The magic amplified her block.
His wrist shattered with an audible crack.
Instead of only his arm being deflected, his body was thrown back in an uncontrolled spin. He cried out. His feet tangled, his body twisted, and he fell hard against the stone railing.
The sound of his impact echoed thick and wet.
The lord flopped over, onto his back on the bridge, his own blade buried to the hilt in his chest.
His stunned gaze fixed on Isi. Blood spread across his tunic in a dark, growing stain.
His lips moved. “Monster…”
He convulsed once and went still.
Pherin shifted quickly back into a slightly-too-large and thoroughly ruffled minxpip. Wisps of smoke dissipated around her.She fluffed her feathers and glared at the lord with the outraged dignity of a creature who knew she could’ve burned him to a crisp with one blast.
Isi stood frozen, staring at the dead man, her hand still raised in a defensive position, trembling with the aftershock of the power she’d released. The metallic tang of blood filled the air.
I sheathed my sword and stepped over Crestin’s body without looking down.
My bodyguard persona fell away. I wasn’t her hired help. I was her partner. Her lover. The man who would burn this entire realm before I let anyone hurt her.
I grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the body, positioning myself between her and him.
“Isi. Look at me.” My voice came out hard. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, her eyes still wide. “It was so fast. I just reacted.”
I took her face in both hands, forcing her to meet my gaze, to focus on me instead of Lord Crestin cooling on the stone. “Listen to me. He attacked you. I’m your witness. You defended yourself.”
The words were as much for her as for the story we were about to create. She needed to believe it, to internalize the truth of it before the guards arrived and the questions began.
Self-defense. Nothing more. Nothing less.
She nodded, some of the horror fading from her face.
I released her and turned, dropping into a crouch beside Crestin’s body.
The blade’s edge carried a faint, oily sheen that had nothing to do with his wound.
“Bloodbane,” I growled.
The same poison Maddox had used. The conspiracy wasn’t just real, it was right here, wielding blades meant to kill princesses.
Isi’s gaze met mine and the spark of fear there made me want to howl. She knew how close she’d come to dying.
I stood and moved to her side, never turning my back on the darkness surrounding the bridge. Every shadow could hide another assassin. Every rustle of leaves could signal an attack.
I took her trembling hand in mine and squeezed. “We’ll talk about the magic later. Right now, we survive this.”
Her fingers tightened on mine.
I looked into her eyes. “Now, they’ll come to us.”
Understanding flickered across her face.
I released her hand and planted my feet, a king in disguise standing guard over his queen. I drew in a deep, ragged breath that filled my lungs with cool night air and the copper tang of blood.