Page 140 of Obsidian Throne

Panic threatened to seize my chest, and I locked it away. It would accomplish nothing, and I needed to keep my head.

Vaguely, I registered Iiro directing a snide comment toward me just as the doors to the room burst open and the very woman in question strode into the room.

And she was…stunning. Covered nearly head to toe in her black armor, a wicked saber in each hand, and her eyes burning with resolve.

But it wasn’t just her that everyone was looking at. The army ofBesklanovvyat her back had their rapt attention. As if on cue, the soldiers from Elk stepped back.

Iiro’s eyes widened with betrayal, but I didn’t give him time to process what was happening before I advanced on his nearest guard. Arès and Danil had drawn their weapons as well, and I had a moment to be grateful for the deeply traditional nature of Socairan laws.

The king couldn’t disarm his dukes. All he could do was bolster himself with guards, but unfortunately for Iiro, nearly half of his were already against him.

I registered the sounds of fighting around me as I cleanly defeated the first guard, then the second. By the time I felled the third, Arès and Danil were taking care of the others.

Iiro drew his weapon, realizing it was down to him and me. I had known on some level that we would wind up here from the moment he betrayed me to Ava, all those years ago.

It really was a shame I couldn’t kill him for that.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR

ROWAN

There was a single beat of silence when we entered the throne room, just before all hell broke loose.

Evander went straight for Iiro on the dais, as we had planned.

Still, I cursed under my breath. I wanted to be fighting at his side, not stuck across the room and separated by our makeshift battlefield.

I told myself he would be fine.

He had to be.

Besides, he wasn’t alone. Arès was at his side with Danil and a few of the soldiers from Crane as they took on what was left of the private guard.

Everyone was moving, dodging a blow or delivering one themselves. The upstairs level was bedlam, and this floor wasn’t faring any better.

Palace soldiers, along with Ram and Wolf were headed straight for us and the handful of Bear soldiers that had been allowed into the meeting.

Lynx and Crane were quick to spring into action, defending our men and fighting off as many of the others as they could, while the other clans seemed to be watching and waiting.

The cowards likely wouldn’t join in the fight until they were more confident in who the victor would be.

That twisting, ominous feeling came roaring back to life as I met the blade of a Ram soldier charging straight for me. Deflecting his cutlass with one saber, I used every ounce of the strength I had to run the other through his stomach.

His eyes widened as he groaned and fell to the floor. I had barely removed my sword from his body before the next man was charging forward. This time, it was a joint effort to take the man down, with Andrei coming in for the kill while I dodged his blade again and again.

The fighting had broken out before the majority of my men could enter the room, leaving far too many of them bottlenecked at the door. If they pushed forward now, they would likely trample us in their quest to stop the other soldiers.

For the moment, they could only slowly wait to join the fight whenever room was made for them.

All around us, cries rang out above the clashing of steel. I could barely see as I pushed and fought my way through the men trying to trample me, desperate to reach the front of the room where Evander was.

An unexpected blade bounced off of my armor with a bruising impact, and I winced. When I spun to face my attacker, I found Andrei instead. His back was to me, and his hand shook as his sword held off the blade of a Wolf soldier.

Then Andrei’s blade wavered, a tremble that seemed to resonate all the way through me.

I flung forward as he lost his grip on his hilt before falling to the ground at his attacker’s feet, but I wasn’t fast enough. Andrei’s hand gripped his abdomen, doing nothing to staunch the steady stream of blood spilling from his gaping wound.

His body hadn’t even hit the ground before I went on the attack. The soldier’s eyes were feral as he drew his sword high in the air once more.