Page 114 of Dance of Kings and Thieves

This wasn’t Valen, not now, but if he slaughtered this room, he would end his own wife. He’d end his whole bleeding heart, and he would never be the same.

Stieg seemed to have the same idea and tried to reach for Elise, but Valen lunged in the same moment.

I screamed. Truth be told, the sound of it was swallowed by the screams of everyone.

“No, Valen!” Elise’s cry was broken and desperate.

“Elise!” I shouted as the queen leapt in front of her warrior, her friend.

I was ready to witness the death of the queen at the hand of her cursed husband, but the beast skidded to a halt at the sight of her. Death still lived in the red of his eyes, but he paused. Elise held out her hand, tears on her face. She held his stare; she held her ground.

Valen’s bloody lips curled over his teeth, revealing the whole length of his fangs.

By the gods, for a fleeting moment he seemed to recognize her. At least, something about his wife’s presence brought the monster within to a calm. It must’ve been the power she’d spoken of, I could not explain the hesitation any other way.

It ended too soon. Valen reared one hand back as if he’d strike her down. He didn’t get the chance. From the outer corridor, two dark figures pummeled into the king’s back, knocking him to the ground. He thrashed and snarled.

Tor and Halvar were there, holding the king’s writhing arms.

“Forgot how bleeding fast he was,” Halvar grunted, wrestling Valen’s arm behind his back.

Two more men materialized up the staircase. Lynx and Sol helped wrestle Valen into submission.

Sol dropped to his knees to help Halvar pin his younger brother to the ground. “Do it!”

I let out a breath of relief as Lynx rested a hand on Valen’s head. The beast kicked at him, snapped his jaws, and nearly caught his finger.

Elise knelt beside her husband and placed her palm on his tense body. He stopped snapping his teeth, stopped kicking, and Lynx struck. It took but moments for Valen to go still beneath his calming mesmer.

Silenced and bound, with Sol’s help, Lynx draped the king over his shoulders, ready to carry him out.

Tears burned my eyes for all Valen had sacrificed. Because of him, we’d been able to take Felstad by surprise, we’d been able to fight our way in. Now, we’d find a bleeding way to save him.

“Ready to go?” Raum appeared in the window, a thick rope in hand. He caught sight of the king’s limp body and arched his brows. “Don’t tell me I missed something exciting.”

“Go,” I snapped. “We need to get them clear, then we need to find Kase. He’s seeking Ivar. Alone.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE

THE NIGHTRENDER

There wererooms in the far corners of Felstad. Areas where the master of the ruins might’ve dined or slept when Felstad was a glorious worship chantry turns ago. Here, the smoke was not as thick. The flames devouring the stone walls hadn’t yet eaten their way here.

I was wrapped in darkness as I crept along the corridor. From time to time, a fae or skydguard would run past me, fleeing, or acting on orders, I didn’t care. The vise around my innards kept me stalking forward through the dark. A sensation that crept up and down my spine, telling me this was the way to Ivar. Our paths would collide here.

One of us would not leave these ruins with breath in our lungs.

The final door in the arched corridor was unguarded and cracked slightly. Light danced from inside. I gripped my blacksteel sword, blood burning from my fingertips and across my chest in anticipation. With a long breath out, I kicked open the door.

“Don’t come closer, Nightrender.”

I halted abruptly. Not out of compliance, but pure stun. The Lady Magnate stood over a fur lined mat. Heavy blankets of wiry bear pelts and rabbit furs were arranged in the center of the room.

Britta held a blade in one hand and in the other was . . . the bleeding glass ring.

“Lady Magnate,” I said, cruelly. “What games are you playing? That ring does nothing for you. Hand it over and I might let you live to see my wife take the throne.”

“Our games are at an end,” she whispered. “I can see that now. All I wanted was Niall to claim the throne. I never wanted him to be a puppet.”