The Beauty of Darkness - Mary E. Pearson Page 0,131

plan worked out, but as every minute passed and I listened for the sound of the abbey bells ringing, I became more certain that plan had been thwarted too.

My anger spiked. I should have stabbed the Komizar again. Carved him up like a holiday goose, then brought his head back skewered on a sword and showed it to the crowds as proof that I had no love for the tyrant.

“Why did they believe the lies?” I asked. “How could a whole kingdom believe I would marry the Komizar and betray a company of soldiers, including my own brother?”

Gwyneth sighed. “They were cut to the quick,” she said, “grieving and desperate. Thirty-three of their finest young men were dead, and the Chancellor stepped forward and provided them with an easy outlet for their rage—a face and name they knew that had already turned her back on them once. It was easy for them to believe.”

But if I hadn’t run away, I never would have found out about the Komizar’s plans—or the traitors. I’d be blissfully living in another kingdom with Rafe, at least until the Komizar turned his attention toward Dalbreck. And the young Vendans who were barely big enough to lift a sword would get the worst of it all, sacrificial lambs the Komizar would place on the front lines, probably to storm the gates of the city. He would use the children to prick the consciences of Morrighese soldiers. Neither my brothers nor their comrades would ever strike down a child. They would hold their weapons, hesitate, and then the Komizar would move in with his arsenal of destruction.

Pauline gently laid her hand on my thigh. “But not everyone believed the lies. Bryn and Regan didn’t believe a word of it.”

Maybe that was why they were on their way to their deaths now. They had asked too many questions.

* * *

We sat there in the dark, each of us lost to our own thoughts, my hand throbbing in time with my heart, the strange tingle of the cobwebs against my skin running up my arm like a thousand tiny spiders. A kitchen remedy. Something the court physician would never use. Not on his own. The blackness swirled in front of me, and the thousand tiny spiders became a field of golden flowers. A face rose out of them, calm and sure. He never asked me about the gift because he knew I had it. It was what had made him afraid of me all along. She will expose the wicked. And I saw a wide continent of kingdoms, each with their own unique gifts, the face receding, and fields of flowers rippling in the breeze until they became spiders again, resting in my palm.

The door opened, and we were blinded by the sudden light. I heard the Chancellor’s haughty sigh before I saw him.

“Gwyneth,” he said, drawing her name out in exaggerated disappointment, “I thought you were smarter than this.” He clucked his tongue. “Conspiring with enemies.”

Gwyneth shot him a withering stare, and he returned it with a smile. Then his eyes met mine. I got to my feet and limped toward him. He resisted stepping back, not wanting to show any fear. I was, after all, injured, weaponless, and a prisoner. But I saw a brief flicker in his eyes, a heartbeat of doubt. It confirmed he’d read the Song of Venda. She will expose the wicked. What if I did?

He eyed my bloodied bandaged hand. His arrogant sneer returned. I didn’t look so mighty now. I was only the nuisance that had forever plagued him, one with a name he couldn’t quite explain, but I was not a threat. The small doubt that ate at him vanished.

“Don’t do this, Lord Chancellor,” I said. “Don’t kill my brothers.”

A satisfied puff of air escaped his lips. “So that’s what did it, what made you finally run to your father.”

“If my father dies—”

“You mean when your father dies. But I wouldn’t worry, it won’t come as soon as your own death. We need him a little longer—”

“If you surrender now, I will spare your life—”

The back of his hand swung, his jeweled fingers meeting my jaw, and I stumbled into the wall. Gwyneth and Pauline jumped forward. “Stay back!” I ordered.

“You spare my life?” he sneered. “You’re insane.”

I turned to face him again and smiled. “No, Chancellor, I only wanted to give you a chance. Now my obligation to the gods is done.” I briefly fluttered my lashes, as if