“Princess Arabella,” I answered. “First Daughter of Morrighan, and this is Rafe, the emissary of Prince Jaxon of Dalbreck.”

The governor’s smile disappeared. “Enemy swine in the Sanctum?” he said in disbelief.

He glared at Rafe and spit, hitting Rafe’s boots. Rafe started forward, but I stepped between them.

“For someone so new to this position, you have an exceptionally reckless tongue, Governor,” I said. “Be careful, or you may lose it.”

He sputtered with astonishment and looked at Kaden. “You allow your prisoners to speak to you this way?”

“She’s not a prisoner anymore,” one of the nearby soldiers chided.

And that’s when Rafe told Kaden about my new role at the Sanctum.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

KADEN

I threw open the door to the Komizar’s meeting chamber, sending it crashing against the wall. Three brethren standing near him drew their weapons. The Komizar remained seated behind a table piled with maps and charts, and our gazes locked. My chest heaved from my flight through the stable yard and the Sanctum.

My Rahtan brethren kept their daggers gripped in their fists.

“Leave,” the Komizar ordered. They rightfully hesitated. “Leave!” he yelled again.

They reluctantly sheathed their knives. When they closed the door behind them, he stood and walked around to the side of the table and faced me. “So you’ve heard the news? I’ll assume you’re here to offer your congratulations.”

I lunged. I knocked him to the floor, and furniture toppled around us. He pulled my knife from its sheath, but I slammed his hand against the floor, and the knife flew across the room. His other fist caught my jaw, and I fell back, but my knee met his ribs when he came at me again. Glass shattered, papers and maps rained down around us, but my rage finally prevailed, and I pinned him down, holding a shard of his broken lantern to his neck. Blood seeped from my hand as the sharp edge cut into my own flesh.

“You knew! You knew how I felt about her! But everything you already had wasn’t enough! You had to have her too! As soon as I turned my back—”

“Then what are you waiting for?” His eyes were fiercely cold. “Slash my throat. Be done with it.”

The glass shook in my fist. One slash, and I’d be the next Komizar. It had been expected for years, one Assassin after another rising to power. We sealed our own fates, training our successors far too well in their duties. My hand bled across his neck.

His eyes didn’t waver. “That’s right,” he said. “Think carefully. You always do. That’s one thing I’ve always been able to count on with you. Think about all our years together. Where you were when I found you. Think of all the things we’ve worked for. All the things you still want. Is a girl really worth it?”

“And yet you marry her? Make her queen? She must be worth it to you! What happened to all your talk of flabby domestic lives? And royals? Venda doesn’t have royals!”

“Your anger clouds your judgment. Is that what she’s done to you? Poisoned you? My decisions are based solely on what will benefit my countrymen. Where do yours come from?”

Only Lia. For me, Venda hadn’t existed as I flew into this room.

He looked at me calmly, even with jagged glass at his throat. “I could have had you killed the minute you burst through my door. That’s not what I want, Kaden. We have too much history between us. Let’s talk.”

I glared at him, my lungs burning, heated seconds ticking by, the pulse of his neck steady beneath my hand. Only one small vein separated me from Lia. But it was true—he could have set the Rahtan upon me the second I walked through the door. Even as I came through the gates. He could have been ready with his own dagger. We have too much history between us.

I let him up. He threw me a rag to wrap my hand. He surveyed the broken carnage of his study and shook his head.

“You’re the one who brought her here. You’re the one who said she’d be useful to Venda. You were right. And now the clans have welcomed her. To them she’s a sign that the gods have favored Venda. She’s a symbol of old ways and promises. We got more than we bargained for, and now we must use it. We have a long winter ahead of us, and most supplies must go to feed our army. But the fervor of the masses won’t waver if she feeds their superstitions.”

“Why a marriage?” I said bitterly. “There are other ways.”

“It was the clan’s request, brother, not mine. Think. Have I shown any interest in her before now? The clans welcomed her, but some were wary, thinking it could be another trick of the enemy. They wanted evidence of a true commitment on her part. Marriage to their leader has the permanence they desired. I consulted with the Council. They approved it. You question not just my judgment but that of the entire Council?”

I didn’t know what to think. I couldn’t believe the Council would approve this, but without me here, why not? Malich was probably the first to call a yea. And from the day the Meurasi welcomed her, I should have known this could become a possibility. The Meurasi did not welcome outsiders.

“Don’t worry, things won’t change much. I’ve no interest in the girl beyond what she’ll do for our countrymen. You can even keep your pet in your quarters for now if you’re discreet around the clans. They must think the marriage is real.” He paused as he righted the footed oil lamp. “But I must warn you,” he said, turning back to me, “she’s developed a genuine kinship with the clans. When I proposed the marriage, she embraced it. She was eager, even. She saw its worth too.”