Page 33 of Warrior Princess Assassin (Braided Fate #1)

One of the guards cracks me in the shoulders, and it’s no better than when the soldier did it earlier. This time my knees hit the stone floor, the chains of my shackles rattling. I have to catch myself on my hands.

No, this is definitely not good.

“Guildmaster,” Prince Dane says. “Do you know this Hunter?” His voice sounds bored, but it sends a fresh bolt of rage through my heart.

But Master Pavok nods. “Yes, Your Highness. This is Hunter Asher.”

“Was he given an order to kill Maddox Kyronan, as Princess Marjoriana claims?”

I hold my breath. Maybe this will help prove my innocence.

“No,” says Master Pavok. “Hunter Asher has not been seen by the Guild for more than three months.”

I jerk my head up. “No! I was there this—”

One of the guards punches me right where the brand seared my shoulder, and I forget how to speak. I hear a horrible sound, and I think it comes out of me.

“Stop!” Jory shouts, her desperate fury ringing through the room. “Dane, I have repeatedly told you that Asher was not responsible for this. You will stop this. ”

Nothing stops. The pain is dizzying. I breathe through my teeth.

“You have had your time to speak,” says Dane. “Pavok, proceed.”

“As I have said,” the Guildmaster continues, “the Guild would never accept an order to kill a member of the royal family. I suspect these orders are fraudulent, possibly fabricated in an attempt to conspire against your alliance. This Hunter has been gone for quite some time, with no explanation for his whereabouts. His last assignment was in Morinstead, which is to the north, near the border, so it would stand to reason that he could be conspiring with agents from Draegonis—”

One of the Incendrian soldiers swears under his breath. The king crushes that ball of flame into nothing in his palm. His eyes lock on me again.

“No,” I gasp. “No, that’s not—”

The guard hits me in the brand again. I see stars. When I blink, my forehead is against the stone floor, and I’m gasping.

“No!” Jory says. “Father, stop this! Asher is not working for the Draegs. I know he’s not.”

“You do not know,” Prince Dane says. “You have been deceived. For years , if I am to understand correctly. He coerced you into allowing him into the palace, Marjoriana.”

“He did not coerce me,” she snaps, enraged. “And you very well know—”

“Then you participated in an act of treason? You knowingly allowed an armed man to bypass the guards and access the palace? A known traitor ? You deliberately endangered the life of your king?”

The entire room goes completely silent. Jory is glaring at him, her jaw tight, her eyes like fire.

Be careful , I think. Please, Jory. Do not admit to this. Not even for me.

After an eternal moment, she speaks through clenched teeth. “No. Of course not.”

Dane continues, because he knows he’s got her. “As I said, he coerced you into allowing him into the palace. He could be sentenced for that alone.”

“Hunter Asher,” says Master Pavok. “Where have you been for three months?”

“Morinstead,” I say, and the word comes out of me like I’m speaking through gravel. “I completed my duties.” I have to pause to inhale, and I fight not to flinch when one of the guards shifts his weight.

“Your duties should not have taken more than a week.”

“I was detained. Captured by a bondsman who thought I’d escaped. He thought my Guild ring was a fake. It took time to verify.”

The silence in the room is so thick. The king of Incendar is looking at me again.

I hope they execute him.

Unfortunately, it seems that only one of us is on trial here.

“It’s a good story,” Prince Dane finally says. “I’m almost convinced.”

“It’s not a story ,” I growl. “Interrogate Rachel. Interrogate Hammish. He saw me. Maybe they’re the ones working with Draegonis—”

“I did,” says Pavok. “They deny seeing you.”

My head is pounding. I don’t understand it. Are they protecting Pavok? Dane? Themselves?

Dane rises from his chair and crosses the room to stand over me.

“Which do you think is more likely?” he says, his tone mocking.

“That you received orders to kill King Maddox Kyronan and Princess Marjoriana on the day we were to seal an accord between our kingdoms—orders allegedly given by the two people with the most to gain from an alliance?” He leans in.

“Or does it make more sense that someone with a questionable past and secret access to the palace was hired by Draegonis to undermine it all?” He claps me on the cheek, and it stings. “Truly, Asher, it’s a great mystery.”

I spit right in his face.

He backhands me so hard that I taste blood before I hit the floor. Jory makes a sound, but there’s a quick round of hushing from her lady.

The guards haul me upright, and I don’t know if it’s the burn to my shoulder or the punch to the face, but my vision goes a bit spotty again.

That’s all right. I don’t need to see Prince Dane to let my hatred show on my face.

I just...don’t know why the keepers would claim they didn’t see me. I don’t know why the Guildmaster would claim to have no knowledge of these orders.

Did someone trick me ? Or did someone trick them ?

Could Draegonis be working to undermine the alliance somehow?

None of it makes sense. My thoughts are too twisted up with anger and fear and betrayal. When I look across the room, Maddox Kyronan is still watching me, his eyes cold and hard and expressionless.

I know what he thinks of Draegonis.

Jory’s father speaks, and his voice is softer than I remember. “What of the alliance now?”

Prince Dane has stepped back from me a bit, and he spreads his hands to address the room.

“From where I sit, the alliance can proceed. Princess Marjoriana was duped by an old childhood friend, a known traitor to the kingdom, but no real harm has been done.” He looks at the Incendrian king.

“You were able to escape, Your Majesty. You returned my sister to the palace, for which you have our gratitude. This man will be punished for his crimes. My sister is naive to the nefarious actions of Draegonis, so you can see how she would—”

“ I am not naive! ” Jory snaps. “And Asher is not—”

“ Silence , child!” her father says sharply. The room falls silent in a way it never would for Dane. “I would like to hear Incendar’s answer.”

Every eye shifts to Maddox Kyronan, who still hasn’t spoken. He’s drawn a new ball of fire from somewhere, and it passes from palm to palm in a mesmerizing pattern that’s hard to look away from.

But then it stops. He spins a finger through the flame, which sizzles and burns into nothing.

A few people gasp. The Guildmaster is one of them. I think Dane is, too.

I don’t. I’m not amazed anymore.

The room is absolutely silent, tensely waiting on his response. The king’s eyes shift from me, to Prince Dane, to Jory, and finally to King Theodore.

“I agree that no true harm has been done,” he finally says. “Thanks to Princess Marjoriana’s willingness to prevent a greater conflict.”

My eyes flick to Jory. Whatever she did, she doesn’t look like she was very willing .

The king continues, “As such, our alliance will proceed—”

The gasps this time are louder, but they’re not shock. They’re sounds of relief.

Dane smiles. “Well! Grand tidings, then—”

“I’m not done,” says the king, and silence crashes down again, like a guillotine.

“The alliance will proceed, but not today. In one month’s time.

Until then, Princess Marjoriana will be my guest in Incendar, where she can determine whether this union between our nations is an alliance she can commit to.

” He pauses, and he stares right across the room at Jory.

“With full faith and honesty, and nothing less.”

The words are pointed, and her entire demeanor darkens. “So I’m to be your prisoner.”

“I’m rather certain I just said you would be my guest .”

Prince Dane glances between them. He’s not smiling now. “Your Majesty—this is not part of our agreement—”

“Neither was my kidnapping,” the king says. “And while this attempt on my life may have been thwarted, I am not fully convinced that Princess Marjoriana is as committed to this arrangement as you are.”

Jory half rises from her seat. “There will be no faith,” she declares. “You have already proven that you cannot be trusted.”

“Enough,” says her father, and he gives a short cough. The room falls silent again. “Marjoriana, you will go. Maddox Kyronan, if you find my daughter suitable, I expect you will seal this alliance in thirty days.”

“Done,” says the king.

My heart clenches.

“No!” cries Jory. “Father, you don’t understand—”

He waves a hand, then says something softly to an attendant. Lady Charlotte tries to shush Jory. She’s clutching her hand.

Prince Dane looks at the two of them. “Your attendant will join you,” he says after a moment. Charlotte straightens in alarm.

“ No ,” says Jory. “You will not commit innocent people to be tormented in Incendar.”

“I will not send my sister without a chaperone, either.”

Jory inhales sharply, but Charlotte leans in, and whatever she says makes the princess’s mouth form a line.

Prince Dane turns to the guards at my back. “Return this man to the dungeon. His debt will be set to one million silvers—”

One million . I was focused on Jory, on what this meant for her , but Dane’s words are like a steel bolt shot right through my chest. My breathing becomes a sudden roar in my ears, and I can’t even hear what he says after that.

I’ll never earn out a million silvers. Not in a brothel, not in a fighting arena, not on my back or on my knees for the richest citizens of Astranza.

Never.

But another round of gasps goes up around the room, and I realize Maddox Kyronan has spoken.

Prince Dane is staring at him, and his eyes are wide with shock. “What did you just say?”

“I said the debt is owed to me.” The king pauses and folds his arms. “Is it not?”

Dane’s mouth works like this question has never been asked before. “I—I suppose you could see it that way, Your Majesty, but—”

“You will not grant your slavers ”—he says this word like it’s distasteful—“A profit of one million silvers. Nor will you line your own coffers. Not when the crime was committed against Incendar, and most especially if this man is an agent of Draegonis.”

My veins fill with ice. I can’t move.

“Forgive me, but I do not believe you understand the intricacies of how justice works in Astranza—”

“Do not patronize me.” The king’s voice is low and intense. His fingers form a sigil, and a new swirl of flame appears in his palm.

The tension in the room thickens again. Even Dane falters.

In the silence, Maddox Kyronan continues. “This man shall be subject to Incendrian justice. Not yours.”

Prince Dane hesitates, and for the first time, he looks directly at me. His face has gone a bit pale. We’ve all heard every story of how Incendrian justice is meted out. I watch that fire dance on the king’s palm, and sweat collects between my shoulder blades, making the burn sting.

I know how badly that brand hurt, and I have no doubt the king could do something a thousand times worse.

“I’m not working for Draegonis,” I growl. “Believe what you like, but my orders were—”

“Silence him,” Dane says. This time the guard takes a gauntleted fist and drives it right into my stomach.

I find myself dry heaving over the stone floor of the throne room.

Breath rushes in my ears again, and I can’t focus on anything at all.

Voices are speaking, but nothing is clear until I hear Jory.

“If you do this,” she’s saying, her voice low and vicious, “I will never marry you.”

It draws my gaze up, but the king isn’t impressed by her vow.

“You shouldn’t be surprised, Princess. You keep speaking of my brutality.

” His eyes flick over me one more time, dispassionately, and for as warm as his eyes looked in the flickering firelight, they’re bitter and cold now.

“Alliance or not, rest assured, Incendar knows what to do with Draeg spies.”