Chapter 34 · The Twins Don't Kneel

"Put the crown key down, Sula, or I open Varan's throat."

The elder pressed a black bone knife under Varan's jaw.

A thin red line appeared against Varan's skin. He didn't flinch. His hands were tied behind him, his shoulders bare beneath the torn remains of his coat. Black veins crawled from the crack in his marrow core up his neck.

Kaiser stood three steps away with a blade at his back and six Morton soldiers aiming crossbows at his chest.

Aileen stood beside the elder in a white bridal coat, one hand resting on the old man's shoulder like she already owned the room.

"You always did make an ugly bride," I told her.

Her mouth tightened. "You should be dead."

"I was. It didn't take."

The soldiers shifted. Their boots scraped across the bone floor. Behind them, the elder's array burned in pale blue rings, each line carved with old royal symbols. At its center sat the crown key.

My crown key.

It had been cut from the first king's spine. Black. Smooth. Warm against my palm.