Page 151 of Thorns and Echoes

She licked his bottom lip and leaned slightly away. “Shut up.”

His half-lidded eyes darted back and forth between hers, desire clashing with duty. “Anais–”

She kissed him again, harder. His fingers spread on her lower back, and his groan sounded more like a growl. She tapped a claw to his lips when next they separated. “Shh. We'll be here all day if you don't close that pretty mouth.”

He licked his lips. His agile tongue was so very tempting. With a sigh, he shut his mouth.

She gave him a faint smile.

Her Escorts had rearranged themselves, surrounding them in a protective circle. The soldiers were removing Satryani's guards, and the lady herself still knelt right beside Castien.

The Queen stepped in front of the traitor. “Release her.”

Castien murmured the words.

The Commander of Shoni'i’s advice suddenly came to mind.Stop playing the game.Why Aurora had said that, she wasn't certain.

Playing the game meant letting Satryani live. Half the nobles deferred to the duchess. Their militia numbered in the thousands. Drantar couldn't afford a civil war.

Satryani gasped, her eyes flying wide and her head snapping up. Confusion was quickly replaced with fear. A glimpse of her surroundings caused her face to pale.

“My Queen, I…” The normally poised duchess floundered. “I think there's been a terrible misunderstanding.”

Anais raised a claw. She drew a dagger. She was glad Castien hadn't been forced to kill Satryani. He wasn't a killer. Not yet, not today, and hopefully not ever.

She was the monster, not him.

The lady shuffled backward, bumped into her chair, and startled. After a moment, she straightened her spine. “You can't kill me. You won't. You need me.”

The dagger spun slowly. “The punishment for leashing an Escort is dismemberment.”

Satryani closed a hand over her wrist as she eyed the dagger. “No one needs to know what happened here. He removed my claw! He has no authority–”

The Queen bent and snatched up the lady's wrist. “My Escorts have all the power of the crown. But if the missing claw bothers you so much, you won't mind if I take the rest of the hand.”

“Wait! I know how the potion is made! How to control the trance. Give me my life, and the trance will never affect you again.”

The sharp edge of her blade drew a red line across the back of Satryani's hand. “That sounds like a threat. The punishment for threatening the Queen is a long, slow, torturous death.”

The duchess hissed in pain. “The Nadraken girls know how to make the potion! They will spread the trance. You will never be rid of it if you don't listen to me!”

“I'll take that chance.”

The Queen twisted her blade, slicing between the bones of the lady's wrist. A single, clean, curved cut separated the arm from the hand.

“No!” Satryani screamed.

She should have been thankful that the Queen was precise.

The lady's hand dropped to the floor. Blood poured from the wound.

Satryani had minutes to live. A merciful death, after all. She didn't deserve it.

Satryani gaped at her arm.

The Queen wiped her blade on the stunned woman's dress. Streaks of red stained golden silk. “You should have known this day would come when you murdered my mother.”

The lady seemed stunned. “I… did what was necessary.”