To what purpose?
I can't carry a secret like this forever. Every time I'm with him, I’ll wonder if his sword will finally lop off my head. Maybe my death isn’t his goal now, but after knowing about his son? There is no agenda above a father’s. Every second with him will be mental torture.
Then youarebeing punished,is the cruel reply. His voice plucks a wing from my back, tosses it aside.And there is no better. Death is peace. Living is agony.
I swallow.Do you—do you think he knows? And that's why he says nothing? To torment me?
It doesn't matter. You will endure because you must. This burden is the least you will be required to shoulder in your life. If you cannot carry even this small weight, what hope is there for you to rule?
I don't want to rule.
Understand the value of what youwantversus what is inevitable.Another wing ripped away. Merciless. Unavoidable. Final.
How can you even talk like this knowing about the Vow?
The Vow does not concern me. Vows are not insurmountable.
What an about face. I’m speechless.What?
His impatience beats at the inside of my head.I will not repeat myself. We will deal with the issue of the Vow in time. It was poorly worded and barely worth my attention.
Jaw loosening, I let myself digest that extraordinary sentence, unsure if my subconscious is trying to delude me or comfort me. I force myself to ignore the “poorly worded and barely worth my attention” and focus on what's important.
Can you please give me more detail, Darkan? Is it too much to ask of you.
More detail you can use to get yourself in better trouble next time? That kind of detail?
Icepicks in my temples again. “There are things, that if you knew, would begin a chain of events you aren’t ready for.”
I shut my eyes, massaging my head where it hurts.Right,I say slowly, and go back to the subject of Embry.Do you think he knows?
How can he not?
Indeed.
Will you submit?he asks.
When Renaud learns who killed his son and demands recompense, will I submit to his judgment? Allow the executioner's blade to bite into my neck if required to maintain the fragile new peace?
I don't think it was ever my fate to die quietly in my bed,I say.
Will you submit?
It takes me some time to answer.I will. I deserve whatever comes.
But, Darkan, I will make him earn my death.
After all, I Vowed to kill him first.
Darkan laughs, a soft impression of sound that would be chilling if it wasn’t so damn condescending.
Oh, my naïve halfling. Why would hekillyou? Physical death is simple—though not always easy—and for your particular caste, never final.He pauses.He can, however, make you beg for it. That is what you should fear, and defend against.
Evidently it's my own mind I should defend against.
Chapter
Twenty-One
