Cenric went rigid at her side.Immediately, he took stock of Ovrek, but the king stood beside him, continuing his speech.
The doors of the hall had been open earlier, but were now shut.Reaching out with her power, Brynn felt figures at the far end, dozens and dozens of bodies swarming the other side of the entrance.“No.”
“Brynn?”Cenric straightened, picking up on her distress.
“We have to get out!”Brynn sprang to her feet, drawing power to herself in a rush.
The moment she did, every eye in the hall went to her.
Ovrek fell silent, glaring at Brynn.
With an icy wash of realization, Brynn saw that she was the center of the entire hall’s attention.
“In my country,” Ovrek growled, slipping into Hyldish, “one does not speak when a king—”
Cenric rose between her and his old mentor.He faced Ovrek and said something loud in Valdari.
Ovrek was taller and loomed over Cenric.The king rumbled something low, fists clenching as he visibly fought to rein in his temper.
Cenric was unfazed, shouting something back.
At the far end of the hall, two men who appeared to be warriors reached the doors.They pushed, jostled, then one of them slammed into the wood.
There was a moment of stunned silence where the only noise in the room was the sound of the two men trying in vain to open the doors.Brynn saw her own dawning horror wash over every other face in the room.
The doors did not budge.One of the warriors shouted over his shoulder and Brynn didn’t need a translator to understand.They were locked inside.
Cenric’s hand went to his hip, only to grasp air as he remembered there were no weapons inside the hall.Around the room, other men did much the same.
“There are people outside the hall.”Brynn spoke to Cenric, but loud enough that Ovrek and Hróarr could listen if they wanted to.“I think Tullia sent them.”
Cenric caught her hand, his face grim.
“Tullia?”That was Hróarr.“It can’t be.”
“She asked Cenric and I to kill Ovrek before the wine was served,” Brynn said.
“You dare accuse my daughter?”Ovrek demanded.“She would never do this.”
Brynn felt oddly detached in that moment, like she was seeing this whole thing unfold from outside her body.She looked square into the king’s face.“Then who did?”
Ovrek roared a sound like a bear roused from a good winter’s rest.He shouted something to his men around the room.Men leapt up to test the two sets of smaller doors only to find them locked, too.Several men tried to smash through the doors and the wood did splinter, giving way to reveal something solid on the other side.
Not just locked but barricaded.Tullia had been thorough.Just as Brynn had predicted, when she wanted someone dead, she got it right the first time.
It started with the stench of burning pitch.
Brynn met Cenric’s eyes.She had never seen this happen before, but she knew exactly what this was and from the curses of rage and cries of fear around the room, so did everyone else.
The heat in the room intensified.Kindling had been set outside the doors and a dark haze already filtered through the rafters.
In moments, this place would be filled with smoke and flames would be licking inside.They would all be choking to death long before the fire reached them.
Hall burning was a horrifically effective means of murder.
Ovrek sprang over the table, shouting orders.He seemed to be in denial of the situation.When he realized the doors were secured and his magnificent hall was filling with smoke, he let off a great bellow of rage, hands out like claws.It was as if he refused to believe that this was how it ended, that this was how he would die.
Cenric dragged Brynn down, tugging her low to avoid the smoke for as long as they could.“I love you,” he said the words fiercely, like they were an act of defiance.“I am sorry I brought you here to die with me.”
