Page 25 of The Chains You Defy

The king might not imprison the merchant, but his inaction held no significance. In the end, it was only a question of time before Feroy would be entirely at my mercy. Once my power had returned, there would be no holding back.

“Then I’ll see you later, Crown Prince Dionadair. Should you need something, anything, don’t hesitate to alert me.”

“Feel free to call me Dion.”

Queen Anneria smiled and nodded. I didn’t wait for a further dismissal, neither from her nor King Pritatus, who balled his fists so hard they glowed white. Instead, I spun on my heel and stalked to the exit of the throne room. My comrades followed, and from the edge of my vision, I caught Rewani’s gaze. She stared at me with an expression akin to adoration. Well, at least someone got it right.

Nothing filled me with more satisfaction than marching toward the entrance to the sprawling grounds of the self-proclaimed King of Merchants. And not only that, but apprehension was spiking higher and higher the closer we came to Feroy’s headquarters.

Every few steps, I growled at the human soldiers in our company, motivating the uninspired men to pick up their pace.

In the past few days, I’d been forced to hold out, wait, be patient for too long, and now, finally so close to saving Nayana from torture or worse, I had no composure left. My comrades threw glancesat me whenever they assumed I wouldn’t notice, and even if I were a less intelligent male, I would have detected them doubting my ability to keep myself in check around Feroy.

For once, I didn’t mind them being skeptical because the answer to that question was a resounding no—I had not a single illusion about how hot the urge to avenge my tiny human ran and how all reason was burning down on the pyre of my wrath.

So, safe to say, my nerves were a little bit frayed.

On top of that, the herald trotting next to me irritated me to no end, for no matter how much I snarled at him, he refused to hand over the king’s missive. Gritting my teeth, I considered unveiling my status to the human who held himself in too high regard or, even better, disposing of the puny man, but I pulled every thread of mental fortitude together—I couldn’t allow myself to act in any way that might jeopardize the mission, not so close to the goal.

When we reached the area housing the merchant’s headquarters and stopped at the gate, I was taut as a bowstring, my body vibrating visibly as I balled my fists with all the suppressed urges to raise unimaginable torment on the entire compound. Instead, I remained rooted to the spot as the herald addressed the guards in front of the high iron gates and demanded to speak to Perran Feroy on behalf of King Pritatus this very instant.

Feroy’s staff hesitated a second too long for my taste, and I bared my teeth to one of them, which—lucky for him—impressed him enough to scuttle away. His colleague stayed behind, and his eyes darted around, his gaze landing everywhere but on us. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t stop my chest from rumbling as seconds ofwaiting for the despicable human to appear turned into minutes.

Once again, a dizzy spell attacked me, and I briefly swayed as the world spun around and around. Masking the weakness by shifting my weight from one leg to the other, I glared at everyone in my vicinity.

By now, I’d reached a state where I couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe anymore—every living soul was a potential obstacle on my quest to findher.

My throat constricted all of a sudden when I got distracted from my brooding by something entirely else. My magic rose to the surface, reaching out to the very faint and far-away sensation, and I knew without a doubt that what I felt was her.

Nayana.

She was so close I could sense her Potential. Thank fuck, I wasn’t too late.

Could she also tell that I was near? That I was coming for her?

“What’s the meaning behind this ruckus?”

My skin grew too small to contain all my rage as an unpleasant voice boomed through the area.

And then he appeared.

Kill.

The despicable merchant waddled to the gate, face deep red and marred by a thick vein pulsing on his forehead.

My growls picked up in volume, and after I’d pushed a guard out of the way, I rushed past the gate. Even Antas and Fig couldn’t hold me back as I descended on Feroy like fury personified. Without hesitation, I grabbed him by the lapels, shaking him so hard that his skeleton audibly rattled.

“Where—is—she?” I snarled and showed him my teeth.

Kill. Human weakling.

He was. Obliterating this fucking bag of bones wouldn’t pose a challenge, yet a quick death was much too merciful, and I was just enough in control to lock the voice in my head away. Soon, I’d rain down untold horrors upon Perran Feroy.

Also, if I disposed of him now, I’d technically break the diplomatic protocol, and although I didn’t give two shits about the human royals, they were the ones providing shelter during the upcoming days.

As if he knew I was all bark and no bite for the time being, the merchant ignored me and settled his attention on the herald. Safe to say, this behavior riled me up even more.

Maybe he assumed I’d miss the moment when something akin to triumph stood in his beady eyes, but I spotted the expression—I just wasn’t in the right headspace to analyze its meaning.