“Enough, Baroun,” Embriel says. “Danon.Surrenderla ni sa ni thalar nichildren.”?4
I understand a handful of the words, enough to get the gist.
“No!” I start struggling again, through the gray mist dampening me. Through the net of power suppressing me.
“Control her,” Baroun says, voice sharp.
“Rinne, take Numair and Juliette and go,” my brother says.
“I'm not leaving you! I'm not bait.” I turn my bare teeth, my wild anger, on Embriel. “I’ll rip out your throat with my teeth and bathe in your blood. Thal'anfa! Thal'anfa!?5”
The princeling smiles at me, and it’s. . .affectionate. “I know you will try, Anfasse'misha.”?6 His smile fades and he looks at my brother again. “Well?”
“Our mother is dead,” Danon grates, still on his knees, hands locked behind his head. “I'm not leaving my sister alone.”
“Anfa'leshoathnotla anfa'leshsister. La akra sovva, sa imra malar'qeth. Imra talesh ni la eld'nash afa sa nichildren.”?7
The males stare at each other and I see it in their eyes, though Baroun is at my back. They will hurt me. They'll hurt Numair and Juliette too, to get Danon to do whatever it is they want him to do. I understand about one word in every four or five, but it's enough.
Princeling Embriel,Darkan says, voice icy,requires a reminder that you are not to be touched even to save his own life. He understands well the consequences.
“Don't do it, Dan,” I say. “Whatever it is, don't do it.”
He closes his eyes. “These are not males who bluff, little thorn. The only one strong enough to stop them sleeps.”
Not,Darkan says, frigid,for long.
His shoulders relax a little and he lowers his head enough to signal submission.
“Nothing will happen to her,” Baroun says with curt impatience. “She's a double bloodline. “Ni sovvakeepafaoccupied, sa afa sovva vash'kemad baadafa nira vash'kem afa'lesh.”?8
I don't recognize the words vash'kemad and vash'kem. But whatever he said, it's enough for Danon.
“Lady Aerinne,” Danon says. “This is a command from your Lord. Take your knights and return to Faronne House. Do not return to look for me.”
A guttural noise tears out of my chest. “No. No.”
He takes a deep breath, eyes still closed. “Everything will be fine, little thorn. You will be fine.” His voice turns cold, a cold he’s never used with me. He opens his eyes again and they are steel. “Obey, or I will see you stripped from the House. I have no use for a disobedient Heir.”
I flinch.
“Obey your Lord, Aerinne,” Embriel says in that kind male voice that makes my gums ache and saliva fill my mouth. “We will be forced to kill them, and hurt you else.”
I stare at Danon, conflicted by two instincts. I want to obey the Lord of my House and please my brother, and save Numair and Juliette—I don't for a minute think Embriel and Baroun won't carry out their threat because whatever they want from Danon, it's important enough to use threats to get him under their control—but I also don't want to lose my brother. I don't like him on his knees, and if I go to that dark place, if I set the keening fury in me free, I can save him.
Not without killing everyone else,Darkan says softly.You don't have the control yet. Go, Aerinne. You are not a sister in this, you are the Heir of Faronne, and the last Kuthliele. Your duty is to obey your Lord and protect yourself and your people.
I break. Duty, obedience, they hammer those into us. Responsibility. They hammer that into me. I know they'remanipulating me as they train me. They're creating me into what they want me to be.
But. . .it's the same for every warrior standing silently in this warehouse, awaiting orders.
I nod. A moment later, the net constraining me drops and Baroun steps back, removing his blade. Numair is at my side in a second, grabbing my upper arms and dragging me to my feet and back. He's stronger, and he knows I hover on the hair edge of disobeying Danon.
“They have Juliette,” Numair growls in my ear. “She's a strong warrior and unmated. What if one of the Montague decides to keep her?”
It's happened before. Taking mates on the field of a battle is a time honored tradition. Those are the best options, after all. They survived, proving their strength. And there's the added bonus of rubbing their capture in your enemy's face.
I let him drag me away, my gaze never leaving Danon's. I let them take me away from my brother, leave him in that cold warehouse on his knees in front of traitors. Numair and I take Juliette home, and it doesn't occur to me until later how neatly he manipulated me. I'll forgive him. This time.
