Page 108 of Thorns and Echoes

Dragging on her mask, the Queen lifted her head. She squeezed his hands as she rose to her feet. A smudge of dirt from her fingers stained his cheek. She held herself back from wiping it clean. “I began training to fight from the day I could walk. You are not afraid for me, you are afraid of yourself. I will allow it. For now.”

He frowned. Good. Anger might knock some sense into him.

She demanded, “Who put you here?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said in a curt tone. His eyes were on the dagger, watching it as one might a venomous snake.

She flung open the cell door. To the guards, she snapped, “Who put him here?!”

Alex dipped his chin and said, “The steward, my Queen.”

That’s what Maddy had meant. Of course. The steward saw a threat and dealt with it. She let out a humorless laugh, wondering if she should be grateful Castien wasn’t dead.

He was examining his ring, now. The dagger, he carefully set aside, but it was with relief that she watched him close his hand around the ring.

Rubbing against her leg, Ash padded into his cell. The wolf rested her head on his lap. A faint smile lifted his lips as he stroked her fur. She envied the creature.

Tossing the keys to Alex, she commanded, “Move him to the Queen’s Wing immediately.”

Castien raised his voice. “Leave me here, please. I’m a danger to everyone.”

“You go where I tell you to, Escort,” she snapped. Reining in her anger, she added, “The guards were not aware of the threat you presented. They are now. You will wear the dagger and the bracers. Do not make me put them on you.”

Don’t make me beg you.

Not waiting for a reply, she left the dungeons. Leaving his side was difficult, but she had already snapped at him once. The rage simmering beneath the surface was aimed at another man.

Chapter 36

Anais

“Chains, Vern. You put him in chains! Shall I have you whipped for disobeying–”

She cut herself off before she said something she would regret. In a calmer, colder tone, she said, “Chains and a dungeon cell are not what I commanded. Explain yourself, Steward.”

She paced the study as the crackling ice of practicality battled the roaring fires of rage. Vern had been waiting for her. Scrolls were piled on her desk, a few set to the side needing her attention. He had stood and moved in front of the desk as soon as she strode in.

He simply said, “I will always protect you, my Queen.”

She recalled the cell. Sufficient blankets, a practice blade, pen and paper. Castien had smelled like himself. Vern had not been cruel.

Heartless, harsh, and hardheaded, but not cruel.

“This is notprotection.” She stared into the flaming hearthfire. “You are as blind as he is if you believe that.”

“Since Octavius has made no progress on the trance, I disagree.”

Just as Jerome never disobeyed her, Vern rarely ever pushed her too far. He would stand in her way if he saw the need, but he knew very well when he could not change her mind. This time, he had misjudged.

Her eyes reflected the flames. “So you locked him in a cell. Does Octavius agree with your decision? Is a man who has been tortured and bound in chains for moons better off in chains for the rest of his life?”

“He was not being held in a cell when we arrived at Nadraken. His room was comfortable. He was allowed to walk the castle freely. He was allowed to handle weapons.”

Vern’s infuriatingly calm tone forced her to take a slow breath. Another. Her steward had not misjudged. He knew she would be furious, yet he had done it anyway.

She shifted on her heel to face him. “He has not been turned. How is that not clear to you yet?”

“When a person does not know their own mind, I do not trust anything they say or do.”