Page 33 of What Fury Brings (Wrath and Fury #1)

“I know what you’re thinking,” Obar said.

“You think me mad. Swept up by this place.

But let me tell you something. I was the second-born son of a nobleman in Dyphankar.

I had no purpose. No trade. No land or money to inherit.

When Enadra took me, I was furious. It took years before I realized that I went from having nothing to everything.

“She gave me a purpose. I wasn’t just a second-born son with nothing to do.

I became a husband, a father, a friend to many here in the gymnasium.

More important, though, she gave me love.

It was a shock to come here. To learn the customs and accept them.

But once I did, I was happier than I’d ever been. ”

Sanos narrowed his eyes. “Did Olerra put you up to this?”

Obar laughed. “You’re much like I was, though I was no prince, so I won’t presume to know what you might be giving up to be here.

I lost nothing, save my pride, and gained everything.

” The older man stood. “I came on no one’s orders, Prince.

Just know that I am here, if you seek a friend.

Most of the men here will be too afraid to approach you, because no one wants Glen’s ire.

She wouldn’t dare cross Enadra, however, when my wife is one of the four who holds the princess’s future in her hands. Good day.”

He left Sanos sitting there with more concerns than assurances. The prince pocketed his love letter and stood, suddenly needing movement. He walked aimlessly through the different rooms of the gymnasium.

But no matter where he went, the sweet scent of flowers permeated the air.

The guards left his side once the eunuchs were escorting him from the gymnasium. Without the threat of Glen’s consorts nearby, there was clearly no need of them.

Sanos was excited to go back to his rooms, and when he realized it was because he had those flowers waiting for him, he instantly became irritated.

So engrossed was he that he didn’t notice right away when the eunuchs veered off course.

He was in a section of the palace he didn’t recognize.

When a door was opened and Sanos was shoved inside alone, he didn’t know what to make of it.

“Leave us,” a voice said, and the door behind him shut, taking all light with it.

Sanos turned every which way, looking for the source. He thought he might recognize the tone, but he couldn’t be sure.

A candle lit, revealing the face of Olerra’s cousin.

They were alone in a simple room. There was no window, only two chairs and a small table. They were in little more than a closet.

“Andrastus,” Glenaerys said. “It’s time you and I became better acquainted.”

He kept his face a mask, meeting her gaze, despite the way her men always went submissive when she turned that cold stare on them.

He was in danger but couldn’t show it, somehow knowing that would only make her more feral.

“And what does that entail?” he asked.

She laughed. “Is that anger I hear in your voice? You’re not still upset over the whole beheading thing, are you?

That was… almost a month ago. Besides, you gave me the greatest gift imaginable when Olerra took your place.

I’ve wanted to put my cousin in her place for years.

Let us forget it and be friends instead. ”

Sanos wanted to tell her she could take her offer and shove it up her ass, so he remained silent.

“You’re smart to be wary of me,” she said. “I’m far more dangerous than Olerra; that’s for sure. Olerra could make you withstand all kinds of tortures, but I could bury you in such a way that you’d never be found again. You would simply disappear.”

He held steady, waiting for her to get to the point.

“Nothing to say? No more questions?” she asked.

“I’m sure you’ll tell me when and if you want to.”

“I want my cousin dead.”

Well, that was forthright. “Yes, you attempted that yesterday.”

Glenaerys gritted her teeth. “I lost a lot of loyal women.”

“Aren’t you worried that by telling me this I’ll tell Olerra?”

“As if Olerra doesn’t already know. Besides, who else would believe you over me? Your whole purpose in existing is to please Olerra. You would say or do anything for her.”

Now it was his turn to bare his teeth. “I would not do anything for her. You forget I am not some simple Amarran man.”

Glenaerys smiled, and it was somehow more frightening. “That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear, Prince, which is why I have a proposition for you.”

“My body is off the table,” he said immediately.

She laughed again. “Olerra has had you. I don’t want spoiled goods.”

Sanos didn’t correct her.

“No, Prince, what I want is for you to kill her for me.”

Glenaerys pulled a knife from seemingly nowhere and set it on the table between them. It was nothing special. No gems or other adornments. Simple steel sharpened to a point.

He realized that if he didn’t tell her what she wanted to hear or make a convincing argument, this conversation would end with that knife embedded in his heart. His pulse raced.

“She chains me up at night. There’s no way to get free.”

Glenaerys tilted her head. “Why would she do that?”

He didn’t understand why this interested her. “It makes our nighttime activities easier for her, I suppose.”

Glen’s gaze turned inward. She was silent for a full minute as she thought something through. Finally, she shook her head. “Then you had better earn her trust. In the meantime, you hold on to that.” She nodded at the weapon.

“What if she searches my room?”

“Find a good hiding place. Let’s get something straight, Andrastus.

I couldn’t care less if you died. In fact, your death would make Olerra weaker, but I want her dead even more than that, and I play the long game.

Make no mistake, you are just one tool I’m utilizing.

I have dozens of other plans in place if you fail. ”

“And why would I be motivated to do this for you,” he asked, “after everything?”

“Because if you succeed, I will have you returned to your father. It is the only way you will ever see your home again.”

She didn’t know of his deal with Olerra. He was already bound for home, unless the queen potential had lied on her mother’s ashes.

Still, he played along. “So you assume none of the risk but receive all the rewards, just like with your other assassins.”

“I am a strategist. This is what I do. It’s how I will protect and serve this country.”

No, it was why she was the poorer choice, Sanos knew. She didn’t care to suffer for her people. In fact, she hurt them regularly, starting with her own harem.

“Can’t you procure the keys to my cuffs?” Sanos asked, thinking to use her to aid in his plans of escape. “Might speed up this plan of yours.”

“I could,” she said. “But then Olerra might be warier around you if you strike too soon. You’re more likely to succeed if she trusts you first. Besides, she is a skilled warrior. She could fight you off easily. No, it has to be when you’ve gained her trust.”

Sanos took the knife and tucked it into his waistband.

“Excellent,” Glenaerys said.

Sanos knew full well that Glenaerys had no intention of helping him, whether he did this for her or not. She was self-serving, and he couldn’t imagine anything other than a lie dripping from her lips. She thought him too stupid and inconsequential to see through it.

Still, he felt much better knowing he had a weapon. Whether he’d use it was up to him. These days, he didn’t know if he wanted to stab Olerra or fuck her.

“The eunuchs are waiting for you outside. Don’t disappoint me.”

He felt her watch his ass as he walked away.

His entourage kept straight faces, as though they hadn’t just betrayed Olerra by bringing Sanos to her cousin. They carried on as they always did. Silently. He wondered how Glenaerys had bribed them to do her bidding. Just how deep were her pockets?

They returned him to his room, and Sanos immediately spotted the new vase of flowers.

One petal for every time I’ve thought about you today.

He shook his head and looked around, waiting for the eunuchs to chain him to something. They didn’t move. No, they watched him expectantly, and he realized they were waiting for him to hide the knife.

Sanos swept his gaze over the room, and he immediately noticed the new addition. A massive mirror hung from floor to ceiling along the wall where Olerra had had him hung before fucking him senseless.

His blood heated at the memory, but he quickly looked away before the eunuchs noticed the change in him.

Where to hide his new weapon?

The fireplace was his first thought, but none of the bricks were loose. Then he thought of the mattress or the floorboards. He knew his initial thoughts were likely where she would search first.

And then his eyes fell on the door, the one intended for the next member of Olerra’s harem once she chose one.

He let himself inside. She would have no reason to search this room while it was unoccupied.

No one would come to light fires or turn down the bed.

He buried the knife under ashes in the hearth.

Then he washed his hands in the adjoining washing chamber to his room.

As soon as it was done, the eunuchs trussed him up and went on their way. Sanos’s gaze immediately went back to the mirror. He could see himself reflected in it from the bed. Not only could she watch him, he could watch her as he fuck—

The door opened, and he quickly looked anywhere else, lest she guess the direction of his thoughts.

“Good evening, Prince. Did you like my gift?” Her voice was warm and sultry.

He took too long to answer, wondering if she meant the mirror or the flowers.

“They’re… unnecessary.”

“You don’t like flowers?” She seemed genuinely disappointed by that.

“I didn’t say that. Only that I don’t need flowers.”

“Nobody needs flowers. Do you enjoy them?”

He finally looked at her, really looked at her, and did a double take. “What happened to you?”

She cracked her neck from side to side. “I had a few bouts with some of my soldiers. Don’t worry. I won them all.”

She was covered in scratches and a few bruises, though these weren’t nearly so bad as when she’d taken a beating from Glenaerys. She looked more lively today, not less so. Still, he didn’t like the sight of her injuries. How they looked painful. How could she be in such good spirits?

“Fear not, Prince, you should see my captains. This is what women do. We challenge and test ourselves.”

Only the wild women here. He’d never seen women fight before he came to this backward country.

Olerra strode closer to the bed, and he found himself holding his breath for some reason. As she peered down at him, he willed his cock not to react.

“That doesn’t look terribly comfortable,” she said.

“Forced to sleep in one position all night long? It isn’t.”

“Let’s see what I can do about that.” She unlatched his wrists from each bedpost and brought his hands together above his head, where she reattached each separate manacle to a chain on the wall.

Then she undid his ankles from the bedposts, discarded one of the shackles, and chained his feet together instead. “How is that?”

Sanos tried rolling over and found that the chain in the wall rotated in place. He could easily get to his stomach or side to change positions in the night.

“Much better. Thank you,” he said.

“Tomorrow I was thinking we could spend some time getting to know each other better. I’ve spent all this time trying to show you my country and my people, but I realize that I haven’t told you nearly enough about me. What do you think?”

He was surprised to find she was asking him his opinion. He could answer any way he liked, and he knew she would respect the decision. Something was… different between them. He shouldn’t like that difference, whatever it was.

“That sounds nice,” he said.

There was a pause, as though she waited for him to say something more. When he didn’t, she said, “Excellent. I’ll see you then. Good night, Prince.”

She left without a backward glance, and he found disappointment taking him over. What had he wanted? For her to touch him? With him chained up and hardly able to move? He shouldn’t be so titillated by the thought.

But he was.

Instead, he was forced to listen through the wall while she used her kit.

Gods above.

His cock rose, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He lay there and listened as her routine met its inevitable conclusion. This time, she screamed his brother’s name when she came.

“Andrastus!”

Nothing could have made his cock soften faster.