Chapter 11 · Black Holy Marks

"Don't let her touch the gate!" Kaiser caught my wrist before I could reach the chain, his fingers locking over the fresh cut in my palm.

A white-hot sting shot up my arm.

"Get off me." I twisted hard. "Your sister is driving straight into our keep."

"I know." His mouth was close to my ear, his breath warm against the side of my neck. "That's why you're staying behind me."

"You don't get to put me behind anything."

"I do when your blood contract is being strangled by a fake holy relic."

That stopped me for half a second.

Only half.

Beyond the iron gate, Aileen's bridal convoy smashed through the outer barricade. Six black horses screamed as they dragged the carriage over broken stone. White ribbons snapped from the wheels. Holy bells clanged from the roof, loud enough to rattle my teeth.

The guards on the wall lifted their crossbows.

Then Varan stepped in front of them.

"Lower those," he ordered.

"Commander, the convoy is hostile," one guard said.

Varan didn't look back. "I said lower them."

The bolts dipped.

Aileen's carriage kept coming.

I pulled against Kaiser again.