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Chapter 270: The Cold Grave:
Varek raised his eyes. They were black, depthless, and utterly cold. He held her gaze for a long, silent moment, and the air between them seemed to crackle.“I am sorry,” he said, slowly and distinctly. “I wronged you. It will not happen again.”“Better.”“Is it enough?”“For now.” She let the words hang, then added, in a voice so soft it was almost kind, “Rise, Lord Varek. You look ridiculous on your knees.”He rose. He did not brush off his coat. He stood very straight, his hands at his sides, his cheeks flaming, and said nothing.“I will tell you why I am allowing this to go,” Melissa said, addressing the whole room now, her voice calm and clear and carrying. “Why I have not taken my sister and left. Why I have not torn the walls of this palace down around your ears.”No one answered.“I am allowing it for one reason. One.” She raised a single finger. “I wish to see how this ends. I am curious about the boy. I am curious about the Hand. I am curious about what you are all so afraid
Chapter 269: The day the moon turned Blue:
“Everyone has something to fear.”“Do they?” She smiled again, and the smile was terrible. “Tell me, then. What do I fear?”Varek said nothing.“You do not know. Because you have not troubled to learn.” She took a slow step toward him, her staff clicking against the floor. “That is the trouble with men like you. You study the surface. You catalogue habits, weaknesses, vanities. You never ask what lies beneath.”“I—”“I am going to tell you what lies beneath, Lord Varek. A great deal of anger. A great deal of grief. And a very short temper for those who mock either.” She stopped a pace from him. “You have mocked both tonight.”“I mocked nothing.”“You listened to my sister and I speak of our dead mother and father. You wrote it down. You carried it to your master. You have taken the most private thing I own and turned it into a line item in a ledger.”Varek’s gaze dropped, just for an instant.“I have killed men for less,” Melissa said, very softly.“Enough,” Darius said.He had moved.
Chapter 268: Speak Boldly:
“You are not afraid. A man who is innocent is afraid, because he does not know what is coming. A man who is guilty is calm, because he has already rehearsed every possible outcome.” She smiled slightly. “You have been standing there for three minutes, and you have not once asked what happened to the servant’s face.”Varek’s lips thinned.“Who did that to him, my lord?” Melissa asked, turning to Darius. “Did you not wonder? A man is on his knees, bleeding from his eyes, his nose, his mouth. Did you not think to ask?”“I assumed you had questioned him.”“I did. But Varek did not ask. Because he already knew.”The silence stretched. Garrow shifted his weight. One of the guards at the door cleared his throat nervously and then froze, as though he had made a terrible mistake.“It is a matter of delicacy,” Varek said, finally. His voice remained smooth, but a thread of something hard had entered it. “My lord, if I may speak to you privately—”“No.”“I think it wise—”“I said no.” Darius’s v
Chapter 267: Don't call me a fool!:
Varek’s gaze dropped to the huddled figure. He studied him for a long, measured moment, the way a man examines a stain on a tablecloth.“I do not believe so,” he said.“His name is Pell.”“A common name.”“He serves in the east wing.”“We have many servants.”“He was hiding behind the tapestry in my chamber, listening to me speak. He tells me he was placed there by Captain Garrow Thane, acting on your instruction.”“Ah.” Varek’s expression did not change. “That is a serious accusation.”“It is.”“And a false one.”“Is it?”“Naturally.” He turned toward Darius, spreading his long hands in a gesture of regretful candor. “My lord, I am deeply sorry that this has come to your attention in such a manner. I can only assume the man is confused, or frightened, or has been coached by someone with an interest in sowing discord. I have never given such an order.”“You did not order Captain Thane to watch the Sorceress?”“I ordered Captain Thane to ensure the Sorceress’s safety. A guard outside h
Chapter 266: A servant in distress:
“You cannot.”“I can do anything I please. That is the nature of what you bought.”“I have an agreement with the Hand.”“The Hand has an agreement with you. I have an agreement with no one.” She smiled, thin and cold. “I came here out of curiosity. Curiosity is easily satisfied. Shall I show you how easily?”She turned toward the door.“Wait.”The word was sharp, almost a command. Melissa stopped, her back to him, one hand resting on the carved frame.“Wait,” Darius said again, more quietly. He drew a long breath through his nose. His face had gone pale, and a muscle was jumping in his cheek. “You are asking a very great deal.”“I am asking for a very small thing. Respect.”“Respect is not given at sword’s point.”“It is only given at sword’s point. I learned that long ago.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Will you call him?”For a long moment, Darius stood motionless, caught between the cold calculus of power and the hot pride of a man who had never been commanded in his own house. E
Chapter 265: The Invisible Roads:
“Has she.” Darius’s eyes flicked to Melissa, then back. “How very thorough.”“I do not harm children,” Melissa said. “And I do not leave hostages in the hands of a man who would use them.”“You presume a great deal.”“I presume nothing. I know exactly what threats are made in this palace, and who makes them.”Darius turned away. He walked slowly to the hearth and stood with his back to the room, one hand braced against the marble mantel, his shoulders stiff beneath the crimson robe. The firelight threw his shadow, long and black, across the carpet toward the bed. Lady Ismene watched him, her blue eyes huge and glistening, and then, very carefully, she drew her knees up beneath the coverlet and wrapped her arms around them, making herself small.“Ismene,” Darius said, without turning. “Leave us.”“My lord—”“Now.”She slipped from the bed in a rustle of silk, snatched a shawl from the chair, and hurried across the room, keeping as far from Melissa as the walls allowed. At the door, she
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