Page 18 of A Crown of Tears and Treason (The Curse of Silver Secrets and Cruel Shadows #1)

Chapter

Eighteen

EVIE

M y yard was no longer an empty plot of land.

A row of twelve wooden statues had sprouted next to the fence. Or maybe they were effigies, carved for slaughter, because Adara was just slashing through each and every one of them.

The third got sliced in two, from its tilted, faceless head, down to its wooden stand, as she catapulted herself into the air, defying gravity itself. So that’s where Zandyr had learned to cut people in two.

The next mannequin was taken down by a knife hidden in the heel of Adara’s boot. One long sweep of her leg, and the head rolled onto the ground in a burst of dust. The fifth one got tackled to the ground, shards of wood and wool flying through the air.

Goose whistled. “She’s…”

“Yeah,” I muttered. It was amazing to see her training and watch her body contort as if it wasn’t made out of bones and muscles.

It did nothing to help my nerves about talking to her, though. She looked fierce. Meanwhile, I hobbled down the stairs toward her.

Just as Adara readied one of her daggers to throw at the next target, my leg caught on a pebble.

Adara turned around, knife at the ready. I saw the tension leave her muscles as she studied me, all draped in Capital silk.

“You’re silent,” she said.

“Thanks, I guess.” It had sounded like a compliment.

Once her hand fell to her side, I started walking again.

I nodded at the dummies. “Nice decor.”

“Efficient,” she said.

The perfect word to describe her. Gods, good thing she was my bodyguard and not my assassin. I swayed on the spot, letting my weight fall from one foot to another, as a stifling silence fell between us.

“You have a question,” she said. It sounded like an order. She had been spending way too much time with Zandyr; or maybe it had been the other way around.

“I do.” I rolled my shoulders back, as if that could magically make me taller. “Do you know who you need to protect me against?”

Trying to squeeze the truth out of Zandyr was about as likely as me sprouting wings and flying back to Sanctua Sirena. Infuriating man.

From what Allie had told me, oaths really were life and death promises, made during a clear full moon and soaked in blood. She also thought Zandyr was lying through his teeth and had muttered something about wishing to knock them out.

“Everyone,” Adara said.

I clasped my hands in front of me, loudly. Blood Brotherhood members, current or former, were mighty obstinate. “Who attacked me?”

“A snake.”

So she knew who’d done it. Of course she knew. I was the only one kept in the dark, and it annoyed me to no end. “Who sent the snake?”

“I have my suspicions.” She yanked the spear out of the dummy in a cloud of splinters. “But I was paid very good money to keep those suspicions to myself.”

I pursed my lips. How could I protest that? I didn’t have anything to offer Adara and loyalty was earned.

I had my own suspicions, too. Zandyr had hinted I’d met my attackers. If that meant only Blood Brotherhood members, the suspects were few and far between. The guards. The king and queen. The advisors. Kaya and Vexa. I doubted Goose would have still been allowed in my house if anyone believed he’d played a part in my unsuccessful assassination.

Zandyr had vouched for Kaya. I didn’t understand why the king and queen or the advisors wanted me gone. This marriage would prevent a Clan war, yes?

I had one certainty, though.

Whoever wanted to kill me wouldn’t get the satisfaction of my death. I refused. Allie would help train my magic, but I’d yet to see Blood Brotherhood members use even a lick of it in actual battle. And they were astounding when they fought.

My envious gaze watched Adara wrangle her weapons out of the wood, leaving deep wounds behind. The sting in my leg pulsed, the fresh memory of my failed attempt at magic even more raw.

My right hand flew to the bracelet caging my left wrist. If it helped me defend myself better, I would wear it.

“When did you start training?” I asked.

“Fifteen.”

That simple word gave me hope. Adara was spectacular. She had a few good years on me, but she hadn’t started her training in the cradle. Perhaps I could bridge the gap in my learning, too.

“Now I have a question,” Adara said. “Why would a future queen want to learn how to fight?”

“Because I might not become one if I don’t.”

“I agreed to teach you before I saw you.” Adara spun her dagger and embedded it in its sheath along her ribcage. “I specialize in close combat.”

“So?”

“You’re small.”

My cheeks pricked. “I am aware.”

Adara looked at me for the longest time, but I didn’t back down. The tension and anticipation were making my skin crawl; but better to feel my lungs constrict than to not breathe again.

“You’re wounded,” she said.

“Wounds heal.”

“It’s going to be difficult.”

“What isn’t?”

A ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “Very well. The Dragon insisted, but I wouldn’t have trained you if you didn’t want it. I don’t waste my time. Once you can move properly, we begin. You will be bruised.”

The very essence of eagerness flooded my veins, so hard and fast, I almost jumped for joy. Then I remembered the wound, still seeping through my bandages.

“As long as you teach me how to bruise you back, I can take it,” I said.

“Ambitious.”

Now that had to be a compliment, right? For the both of us, because we both knew I couldn't so much as get within five feet of her if she wouldn’t allow it.

“The Dragon will be pleased to know,” she said, dampening the mood. “When he returns.”

Everyone, everywhere just had to talk about Zandyr, ruining perfectly good conversations. Maybe he was just so important that nobody could go five bloody minutes without thinking of him. Even I had days when I did just that. Perhaps he’d cursed us all with his slick smirks.

“Where’s he gone? To crash another wedding?” I asked.

“To hunt down those who helped smuggle a razorback snake into Phoenix Peak.”

“Oh.” Oh . If I hadn’t felt his annoyance at my very existence back at the wedding or heard him announce he wouldn’t ever touch me in front of his parents, I would’ve thought he actually cared.

“It’s a grave crime,” Adara said.

Of course . He was the future leader, he had to sew the seeds of law whenever necessary. The fact that I’d been attacked probably didn’t matter all that much in the grand scheme of Zandyr’s mighty plans. Which he obviously didn’t want to share with me.

“Wait, he’s not going to kill them, is he?” I asked quickly.

Adara hesitated. A bad sign. “Razorback venom is highly prized in spells. If they thought they were selling it for the venom, they might evade death.”

If their bellies had been empty enough to risk catching a dangerous creature like that…

It was the kind of ethical conundrum I’d have to learn to deal with. As queen, I would enact the law as well. Perhaps even create it.

“You think too much,” Adara said.

I shook my head. “Excuse me?”

“Your face.” She pointed the tip of the spear at my forehead. “That kind of thinking only leads to problems.”

“You can read minds, too?” I asked, laughing nervously. One could never know with Blood Brotherhood.

“We have not exchanged blood the right way, in a ritual. It is impossible.”

Reading thoughts. Exchanging blood. In the right way, which meant it was possible. That was nightmare fuel waiting to fester. “ What ritual?”

“The kind all parties involved have to wish for, Blue Queen,” she said with finality. “Talk to your groom, he will tell you.”

I ignored whatever the underworld Blue Queen meant. Either a dig or a praise at me being Protectorate blue at heart, and not Blood Brotherhood red. “I plan on doing just that. My thoughts are my own.”

The last thing I wanted was someone else in the whirlwind of my mind–in which a devious thought popped up.

“Since the prince isn’t here…” I stepped closer to Adara, like we were sharing a great big secret. We kind of were. Zandyr was gone, who knew when I’d get another chance like this. From the way Adara watched me carefully, she suspected I was up to no good.

And she was right. “I have a plan.”