Chapter 33 · Untitled Chapter

"Put the blade in her hand," the throne commanded. "Then make Rafe Dain cut Helen Vale's heart out."

The blackstone dais shook under our boots.

Rafe stood three steps ahead of me, back straight, shoulders bare beneath the torn remains of his uniform. Silver chains bit into his wrists. Blood ran over his fingers and dripped between the throne's carved roots.

The blade waited in the throne's grip.

Thin. Black. Wet-looking, like someone had pulled it from a vein.

"You want him to kill me?" I asked.

The throne answered from the walls, the floor, and the bones buried beneath it.

"Your anchor blood was stolen. Your life was stolen. Return what belongs to the realm."

Rafe's jaw locked. "She's not a resource."

"You don't get a vote," I snapped.

His gray eyes cut to mine. Cold. Steady. Too steady for a man being ordered to murder the woman tied to his blood pact.

"Neither do you," he said.

The throne lifted the blade from its stone cradle.

Every person in the chamber dropped to one knee.

Everyone except Rafe and me.

Marek Voss stayed standing beside the throne, though his guards had forced him down before the ceremony started.