A Kingdom of Venom and Vows (Stars and Shadows #3)(9)

Sorin gripped a soldier by the collar of his shirt and lifted him close to his face as I approached. His dagger was already in his right hand, and I knew Sorin was seconds away from slicing through the man and taking his life.

But there was something in me that hesitated when the soldier’s familiar eyes flicked back and forth between me and my captain.

“Captain, please.” His voice shook with fear, and I could taste it on my tongue. His terror fueled me because there would be no mercy when it came to Adara.

“Don’t waste your words on me.” I pulled the dagger from my side and twisted it between my black fingers. “You should be praying to the gods now for forgiveness for what you have done.”

The soldier’s eyes widened, and my name left his mouth like a plea once again. “You don’t understand what he’s done. You’re not prepared to fight him.”

Sorin hesitated, his eyes slid to me for only a second, but we both knew we needed to hear what this man had to say. We were unprepared, and any knowledge of what my worthless brother had planned would help us.

But I hated giving this soldier that power.

“And what has he done?” I asked him lazily and watched as his chest rose and fell rapidly under my stare.

I wanted to take my dagger and carve it into his skin. I wanted to force the words from his lips until he had no choice but to tell me everything I wanted to know, but I didn’t want to become the monster that my brother and his queen made me out to be.

The monster they tried to create.

This was my kingdom. My people were the ones being harmed, and they needed to know that I was here to protect them.

“He has death magic.”

I let out a sarcastic laugh and looked bored as I stared down at him. “You think this is something we don’t already know?”

The man shifted, his hands clinging to Sorin’s that was still holding him, and he was trying to buy time to save his life. But there was nothing he could do or say that would save him at this point. He had attacked my kingdom. He had attacked my people after the man he served stole Adara.

“I’ve never seen…” He shook his head rapidly. “I’ve never even heard of a death magic like this before. He has power that cannot be matched.”

“And how did he get this magic?”

“He has sacrificed.” The man looked around us. “He sacrificed the people of his kingdom, of the palace. It is said that when he feeds from the life of his mate, of the Starblessed who was promised, his power grows and shifts.”

“Adara is not his mate,” I snapped, my anger barely leashed.

He stuttered over his next words. “He has his army surrounding the kingdom, but that isn’t all that protects it. He has some sort of enchantment, and no one can get in and no one can get out.”

“What kind of enchantment?”

He shook his head quickly and looked at Sorin before looking back at me. “I don’t know. The only way we’ve been able to get in and out of the kingdom is by him transporting us. Even his soldiers can’t get past the barrier he’s created.”

I heard a crash of metal and looked to my left just in time to see Thalia slam her small dagger into the chest plate of the soldier in front of her before she hit him in the head with the butt of the knife. He fell to the ground, but she was already moving on to the next. “So you have no useful information for me? No way for me to get into the palace?”

“No, Captain. There is no way to get in there. There is no way to get to the Starblessed.”

I rolled my head as his words coiled around me. “I am not your captain. I am the crowned prince of the Blood kingdom, and I have no doubt that I will get her back.”

The man’s eyes flashed with fear once again just before Sorin’s dagger sliced across his throat.





CHAPTER 4





ADARA





I wasn’t sure how long I had been in the fae kingdom. I tried not to sleep for fear of what would happen if I did, but my body was exhausted, and I continued to fall in and out of sleep before jerking awake to check my surroundings.

There was no window in my room, and I knew that was no accident. I was Gavril’s prisoner despite him putting me in a fancy room and pretending that I was nothing more than his betrothed. I was his prisoner, and he was going to treat me as such.

I had just dozed off to sleep again when there was a soft knock at the door, and Eletta stepped inside before I could even utter a word. She closed the door behind her, and her gaze raked over me before I saw her wince. She tried to hide it, but I knew. I must’ve looked as awful as I felt.

Giving Evren every bit of my power drained me until my body felt hollow and sluggish. It weighed me down like a stone, leaving me weak and drained.

“You need to eat.” She carried a tray to the bed, and as much as I wanted to refuse her, my stomach growled at the smell of the savory stew in front of me. “And you need to bathe. The queen is requesting you again.”

My fingers tightened around a piece of crusty bread that lay upon the tray, and I allowed my eyes to meet Eletta’s.

“Is the queen too good to see her prisoner in the state they stole her? Should she not see what her son has done to me?”

Eletta swallowed roughly before walking to the small closet and pulling out a soft white dress. She laid it across the front of the bed before running her hand over the skirt to make sure there were no wrinkles.