Page 133 of The Chains You Defy

“Why not omit them completely?”

“Because Galrach will contact the clergy, who’ll confirm that they registered three divine signatures, strongand long enough to prove the presence of the gods without a doubt.”

“Shit.”

“Yes, I agree. Shit.”

On our way back to the palace, I was a total mess. Still, I did my best not to let my inner turmoil show. Not only had I declared war on my grandfather and angered the entire High Court, but I’d also been rejected by the woman I already considered as mine.

In a way, all three occurrences were inconsequential, but each of them brought its own set of challenges. While the Rite of Courting would have been mandatory no matter what, everything could have been so much easier if only Nayana had already admitted to returning my feelings. But in the end, her stubborn refusal to acknowledge the truth didn’tmatter because she’d come around to the fact that we were meant to be. Patience was the key, and finding such was hard for me at the best of times, but with my grandfather breathing down our necks, waiting was a different kind of horror.

“The High King won’t let this rest, will he?”

“He has to. There will be an open rebellion if he messes with our rites.”

“Dion, have you already forgotten that you publicly antagonized him?”

“As if he is taking me seriously. Sure, I’ll be punished, but fuck that. In the end, he’ll bank my insolence as a pathetic cry for attention. But he’ll soon learn I won’t do his dirty work ever again.”

“He could force you to.”

“No.”

“But he made you do his bidding all the time. Like with Amalach.”

Huffing, I stopped mid-walk and spun around to Nayana, capturing her shoulders with my hands. She was right to worry, but I didn’t want her to. There was a chance that my grandfather would take tonight more severely than I hoped or that he’d attempt to use Nayana to force my compliance, but if I always stayed one step ahead of him, I should be able to navigate this whole fucked-up mess.

“Yes. Although I loved Amalach, I followed the orders I’d been given willingly and without losing sleep over the destruction. Galrach was the only direct family member I had left from a very young, impressionable age, apart from Antas and their mostly absent sire, and my grandfather had always been a massive authority figure to me. My parents pushed back against his attempts to meddle too much with my education, and he never approvedof how soft they were with me. When they were dead and gone, he took it upon himself to rid me of their influence. And even with everything following the assassination of my mother, for a long time, I believed that he only wanted the best for Galanta and its inhabitants. But my eyes have opened a long time ago. He’s a shit king whose obsession lies with power and amassing more and more supremacy.”

“But why the unveiled aggression now? We had a plan, after all.”

“Well, I don’t agree with the way he’s treating and threatening you.”

“That’s your line?” The adorable female was scrunching her nose, and I resisted the urge to kiss her on the spot. “But murder isn’t?”

“Killing someone who deserves death is often the best solution to every problem.”

She was doing it again, trying to find some sense of general human morality in me. Of course, her continued digging was in vain. But at least she made me grin thanks to the cute, irritated sound she produced as she narrowed her cerulean eyes at me.

“But who made you judge, jury, and executioner?”

“I did, Naya. There are so many dangers out there, and if nobody deals with them, they’ll come back to bite you in the ass. So yes. I assess, I condemn, and I follow through to my heart’s content.”

“And you don’t care about how much you’re tainting your soul?”

“My soul is fine as it is.”

“Why are you so broken?”

“Don’t call me broken.” We could have this discussion a thousand times, and nothing would ever change. Isimply couldn’t adopt the mindset my tiny woman wanted me to have.

But during the recent days, I had been under the impression as if she’d begun to realize what advantages it could bring to have a protector who would burn down worlds for her and not bat an eyelash over the damage he caused. She’d accept my way of handling things one day, even if currently, this sentiment didn’t fit into her own narrow sense of what was right or wrong. Switching the topic, I brushed a strand of hair that had escaped its prison behind her ear.

“We’ll have to shadowwalk back to the palace before Galrach sends the army to collect their wayward Field Marshal.”

“He wouldn’t—would he?”

“Surely he would. So, hold on. We’ll travel directly into the ballroom.”