Page 49 of Obsidian Throne

He attacked again, and I deflected from the correct side this time, eliciting another nod.

“How will the lords take me being armed?” I asked, going on the offensive.

His features went cold. “Like their future duke told them to get over it.”

Evander countered my strikes with a frustrating ease. “Politics is one thing, Lemmikki, but I won’t play games with your safety. I’m sure Iiro won’t allow you to carry a weapon in his palace, and Sir Nils will probably take issue, but on the road and while we’re in Bear, there’s no reason for you to go unarmed.”

With that settled, he launched into a true attack. There was something incredibly alluring about the way he held back less and less, always testing the furthest bounds of my capabilities.

It was easy to feel like we could accomplish anything together.

But remembering Iiro, and the Obsidian Throne, and that cursed damned box, I couldn’t help but feel like that belief was the most dangerous of them all.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

ROWAN

We awoke to a pounding on the door.

Evander flew out of bed, wrapping his plush black robe over his bare skin before going to answer. Taras’ voice carried through the room, his tone edged with frustration.

I stumbled out of bed and threw on my own robe before rushing over to them. Taras’ features were tight, and his entire body was wrought with tension.

Evander felt it too. That muscle in his jaw twitched and his hands were clenched into fists at his side.

“What happened?” I stepped up beside him, placing a hand on his arm.

Taras looked at his feet, exhaling slowly.

“A soldier defied my father’s orders,” Evander said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

He nodded his head toward the door, and Taras spun on his heel and left. Evander ran a hand over his face before turning toward me.

“I need to go take care of this,” he said. “There will be a sentencing later this morning. You will need to be there.”

His tone was laced with defeat.

“Of course.” I tried to reassure him, though snippets of the last council meeting came back to mind.

Evander hesitated, not quite meeting my eyes. “You should know, the punishment is carried out at the time of sentencing.”

Flogging.

Would I be able to stand there and watch it happen? Would Evander be the one to deliver the blows?

Meeting his churning gray eyes, I knew I didn’t have a choice. He wouldn’t have told me to come if it wasn’t necessary.

“All right,” I said quietly. “Thank you for warning me.”

Evander nodded, his lips forming a tight line before he pressed a kiss to my forehead. He turned, walking over to the closet. Within moments, he was dressed and striding out the door to meet Taras.

It was still early. The sky was dark and full of stars, but I was wide awake. I climbed up into the window seat behind our bed and stared at the mountains, my mind drifting over them to my family in Lochlann.

Had Avani already been forced to make the kinds of decisions that Evander did, and I had only, as he said, been too preoccupied picking out my next tiara to notice?

A selfish part of me missed that now, but another part rose to the challenge.

Little by little, we were changing things, and someday, I was determined that Evander wouldn’t have to face these things alone.