Page 73 of A Vow of Embers

“I don’t think anyone will have to wait that long. Just because he’s married doesn’t mean the prince needs to commit himself to only one woman. I doubt she’s capable of satisfying him.”

Once she realized that I was there and could hear them, the second girl nudged the first and their entire group turned to look at me. None of them looked guilty or embarrassed. They were smug and self-satisfied. They wanted him, might have already had him, and didn’t care that I knew it.

Something angry and ugly flared to life inside me. How many of them had “warmed his bed” before I’d arrived? While he was kissing me and following me through the streets of Troas?

And why did I care?

The sound of steel hitting steel turned my attention back to the fight.

“Ignore them,” Io whispered to me, sounding indignant on my behalf. I wanted to but there were so many things that I was currently trying to ignore.

I had seen Alexandros fight once before—when he had slaughtered three pirates on theNikoswho had been trying to kidnap Quynh and me. That fight had been over in seconds.

This was something else entirely.

My heart raced as I watched them. I had never seen fighting like this, with the possible exception of Antiope taking on and slaying half a dozen men who had blasphemed and entered the temple grounds.

And as impressive as that had been, it wasn’t comparable to what I saw now. Alexandros and Thrax moved so fast that it was almost impossible to follow their swords. This was obviously a dance of blades that the two of them had done before, which was probably the only reason that Thrax managed to keep up with the prince.

There was such strength, such skill, such power on display that I found myself holding my breath. I hated them both but I was in awe.

Alexandros was magnificent—the way his body moved so confidently with so much finesse, as if his sword were another limb that he used without thinking. Each grunt he made caused my pulse to jump.

His movements were powerful, overwhelming, and I once again found myself mentally running down the list of reasons I hated him. I was interrupted when a story Maia had once told us suddenly entered my mind. It had been about two ancient giants who were locked in an eternal battle in the underworld, neither one ever able to beat the other. Sometimes their fight would cause the earth to quake, volcanoes to erupt.

This was what I was witnessing. Two incredibly powerful warriors who could cause the whole world to tremble with the might of their encounter.

It would be harder to kill Alexandros and Thrax than I’d imagined.

Then, in a blink of an eye, their sparring was finished. Thrax was out of breath, sweat pouring from his hairline, while the prince looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. He had a dagger to Thrax’s throat.

The dagger I’d given him as a wedding gift.

“Yield to me,” Alexandros said, and an image instantly formed in my mind from the dream I’d once had of him kneeling between my thighs, kissing his way up my leg, murmuring to me to yield to him.

I had to suck in a sharp breath to chase that memory away.

“I’ll yield,” Thrax said, “if you admit you cheated.”

The prince’s grin was feral. “I didn’t cheat. I used my special skill set.”

“And my special skill set has nothing to do with fighting,” Thrax responded, grinning at his brother while the rest of the phratry laughed.

“They’re so good at fighting,” I breathed.

Io nodded. “Rokh and Thrax both tried to challenge my brother for the throne. He was fourteen and they were sixteen. Bigger, more experienced. They had expected to easily defeat him but they didn’t. They swore their loyalty to him after and we made our own little family.” There was so much affection in her voice and I wondered why she was telling me. Did she think sharing happy memories of her brother would make me look at him differently?

“Is that Iolanthe?” A female voice sounded behind us and I turned to see Erisa approaching. She wore a crown even though she was no longer queen. As if she wanted people to view her in a specific way in her campaign for power.

Several women accompanied her as she made her way to stand in front of us.

“Stepmother,” Io acknowledged with a slight nod.

A look of displeasure rippled across Erisa’s face. “I would think that after all this time you would call me ‘Mother.’”

Io tensed beside me and her brother’s arrival saved her from having to respond. Thankfully he’d thrown a loose tunic on. The prince put his right arm around my shoulders and now I was the one tensing. I wanted to throw his arm off, shove him away from me.

I might have hated my husband, but I hated Erisa more. For abusing Io and trying to have her killed. I would play this game because I wouldn’t let this woman win.