Chapter 23
Should the summoned Champion fail in their duty, the faithful have options.
— WHAT MAKES A CHAMPION OF ORDER
HART
Forest’s Edge had filled by the time we returned.
Given our aims, we deemed it worth the risk to enter.
Many humans in Kavios covered themselves well to avoid unwanted taking.
Ember traveled with a cloak through the city, using the hood to cover her golden-blond hair.
She kept it lifted in the tavern now. She wouldn’t stand out with the covering, and hopefully, it would buy us the time we needed.
The main room felt small with so many patrons. People stood between the tables in the center of the open space, drinking, mingling, and determining whom to invite to the alcoves.
While I hated that part of the tavern, it had become an odd comfort for humans in the city.
This was the one place in the kingdom where taking was within their control.
They chose whether to participate. That couldn’t truly be said of anywhere else in Kavios.
Ava had thrown out enough Blessed who broke the rules to make our position clear.
I hated it as much as it made sense that the alcoves were where Ember wanted to conduct the trial of lust. Her rambling explanation had caught me off guard.
Not that I had thought things were fixed between us, but I thought she’d acknowledged some of her feelings to herself when she showed her fear for me.
Yet her desire to use the alcoves—to keep a display of lust public so that it wouldn’t seem real—was like a knife to my chest.
The idea that we had to show or tell each other what drove our lust to break free of the goddesses’ game was bad enough. Wondering if she was only reluctantly picking this trial for tactical reasons was killing me, but it seemed best to let her lead with this one.
“Want something to eat? Or drink?” I asked as I cut a path toward the bar. Maybe a drink would get me out of my own head.
Ember shook her head. I knew she was disappointed that her plan for envy hadn’t worked, but I hadn’t even had an idea where to start.
Most of my envy started and ended imagining Ember with someone else.
It mingled with fear that when the curse was broken, she’d walk away from whatever lingered between us.
And we both knew something lingered.
Ava nodded at our approach. A stool opened beside the bar, and I kept it clear for Ember. She took note, but before she could sit, another body slammed into her.
“You’re here!”
I moved before I could think, pulling the person away from her and putting myself between Ember and her attacker. Too late, a nervous squeal and “Hart!” registered through the white noise that had overtaken my senses when I thought her in danger.
The person I held at arm’s length was one of Ember’s friends. Serena. Her eyes were wide with terror. The bar area quieted as patrons stopped to take notice of the altercation. “Fucking Chaos.”
“I think you can put her down, Hart,” Ember said. I could tell from her voice alone that she wasn’t upset. From what I knew of her interactions with her friends, she had probably been thrown by the abrupt physical contact as well. This city had trained her to expect the worst from such things.
I set Serena down with a nod and a quick apology and returned to my place beside Ember to order a drink.
Thankfully, the tavern was used to interesting activities.
The dull roar of animated conversation restarted almost immediately.
I winced, wondering how much attention we’d drawn to Ember—and how poor a job we’d done of hiding her, given her friend’s rapid approach.
They spoke quietly beside me. I couldn’t even be bothered to pretend to participate. Ember didn’t seem to need me. This city had me on edge, or maybe it was these trials.
I sighed, and Ava all but laughed at me from behind the bar. “Struggling, Hart?”
My returned smile was honest, if a little fraught with all the concerns I couldn’t keep at bay. “You have no idea.”
She nodded and gestured for me to lean toward her while she slid me an ale. “They’re meeting here, in the gambling room.”
As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t let this opportunity pass.
Ember had stiffened beside me, and the sour taste of lemons that I didn’t dare to hope I understood coated my tongue.
I searched the surrounding area but couldn’t determine what might have stoked it.
I wouldn’t ask. It never helped to push her.
She had to want to share whatever she felt.
The citrus taste strengthened, but she didn’t pull away from Serena or their hushed conversation.
I couldn’t leave Ember here.
“I’ll look after her,” Ava said.
If I could trust anyone with Ember’s safety, I guessed it was Ava. It wasn’t a true substitute for my paranoia, but it was my next best option. Still, with whatever was going on with Ember at the moment, I’d offer her the chance to join.
I told her I wouldn’t keep things from her. “Ember, there’s a meeting—”
She waved me off. “Go ahead, Hart. I’m fine.”
Had she heard more of my conversation with Ava than I thought?
I wanted to press further, but across the tavern, the door that led to the back room opened.
Evenings like this, that room was considered a high-stakes gambling den.
It kept our regular patrons out while other meetings were in progress.
Nicholas, one of the Feared, pushed through the door, and I knew they must be dispersing.
It had to be now, or I’d miss my chance.
I gave Ember’s too-straight posture another once over. Her arms were crossed over her chest, but she didn’t seem angry. Something sharper dusted the air between us. A spark she wouldn’t let ignite.
Nicholas headed toward an alcove. I was out of time.
With long strides, I reached him. My open palm met his chest before he could get too far from the door beside the stairs. “I think there’s one more item on tonight’s agenda.”
He froze. His dirty blond hair was longer than when I’d last seen him.
It fell from his face as he craned his neck, exposing the single gold hoop earring he still wore on the left side.
He was a head shorter than I was, but stocky.
As if he were trying not to stand out, his trousers were dark gray and his tunic black.
Like most humans, he wore his sleeves long, covering as much skin as possible.
“Hart. What are you doing here?”
“Miss me?” I walked him backward until he was up against the door he’d entered through. “You might want to open that. We’re going in.”
“They’re not in the best mood.”
I laughed. “Neither am I.”
He must have decided it would be faster to twist the knob, because the door opened slowly, and finally, he turned his back to me and re-entered the room.
Over a dozen of them were still there. They tended to leave one at a time, or through the alley. It wouldn’t do to have them all seen together—they were the Feared, after all.
“Hart.” Another man, Paul, noticed my entry immediately.
My name brought silence to the rest, and not because they believed I was the fabled Cursed King—though, as with the Storm, I was sure many now knew my identity.
Before the Blessing Ceremony, they, like Ember, had assumed I wielded adamas they couldn’t see.
Some had thought I communicated with the figure of myth, but in reality, I had a track record of meeting their goals and keeping the majority of them alive.
That had been enough. They had a healthy fear of me because they assumed I was Blessed and could take from them at any time.
I’d always found that ironic, but that—and owning the tavern where they met—was enough that they listened when I spoke.
“I’m back, and I need everyone to know that nothing has changed.”
Nicholas spoke. “Everything changed, Hart. You killed Soren.”
Something twisted in my chest, as if I’d stabbed myself there instead of stabbing Soren weeks ago. I regretted that it had come to that, but he’d left me no choice. “I’m here to ensure no one else meets his fate. The jeweler is not to be touched. No matter what you’re offered. Is that clear?”
A few nodded. Most looked away. I didn’t want to start with force, but Ember was on the other side of this door, barely hidden. I wouldn’t have them headed for her as soon as they left the room.
“I need better confirmation than that.” I folded my arms over my chest and widened my stance. I couldn’t wield, but they didn’t know that. To them, I’d always been a bit unpredictable.
“The king is offering a large reward for her,” Paul said. “And for you.” My glare was immediate, and Paul had the good sense to look ashamed. “Not that we’d ever do anything about it.”
“Soren said something similar. He said Vaddon’s offer was too good to pass up.
Let me make absolutely clear why you should.
” I stalked toward them, and panic flashed across each and every face.
A smirk curled my lip. This was more than their usual fear.
Word must have spread that I was the Cursed King, wielder of nightmares. Few knew the true limits of my magic.
Nicholas raised his hands in a gesture of peace as he watched me approach. “We hear you. The jeweler is yours. We won’t touch her.” He held the gazes of each member of the Feared until he received confirmation. He’d always been the reasonable one.
I nodded, mollified for now.
“What’s next, Hart? If it’s not the jeweler, what is it? We need to do something. Rodric started at unreasonable, and things have only escalated since the Blessing Ceremony.”