Chitchatting with this ass hat was the last thing I wanted to do right now, but I’d do it if it meant those iron gloves got off Krew. “How do you think?”
He tilted his head as he thought about it.
I kept my magic pouring into the king, keeping him immobile. I just needed Keir and Krew. If Krew had enough magic to help me, we might be able to end this, here and now. While I already had the king immobile and distracted. Granted all of parliament being present threw in a ton of variables. There were just too many Enchanted in this room. I had the sneaking suspicion the only reason I still breathed was because I had used the element of surprise to my advantage.
Owen took three tries to get the right key, and then Krew was free. Owen moved right to Keir next.
Please tell me you can use your magic right now,I sent Krew.
Not enough of it. Tell him you were only trying to protect me.
I gave him a slight nod, knowing what that meant. We couldn’t end the king today. If I tried to outright kill the king and failed, I would be tried for treason and killed. Likely slowly. I couldn’t do this without Krew’s magic. But I could talk my way out of this, saying that I was protecting the princes and why.
There was no doubt about it, the king was going to die. But that day was unfortunately not going to be today. And even just the knowledge that I held the king with my power but couldn’t kill him yet made me angrier yet, my magic continuing to flare.
I took one step back off the dais but kept my eyes on the king as I began speaking loud enough for all of parliament to hear. “I think we both know this little show today is beyond a call for clemency. You wished today to display your power, reassert your dominance, and remind anyone in parliament second guessing how powerful you are. And after they stood up for a man, following your own rules about magic being used during parliament sessions, you wanted to remind everyone that you can still control your sons.” I paused long enough to smile. “I wish to remind you, Your Grace, that they are strong too. Despite you. And that they, either of them, will be twice the king you were today.”
“You are Enchanted,” the king simply said, not even sounding all that angry after my well delivered soliloquy.
I felt Krew on one side of me. Keir on the other. Owen at my back.
“I did not wish to harm you, Your Majesty. I did not wish to harm anyone. I only wished to protect the heirs of Wylan from whatever traitorous act was hurting them. I did not realize they needed protecting from their own father.”
“Release me,” he barked. “I would not have truly hurt them.”
Do it.
“You already have, Your Grace.” I made a show of bringing my fingers in one at a time as I brought my hand into a fist, choking out the magic on the king but not on any of the guards. “I felt it.”
My magic may have been gone from the king, but it was still running along my veins, ready for whatever came next. Ready to render him immobile again if need be.
“You are bonded to my son,” the king said, as if still working it all over in his head.
Let’s get out of here. Before he figures out how weak we are.
“I am. I felt through the bond there was something wrong with Prince Krewan. That he was in pain. So I felt for his location and I reacted to protect.”
There was a gasp from behind me, but I didn’t dare turn around to see from which parliament member. “But that would mean...”
The king’s eyes went wide. “Soul bound.” He started shaking his head, his forehead creased.
I squinted at the king, “While I’d love to stay and chat, I am not exactly properly dressed for the occasion. I feared Prince Krewan was at risk of losing his life. Now that I can see both heirs to Wylan are, in fact, alive and well fromany and allthreats,” I deliberately paused, “we will take our leave and let you all carry on what is sure to be an extremely productive joint parliament session.”
The king just kept looking at me. Not murderously like I would have assumed. It must have been the shock. And once the shock wore off, I was sure to be a dead woman walking. Then again, I supposed he couldn’t or wouldn’t punish any of us right here in front of parliament and that was what was saving us. He was trying to save face by looking unbothered. But I had implied to all of the parliament members that the gauntlets on the princes were an act of treason, so that could be another reason he wasn’t using his magic yet.
With a tilt to his head, my magic flared, and I knew he was going to use his magic before I saw it. I placed my hands on either prince’s arm while shoving my leg backward to brush against Owen’s.
The magic shot from his palms with no notice but dissipated around us. And I couldn’t be sure, but I didn’t think it was that strong of a blast of magic either.
“We are done here, Father,” Keir spat out as he turned and gestured for me to walk out.
I turned, hand still in the crook of Krew’s arm as we made our way to the doors.
We were almost free of the throne room when the king spoke out. “Not bad, Jorah of Nerede.”
I tensed and slowly turned, only to look him in the eyes. “It is actually Jorah Collette Demir Valanova. Of Wylan.”
And because I was still absolutely fuming that we couldn’t have just ended his sorry life back there, at the same time I let my hold on the king’s guards fall, I used my magic to slam the throne room doors shut behind us.
