Page 166 of Onyx Cage: Volume II
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
My cousin’s knock woke me from a deep sleep. Three solid raps. Loud. Urgent.
Dread pooled through my veins as I threw on my robe to answer the door. Sure enough, Taras was on the other side, his mouth set in a grim line. His hair and clothes were disheveled in a way that told me he had been pulled from sleep himself in the same manner.
“What is it?” I asked, bracing myself for his answer.
“Late last night, the duke received word of a rebellion.”
Der’mo.
“Samu offered to lead a contingent of soldiers into Boldegu to handle it,” he added.
Handle it. Bitterness coated my tongue. I could only imagine the sick and twisted gratification he found through whatever method he had chosen tohandle it. Of course, Samu had chosen not to alert me. Theaaliowould never risk me mitigating the extremes to which he would go in order to mete out whatever imagined justice my father’s madness called for.
Taras nodded at whatever he saw in my expression.
“Samu took some of the newer recruits with him, and a few didn’t…approve…of his methods. Two wereconvincedtoobey, but another refused. The sentencing has already been scheduled.”
I clenched my teeth, every muscle in my body going rigid with anger.
Rowan stepped up beside me, her delicate hands sliding around my bicep.
“What happened?” she asked anxiously, her voice still gravelly from sleep.
“A soldier defied my father’s orders,” I answered flatly.
It was the easiest explanation, but one I was sure she understood the gist of. With a nod, I dismissed my cousin. I didn’t need to tell him not to bother returning to his rooms. We both knew that sleep was a luxury we would no longer be afforded tonight.
I ran a hand over my face before turning toward my wife. I needed more information. I needed to speak with the other soldiers before Samu terrified them all into submission. Logically, I knew there wasn’t much I would be able to do to salvage this, but I still needed to try.
“I need to go take care of this,” I said evenly, meeting Rowan’s eyes. Moonlight reflected in her pale-green gaze, her brows furrowed in worry. “There will be a sentencing later this morning. You will need to be there.”
“Of course,” she said quickly, taking a small step closer.
She was eager to be supportive now, but how long would that last when she would be forced to watch me punish a man for not being as sadistic as Samu?
“You should know, the punishment is carried out at the time of sentencing,” I said.
She froze, silently processing that unfortunate bit of information. After several stilted heartbeats, she met my eyes once again.
“All right,” she said, her quiet voice echoing through the room. “Thank you for warning me.”
I dipped my chin once before pressing an appreciative kiss to her forehead. After the incident with the Council of Lords, I trusted her to be more reserved this time. But that didn’t mean she would forgive me when this was over.
After quickly changing, I met Taras outside of my father’s study. I barely lifted my hand to knock on the door when it flew open to reveal my stepmother…and her face was stained with tears.
“Der’mo,” my cousin hissed under his breath, and I couldn’t help but return the sentiment.
In all the time I had known her, the closest Ava ever came to an ounce of humanity was the wallowing she did when my father spoke fondly of the woman he had actually loved. Even then, she had never come close totears.
She pushed past me without so much as a muttered insult or curse, and I didn’t bother to stop her, needing to know what had put her in that state.
I steeled myself, taking a measured breath before entering the room and shutting the door behind me.
Shattered glass littered the floor like twinkling stars. All that was left of my father’s prized vodka collection was soaking into the floorboards, while the liquor cart was in pieces in the corner.
My father sat behind his desk using one elbow to prop up his head, while the other gripped his dead brother’s pocket-watch.