Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

~ Nerrissa ~I tied my silver hair back with a scrap of clean linen so it would not drag in the damp dirt.Four heavy guards in black iron armor stood along the stone walkway, their hands resting on the hilts of their broadswords. They did not speak, but their golden eyes followed every movement of my hands as I knelt beside a low garden bed."You should not be digging in the soil so early, Nerrissa," Finn said, trotting down the gravel path with a small clay watering pot in his arms. He set the pot down beside my knees and wiped his sweaty forehead on his sleeve. "The council only ended two hours ago. My heart is still beating like a rabbit's.""Working with plants keeps my hands steady," I said softly, using a small wooden spade to loosen the dark soil around a cluster of cinder-lilies. "If I sit inside that room and do nothing, all I can hear is stone cracking."The flowers in the royal garden were unlike anything that grew in the mud of Ashvale. Their stems were thick and black li

~ Nerrissa ~"Hold still, Nerrissa," Finn whispered. He stood on his tiptoes to arrange the dark-iron pins in my hair. "If I drop another pin, the guards in the hall will think we are building a siege engine.""The guards do not care about dropped pins, Finn," I said, offering him a soft smile as I smoothed down the gray linen of my skirt. "They only care if anyone tries to turn the outer door handle.""They could try all day," Finn muttered, tucking a loose strand of my silver-white hair behind my ear. "It has three heavy iron bars dropped across it on the outside. We are locked in tight."I looked across the bedchamber to the wide oak door leading to the public corridor. Two thick dark-iron brackets had been bolted straight into the granite frames early this morning. Massive iron bars now rested across the wood. No servants came in. No messengers delivered parchment. The only way in or out of my quarters was through the tall connecting archway that led directly into Theron's private

~ Theron ~"Answer me, Nerrissa," I said.My voice was not loud, but it cut through the noise of the hall like a dull blade scraping over stone.Beside me, the girl pulled her hands back into the folds of her dress. Her knuckles were white. Her blue-gray eyes looked at the roasted meat, then up at my face. She did not point a finger across the room. She never did. Even with poison sitting two inches from her lips, she kept her chin up and her mouth shut."A kitchen boy brought it," she whispered. Her voice was raspy, dry like autumn grass. "He said it came from the lower pantries.""You are lying," I told her."I am not lying, Your Grace.""You are leaving out the name," I said.I picked up the silver fork from the wood. With one flick of my wrist, I poked the roasted venison. The meat parted. A thick, dark liquid seeped out from the center, pooling in the red gravy. Where the juice hit the white porcelain rim, a sickly gray film separated and floated on top. It smelled like sour copp

~ Nerrissa ~The entire banquet hall was dead silent.Three hundred dragon warlords, nobles, and armored guards stood frozen along the long wooden tables below. Nobody laughed. Nobody clinked a silver cup.Near the stone steps of the high dais, the heavy iron doors still vibrated. Theron did not look at the empty doorway. He did not care that a noble lady had flown away in shame.His molten gold eyes looked only at me.With his right hand, Theron reached past my shoulder to the heavy silver platter resting on the center table. The plate held sweet red mountain plums, fresh figs, and dark purple grapes brought from the southern orchards. His long, calloused fingers picked up a single slice of fresh golden melon. It dripped sweet juice, smelling of summer honey and cold spring water. It was completely clean, far away from the poisoned venison Seraphine had sent to choke my lungs.Theron brought his hand back. He held the fruit less than an inch from my lips."Eat," he commanded.His vo

~ Theron ~The iron latch clicked shut behind Lucien, leaving the sanctuary in complete silence.The room was vast, dark, and cold. Only the dying red coals inside the stone fireplace gave off light, painting the obsidian walls in dull shades of rust and shadow. I stood frozen in the middle of the floor. My hands, still stained with dried red patches from my attempt to wipe the blood from the sheets, hung limp at my sides."Her human body cannot hold this magic much longer, Theron," Lucien had said before I forced him out. "If her power breaks out fully... it will destroy her from the inside."The High Mage's words still rang inside my skull, loud as iron hammers on an anvil.I turned slowly toward the massive bed.Nerrissa lay crumpled in the middle of the white silk mattress. She looked impossibly small, like a broken doll discarded after a battle. Her long silver-white hair spilled across the pillows in tangled, messy waves. Her skin, usually pale as winter snow, was flushed with a