Page 11 of A Crown of Tears and Treason (The Curse of Silver Secrets and Cruel Shadows #1)

Chapter

Eleven

EVIE

T he most important rule of surviving in an unknown location was getting your bearings. Safety and exit points, nooks to hide in, shortest paths to them, the most exposed spaces, any and all dangers.

A task made infinitely more difficult by the army of guards stomping after me everywhere I went. My skin crawled each time I went out. Or we went out, because I couldn’t leave my dingy cottage without three dozen escorts silently guarding me. People stared, and when I mustered up the courage to stare back or–skies above forbid–smile, they skittered away.

But today, I’d managed to evade the guards. I’d faked nausea and dashed into some thorny bushes that grabbed onto my dress and didn’t want to let go, but now I was quickly mapping out the most remote and shortest paths around my house. Nobody needed to know I’d studied them.

I saw the way the guards had watched me when I’d ventured to the outer wall, looking for any cracks that might help me climb in case I needed to run for my life. I’d found none–the black stones were as polished as the throne room floor, smoothed by time.

Right at the end of the main street, leading toward the palace and grand temple, each battling the other for the title of the most gilded, was a heavily embossed gateway spearing the walls. Massive trees bloomed purple and pink right next to it–but I was more interested in what was outside.

Beyond the jungle trees and vines, my ears picked up the bustle of a city, so very different than the quiet of the wilderness.

“That’s the Blood Brotherhood Capital,” Goose had said when I’d brought it up. “We live in the sacred Citadel, Phoenix Peak.”

Wonderful. “That’s an interesting name.”

“And fitting. It’s the heart of the Blood Brotherhood, reconstructed after the great fire. Where we have our most important temples, the palace, the sacred Archives, the secondary residences for the Brotherhood Elite members, and where we station the top tier of the prince’s army,” he’d said. “And very few are allowed inside these walls. It’s an honor.”

These walls meant there were more. The Capital must have been totally fortified, with different barriers depending on rank, like the strongholds in the fairytales.

That little nugget of information only made me want to explore even more. On my own. Incognito. Put on a good pair of pants, some sturdy boots, a dark coat, and simply roam .

"Oh, no, Your Grace," Goose had stammered when I’d asked him about opening the gates to the Capital. “We’ve been instructed to protect you. You can’t leave Phoenix Peak without being accompanied by the prince. Not before the wedding.”

Which either meant the city wasn’t safe for me or they thought it wasn’t safe from me. Why, Goose hadn’t been able to tell me. He hadn’t been informed, either.

The last time I’d seen the prince had been during our little spat in front of his otherworldly parents. I shouldn’t have given him the satisfaction of letting him get under my skin. I doubted he’d be in the mood to give me a tour of his super secret city, so I went at it alone.

Or as alone as I could be while guarded all the time.

I made a sharp turn to the left, using the thick shrubs and statues as cover. If I squinted, I could barely make out the jagged roof of my house. Good, good. In the distance, the sun dipped past the dome of the Archives building and the tallest palace tower. Vines crawled up its sides, winding and twisting. It was begging to be climbed, honestly, but I had more important things to do first.

I heard armor clinking before they’d even rustled the leaves. The guards had found me. I sighed and quickly navigated the thicket, resurfacing on the path right behind the guards, who looked around hectically for me. I cleared my throat loudly.

“She’s here.” The biggest one sighed. He had a weird resemblance to Fabrian’ guard who’d stuck to me like a bad smell before the wedding, tall and wide enough to block a door. But there was no meanness in his eyes, only a tiredness that clung to the bags underneath them. “We’ve been instructed to follow you everywhere . You know we can be punished if we don’t keep you in sight at all times, right?”

I sucked in a breath. No. No, I did not. “Good thing you didn’t lose me, then.”

The guard shook his head, while the others grimaced at me. “We need to get you back to the house.”

His voice was rough salt, much older than the age obvious in his calloused palms and forehead wrinkles. Weary and worn, but fighting against it.

I blistered. “Am I being punished?”

“No, you’re being called on.”

I frowned. Who would visit me in this entire city? Kaya, probably. Apart from Goose, she’d been the only one to make an effort to be nice. Or appear nice.

Instead of answering, the guards crowded around me, creating a human wall that hurried me right up to the house. Blood Brotherhood apparently hated tardiness, too.

A new day, a new dress, the same old bullshit.

I was surrounded by more people than I could count, and yet I felt more alone than back in the mountains.

Another pang spread in my chest. I snuffed it out. I still couldn’t think about my parents, not when I slept with my switchblade under my pillow.

Each little surprise, good or bad, unnerved me.

The food? Amazing. I’d eaten trout maybe four or five times in my life, but here, I had a plethora of fish and seafood. Every. Single. Day. Little dimes of fat winked at me from fragrant soup bowls, and the meats sizzled underneath layers of glistening, tangy sauces. The first time Goose left me alone with delicious dishes I didn’t recognize, I devoured them so quickly that I got sick. I’d spent that night on the bathroom floor, moaning and having vivid dreams in which the huge snake came to eat me whole.

I’d forgotten what it was like to feel full. Gods, I’d missed it. No worrying I couldn’t have one more bite because mom and dad were bigger and had to eat more.

I liked it. Too much.

What I didn’t like was the way Goose had looked at me as if I’d sprouted five heads when I tried to help him clear up the table.

“Your Grace…” he’d muttered as he’d yanked the dirty plates out of my hand, eyes shifting to the door like he was afraid someone might overhear. “ I serve you . That’s how it works here. This position helps me pay for my studies. Please.”

That was the last time I tried to do his job. I didn’t need to worry he’d be kicked out of whatever academy he went to because I was stubborn and old habits died hard.

Now I had to make sure the guards wouldn’t be punished because of me, too. I’d have to get more creative with my sneaking.

“Leaders should be the most selfless,” grandpa Constantine used to tell me during the late nights I used to watch him work in his smoky study. “We have too many lives to care for, too many responsibilities to handle. Most won’t understand or appreciate it. But you will still do it, because that’s what true rulers do.”

Perhaps the Blood Brotherhood didn’t understand it, but they appreciated it. Sort of. A constant flow of gifts had been coming to my house since I’d arrived.

For me , someone they had never met. Vases, flowers, sweets, drawings.

“It’s tradition,” Goose had said while stacking everything into neat little piles on the veranda. “You’re a newcomer. You have to receive them, but you can never change or regift them. That’s a great slight.”

How very not-Blood-Brotherhood of them. This was the fearsome Clan I’d been taught to fear. Were they planning on killing me with kindness? “They want to make me feel welcomed?”

“It’s…required,” he’d finally admitted.

Ah. Tradition forced them to be nice. That eased some of my guilt, but not all of it. After a lifetime of wanting, it felt weird to have .

Everything had been sent anonymously, too. I couldn’t even thank them.

Only one gift had been signed, my favorite so far. A book. A gorgeous, leather-bound book on the recent history of the Blood Brotherhood Clan. And, yes, it did wax poetically about the legendary feud with Adriana Vegheara.

Delve into the madness before it sneaks up on you,

Kaya

That was…ominous. But considerate. If Kaya had come to visit, I could finally thank her, and get that formality done with. Trusting her was not an option. Faith in the wrong person could get me killed. Or worse, one of my cousins assassinated.

As soon as we entered the fragrant path, a strange chill raced down my spine. Despite the massive spears surrounding me, I reached for my switchblade, tucked inside my waistband. The Blood Brotherhood fabric was too precious and flimsy to bear its weight in a secret pocket, so I’d had to improvise.

But Kaya wasn’t the one waiting for me.

Right in front of my gate, Zandyr’s presence speared the tranquility.

I gritted my teeth. Of course the order had come from him.

He had his long hair tied back today. His black uniform sucked in all the light. Or maybe it was Zandyr himself–he was just that compelling that even the sun couldn’t help itself.

His eyes tracked me until the guards stopped at the gate.

“You summoned?” I said.

His gaze slashed toward the guards. “I asked .”

“Did it sound like a summon?” Because he had that imperious air that made everything resemble a command.

He remained quiet and irritated.

I sighed. This was a mood, even for the tall, dark, and dangerous Dragon everyone feared. It was like trying to talk to a stone. “Why did you come here?”

What happened to avoiding each other and going on with our lives?

“I want to show you something,” he said and turned toward the barren courtyard peeking from behind the fence.

I licked the inside of my cheek. Infuriating man. "Why, yes, I would like to come with you. Thank you for asking."

"I asked you once. Learned my lesson," he muttered, not bothering to explain what in the underworld he was talking about.

Just like in the throne room, I stood my ground. I would not cower. Not anymore. Even though a thin sheen of sweat pooled at the base of my spine. Was this what courage felt like? Like my veins boiled and some wiggling creature crawled in my belly skin, ready to burst?

Zandyr turned, facing me.

We stared at each other for the longest time, standing right there in the searing sun. Vegheara blood wasn’t the only stubborn one, it seemed. One of the guards coughed awkwardly.

“There are easier ways to tan, you know,” Zandyr said.

“I can stay here until we both turn into charred leather.” I shrugged, as my insides spun from the building tension. “I perched on branches from the moment the sun rose until it set. I’m used to standing still.”

“I’ve been in wars. You either stood still or you died.” He crossed his hands in front of his chest. “If you wanted to spend more time together–”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said quickly. The sun heated up my cheeks, the bastard.

“Then what’s happening?”

“Just because you’ve been in wars, that doesn’t give you the right to order me around like you did with your troops.” Grandpa Constantine’s words echoed in my mind. Queen . I would be queen one day. “You came here, so you must want something. Ask me–nicely–or we’ll stay here all day. Or you can leave.”

And he could take that piercing gaze along with him, because it was sliding underneath my skin in a way it had no right to. I wanted to fidget so badly.

“You’re right,” he said.

I blinked one too many times. I’d never heard those words said to me in my life.

“We will lead together. As equals.” He squared his shoulders and sent me one of those grins of his; this one was slightly warmer at least. Or it might’ve been the sun’s glare blinding me. “Will you do me the honor of accompanying me for a private conversation?”

I nodded, not trusting words right now. Such a small thing, to have someone simply give me what I asked for. No questions, no criticism about me being greedy because I wanted something.

Nothing, just…agreeing.

Zandyr waited for me to reach the gates and we walked into the arid courtyard together.

“What–” I licked my parched lips. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“A formality that will officially tie our futures together,” he said. “But first, I have a very important question.”