A Baron of Bonds (Conduit of Light #2)

19. Rev

Chapter 19

Rev

I was ready.

I would guess the Queen was not.

In the last sixteen days since I had arrived in her court from Felgren, she was not convinced of my love for the woman she raised who left her castle seven years prior. She refused to see that what I had done was to keep Karus safe, not to deceive the Queen for nefarious purposes.

Queen Rina was possessive of her, wanted control over her life. I knew that now.

Even the way she refused to accept her name from “Ash’Arah” settled into the back of my mind. I knew we would be on dangerous ground as soon as Karus set foot in Hyrithia.

I had tried diplomacy at first, resonating confidence and ease in my words, taught by the man who had caused so much pain and death in this city years before. But Queen Rina was never going to trust me. She would never believe me again—at least not without the help of Karus.

As I gradually released the walls I had created around us, I watched Karus steady herself once more.

She was good at it. I’d seen it many times in her years in Felgren how she’d inhale fully while her neck and back would straighten and an undeniable strength would radiate from her skin as if obstacles to her desires did not exist.

Fuck, I loved her.

She’d told me she didn’t deserve me which I’d decided to write off as exhaustion. I’d get her alone tonight and show her exactly who deserved who.

“That was quite a display of power, Baron Revich.” The Queen’s voice, authoritative yet worn, filled the throne room in the silence of our reveal.

She didn’t know the half of it.

Or, possibly, she guessed the whole of it.

No fewer than twelve of her guards were surrounding us, longswords drawn as if we were a threat to their city and queen.

“I see you have deceived the crown yet again.”

Captain Yarah picked up the broken amethyst band from the mosaic floor and brought it to the dais for the Queen’s inspection.

“I did not deceive you, Your Highness. You made assumptions about amethyst dampening all power from Felgren, and, understandably, I did not correct you.”

Her dark eyes narrowed and she stepped off the dais toward us.

Karus moved in front of me swiftly, letting go of my hand before I could tighten my grip. “I have returned to Hyrithia, Queen Rina, to defend the Baron of Felgren and his actions regarding my health and whereabouts these last seven years. No trial or council of the leaders of Arcaynen will be needed once you have heard what I have come to say.”

“Ash’Arah, my dear, I have no doubt this man has besotted you with his words of flattery and his well-crafted lies, and I?—”

“Karus.” She stepped forward, pushing her way through the drawn swords to reach the Queen as if their sharp edges were a mere nuisance. “My name is Karus and you will address me as such. I have much to tell you and you have much to learn, so I advise we speak privately, Your Majesty.”

The slightest hint of amusement filtered through the guards and pride tore through my chest watching my love demand the respect she deserved.

The Queen lifted her chin, just a few feet away from the young woman she thought to be dead only weeks ago. I admired her strength as well.

“I cannot allow?—”

“ASH!”

A door to the left of the throne room flew open and the Prince stumbled forward. His tunic hung off one shoulder in careless dishevelment, his call slurred, and one of his eyes sporting a blossoming bruise.

Geyrand entered the hall behind him, and I nodded to the man I had grown to like, even if every ounce of me was annoyed he’d ever known Karus at all.

Karus turned and her face lit in a direct beam of pure sunlight as she gasped, “Philius!”

“Leave! All of you! At once!” the Queen demanded and guards sheathed their swords, hustling out of the room one by one. Captain Yarah remained by the Queen.

Karus ran to the Prince and fell to her knees just as he collapsed to the floor in sobs so desolate it hurt to hear them.

“You were d-dead,” he sobbed into her hair and she squeezed him, shushing his cries with whispers I could not hear.

Queen Rina’s gaze met mine. She stepped forward, ignoring her drunken son and his reunion with the woman he loved as a sister. “The Council of Arcaynen will unite in two days’ time, Baron Revich, regardless of what she has to say.”

I nodded, shoving my empty hands into my pockets to tighten in a fist. “I’ll be there to attend it.” I smirked as irritation narrowed her eyes. “You have nothing to fear from me, Your Highness. I only seek peace and to strengthen the ties between Felgren and the great cities of Arcaynen. I have been open and honest with you, and Karus will corroborate the history of the last seven years. I will wait for you to speak to her alone, but then,”—I stepped closer, our eyes meeting with the same determined spirit borne to us through circumstance—“I will not let her out of my sight.”

“If she is any of the same girl I raised, she would never allow it. You really think you can possess her, Revich?”

I snickered and grinned, knowing Karus had no problem feeling a possession of me . “Don’t worry. The feeling’s mutual.”