“My child, you don’t understand. That title is no more; it was given to the protector of the Lady of the Lake.” Lady Emrick hesitated. It was a heavily guarded secret that the lady had died all those years ago. It was a subterfuge Devyn owed his life to – that all the Britons relied upon to protect them from the council and the imperial legions. Killing the Griffin and his son would only have added substance to any rumours of the lady’s death. The Britons had managed to keep it quiet for years, to ensure that knowledge of it never made it as far as the walls. Or so they had thought. I was more convinced than ever that the praetor knew all too well that the Lady of the Lake was dead because he was the one who had killed her.
“The lady is dead, and her line is broken. There is no new female heir to her power,” Lady Morwyn explained gruffly. “With no lady to protect and his oath broken, the Griffin’s life is owed to no one but himself.”
“And this court finds that an Oathbreaker has little use for it himself,” Lord Montgomery said, his lip curling as he spoke.
“His life is owed to me. He is my Griffin.”
I turned my back on the nobles and crossed to Devyn. His intense, dark gaze burned into me as he stood and we locked eyes for a moment before he nodded. My life might still be in danger, but he would not lay his neck bare for the axe if it meant leaving me unprotected. The storm of shouting and speculation was no more than a murmur to us, background noise inside our private bubble.
I turned, my hand taking Devyn’s as I faced the crowd. A deathly hush fell.
Rion Deverell had left the high table and now stood in front of us. He was preternaturally still.
“Your Griffin?” he said tonelessly.
I met the stormy eyes that were the only indication of the emotion swirling inside him. Gideon had made his way onto the floor and stood at his lord’s shoulder, his face stoic, showing no indication that he knew anything.
“My Griffin.”
“I found her,” Devyn said from beside me, his hand squeezing mine as he finally delivered the news to my brother that he had succeeded in the mission he had set out on almost ten years earlier. The mission that had caused him to break the very oath for which he had just been condemmed.
“It’s true, Rion,” Bronwyn added as the wind died in the hall. “He wasn’t sure when we were in Londinium. He’s sure now.”
“How?” Just one word, chipped in ice.
“The bond has returned.”
Deverell’s eyes narrowed.
Gideon stepped forward, his mouth twisted. “I’ve seen it. She has powers. The hounds didn’t drown the way we said; the Severn took them for her. She pulls in more energy than I’ve ever seen before. The air, the water… the earth itself responds to her. “
The blue eyes in front of me locked with mine as he froze. Then his eyes flicked to our interlinked hands.
Suddenly, our hands were wrenched apart as Devyn went flying across the floor as a result of Deverell’s fist connecting with his face.
Gideon reached for the king as he yanked Devyn to his feet in apparent preparation for striking him again. Gideon held Deverell back, whispering in his ear, his muscles bunching as he restrained him. I swear it felt as if the ground shook from the forces contained in that embrace.
Deverell’s eyes cooled, his steely control in place once more as he thrust Devyn away from him before striding out of the hall. People stumbled over one another in their rush to get out of his way.
Llewelyn called for order, and the court consulted with each other as the seconds drew out into minutes. The crowd whispered urgently at the shocking revelation and Devyn was ushered from the court by the guards, who at a nod from Llewelyn escorted him back to his room.
The castle was in turmoil after all the drama of the trial. Oathbreaking was a serious crime here, and not everyone was happy that he had been released, especially following Rion Deverell’s violent reaction.
There were still guards posted outside his door. But were they there to keep Devyn in or others out? Their lord’s nephew had been convicted of oathbreaking and condemned to death, then moments later hailed as the hero who had returned their lady to them against all odds. People needed time to process it. Llewelyn had acted swiftly to remove Devyn, which ensured that the mood didn’t escalate and allowed people time to absorb the news. This also left me a window during which everyone was too busy talking about us to notice us and I slipped away.
I marched purposefully up to Devyn’s door and proceeded to open it without knocking. Surprised by my boldness, the guards were slow to react. One had watched me coming, so had had a little more time to gather his wits and he attempted to block me. But I gave him the most incredulously haughty expression I could dig up and carried straight on through the door before confusion gained the upper hand on his caution. Right now, the repercussions of the revelations had yet to be evaluated and new orders had not as yet been given, so who was he to block me from my sacred protector?
Devyn sat slumped against the far wall as if he had come into the room and, without pausing for breath, found a wall and sunk down against it.
I turned the key in the lock, no doubt to the chagrin of the guards outside, but as they had no way of knowing if this was against the new rules, they didn’t challenge it. After all, I had identified myself as one of the most senior figures in the land. Who were they to challenge anything I did?
“Devyn,” I called, when he failed to look up
