Page 24 of Dance of Kings and Thieves

Delicate hands scooped beneath my arms. Elise helped me to my feet as Kase stalked past. He offered the mutilated guard a simple look as he lowered his fisted palm. His mesmer was beautifully brutal.

“Sabain!”

The Benevolent turned over his shoulder, already surrounded by skyds and Rifters.

Behind Kase, Valen appeared, bloody and dirty. The king didn’t waste another moment before he opened his palms. Jagged peaks carved out of the soil. All around the yard of the academy, Valen called mountainous walls to lock what was left of the guard and Alvers inside.

Sabain’s arrogant expression fell. He sprinted for the trees, leaping over the jagged teeth of stone and soil before it grew too high.

“Bleeding coward!” Kase roared his frustration.

The Rifters following the Benevolent weren’t so fortunate. All tried to leap over ridges the same as Sabain, but Valen’s walls were on a collision course. The walls completed the circle of broken rock, smashing the Alvers between the gaps. Limbs jutted out. Blood seeped through the cracks.

Kase cursed at Sabain’s retreat once more, then wheeled around, his hands on my face. “Did he harm you?”

He almost looked as if he wanted me to say yes, all so he could torture Sabain with a bit more fervor when they met again.

“He wounded my pride a bit.”

“He’ll die for it.”

“If it makes you feel any comfort at all, Elise wounded his in quite a grand show.”

Kase’s gaze flicked to the queen who inspected a gash along Valen’s jaw.

“Don’t look so stunned, Nightrender,” Elise said without even glancing at Kase. “I am known to be formidable at times.” She pecked Valen’s lips. “The stupid fool tried to tempt me to be a consort of their false king.”

A low growl rumbled in the back of Valen’s throat. “He what?”

“I know. How insulting, don’t you think?” She hooked her arms around Valen’s neck. “Although now that I think of it, I haven’t seen their false king’s palace. Perhaps it is grander than yours and . . .”

Elise didn’t finish her jest before Valen had her mouth crushed against his. She laughed and spluttered until she melted into his kiss, and he whispered words only meant for her.

“Do we have sight of Patrik?” Luca came up to Kase, a little breathless and a little bloody. Dagny held tightly to his hand, but her eyes were wild. As if tonight had been a new way to get revenge on those who’d torn her family apart for turns.

Kase shook his head. “The worm disappeared. He is a wizened old man who can barely hold a sword. He is no threat without his guards.”

I caught the shine of a weapon in the grass as Kase and Luca spoke. My hand curled around the black leather of the hilt. The iron was polished, the weight perfectly balanced. My chest tightened in excitement as I held the sword out on display atop my open palms.

“I believe Sabain left something behind.”

A possessive kind of gleam filled his eyes as Kase took hold of the hilt of his blacksteel sword. A rough breath escaped his throat. He rolled the sword in his grip once, then took in the carnage of the academy.

Skydguard were being gathered into the center. The cottages and food supplies were spoiled and destroyed. Pupils were herded like cattle and placed beside the entrapped guards. Hagen and Hanna surrounded the Alvers, blocking their mesmer as Falkyns went to work collaring them in magisk bands Niklas had created on his own.

Valen’s walls would keep them imprisoned here. They had no food, no reserves. One of the fiercest units of the Black Palace would be starved out soon enough.

We’d see to it.

Kase took it all in, then raised his blacksteel. “The academy is ours!”

A roar from the guilds and warriors shattered the night.

We’d conquered a piece of the Black Palace, one Ivar likely thought impossible for miserly thieves to take. I’d wanted Kase to have his vengeance on Sabain, but a part of me was glad he escaped.

Let him scurry back to the Lord Magnate. Scurry back and tell all the bastards at the Palace that we were coming.

CHAPTEREIGHT