The Kingdom's Crown (Inheritance of Hunger #3) - Kathryn Moon Page 0,106

what it's about, but she's not there now."

"Do you want me to come?" Griffin asked faintly.

I pressed my lips together. Griffin wasn't really unwelcome, but she wouldn't do any good at the meeting. However, if it was between her attendance and Sam backing out, the new King of Thieves would have to be there.

Sam stood stock still under the sunlight, eyes blinking down at his own shadow. I wished Owen had come down to fetch him. I'd been too concerned about Sam working his way into Bryony's Chosen instead of me when he'd been left at the Winter Palace, and I didn't have any kind of relationship with the man. Owen was every bit as brotherly with Sam as he was with any of us. He would've been able to soothe him where I couldn't.

"No," Sam whispered.

I held my breath, wondering if it was a refusal to come or just turning Griffin down on her offer.

"No," he repeated, with more strength. "No, I can manage. What can she do, really?"

"Nothing. Bryony's tiger almost ate her. I don't think Camellia would dare with Bryony in the way," I said.

Sam looked up at that, his eyes a little brighter, lips quirking. "And Atticus will be there."

I nodded, glancing to Griffin, "You'll still—"

"Bryony almost ate me too. I also wouldn't dare defy her," Griffin said dryly.

She definitely would, but I had a feeling Sam's excitement to see his former fellow Chosen outweighed any of Griffin's disinclination to help.

"All right," Sam said. He didn't look prepared, his shoulders were still hunched, gaze still skittish, but when I turned back to the doors, I could hear him following.

"We'll come back this way," I called over my shoulder, but Griffin was gone and there was a hawk swooping overhead to perch on the ledge of the castle walls.

The meeting was being held in the council chambers, which was closer to this part of the castle than Bryony's suite.

"What do I need to say?" Sam whispered, following down the kitchen halls to the side staircase that would take us up into the castle proper.

"Only the truth, all of it," I said, glancing back at him. "Hiding your second nature won't matter in a few hours anyway."

Sam nodded jerkily. He looked a little green, but he'd never struck me as an especially solid fellow. I wondered what he was like before Camellia had spat him back out like a cat who'd lost interest in the mouse she'd caught. Or what he would be like now if it was Bryony's choosing ceremony he'd been selected at.

We reached the dark stone hall of the council chambers, the sound of chains clinking ahead of us.

"Atticus!" Sam whispered behind me.

Atticus Darby was escorted between Cresswell and Head Guard Amos, his head down, but maybe his second nature gave him sharp hearing because his head shot up, eyes locking over my shoulder immediately. A grim smile took over his mouth, not happiness but a kind of relief. His wrists were locked together, legs chained just enough for him to walk, and I knew it was more for appearance's sake than any threat Atticus really posed.

"What happened?" Sam whispered.

"He tried to kill Camellia," I said, adding at the other man's gasp, "Head Guard Amos didn't want to set his execution until he knew why, and we've been delaying it since."

"He always said…" But Sam fell quiet as we met the others at the door.

"It's good to see you again, although I'm sorry you had to return for this," Atticus said to Sam.

"Maybe it will be worth it," Sam murmured, and Atticus let out a soft scoff as Head Guard Amos opened the door.

A gentle thread of conversation halted as we stepped inside. Lord Thomlinson, Sir Weston, and a few other senior members of the council turned to watch us enter. Bryony was at the other end of the table with her mother, their Chosen waiting calmly behind them, and Prince Holden. The man's bruises on his throat had mostly healed, but there were a few marks left, enough to give credence to his story when it was his turn to speak.

"Bryony, what is this about?" the queen asked, eyeing us with a frown, which grew deeper as her gaze landed on Darby's locked wrists.

Bryony stood slowly from the table, the council members hurrying to take their own seats. "I'm sorry for the abrupt call to speak, but I wanted to gather you all so we might discuss, in relative privacy, the extreme risk Camellia's