As angry as he was, this evidence was desperately needed. As it was, the trial against M??r hung by a thread.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
Jia nodded and turned to leave.
“Everything on Volla’s person is yours, as is everything in her apartment in Koppar. Sahana sent the marriage license to us after it was done. I’m sorry . . . for your loss. Volla was extraordinary, one of the best. Her pyre will be lit tonight at sundown, in the tradition of the House of Fire. You have until then to grieve on your own.”
Jia deflated, her shoulders stooped, and her head bowed low. “Thank you.”
She took a few more steps to the door before Raengar rasped, “Take care of Rorax, Jia. Get her through this. Please.”
Jia straightened and gave him a ghost of a soft smile over her shoulder. “Rorax is the toughest person I know, Your Grace. She will survive this.”
Gods above, with every cell in his body he prayed Jia was right. He couldn’t lose her.