Arix is suddenly in front of me, his hands on my face.
“I want to see you wearing nothing but those jewels,” he murmurs, running one finger along the necklace.
I attempt a smile, conscious of the many eyes on us. Arix isn’t fooled.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, and I clamp down on my lower lip, fighting back the tears that attempt to spill down my cheeks.
“I need h-help,” I admit. I glance around us, certain I’m being watched. “I need to tell you something.”
Arix’s face goes cold. “That you’re planning my assassination? I already know.”
Chapter Fifteen
Vivian
My mouth drops open, my breath strangled. “What?”
Arix frowns at me. “Every step you’ve taken has been closely watched since you arrived.” He glances around us and smiles as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. “Dry your tears, lovely. Now is not the time.”
His voice is ice, and I can feel my heart breaking. He thinks I’d try to have him killed?
I shake myself. Of course he does. I haven’t yet told him I’ve been playing both sides.
“We will step out,” he says. “And you can tell me what’s wrong.” His voice is laconic, and I shake my head, but his hand is a hard clamp around my wrist.
I follow him numbly, my head spinning. “Wait, Arix,” I say. He glances back, eyebrow raised, and I pull on my arm. “If they know I’ve told you—”
The room explodes.
Arix throws himself on top of me, and we roll beneath one of the tables, barely missing being crushed by a stone pillar as it smashes to the ground.
I cough. “Arix—”
“Fire!”
Screams begin, and I whirl, attempting to get up. Arix sighs, tucking me close. “How predictable.”
“What the hell?”
He glances at me, but it’s as if he doesn’t even see me. Instead, he seems to be waiting. And it hits me.
“You’ve known about this the whole time.”
He smiles, and there’s nothing of the man I love in that smile. “People have been betraying me my entire life. Why should the beautiful female who held my heart in her tiny hand be any different?”
I blink at that, my mouth falling open, but Arix is already pushing me out the other side of the table, toward one of the long scrolls that hang on the walls.
“You don’t understand,” I cough. “I’m on your side.”
Arix ignores me as he pushes the scroll aside and slams his hand on the wall, both of us choking as the air begins to fill with smoke. The wall swings open, and he pulls me through, pushing gently against my lower back.
He closes the wall behind us. “Run,” he orders.
I can’t see much. The passage is dimly lit, and I’m stumbling over my dress. Finally, I lean down and gather it in one hand, both of us sprinting down the hall.
“Where does this lead?”
We come to an intersection, and Arix lets out a low laugh, pulling me to the right. “Everywhere. My men are dealing with the traitors as we speak. Whoever is behind this won’t be able to allow me to get away. You need to run toward the dock.”
“What? I’m not leaving you!”
Arix ignores that, his hand clamped around mine as he encourages me to move faster.
Footsteps sound behind us, and the hair stands up on the back of my neck, terror making my knees weak.
“Of course you’d run into these passageways. So predictable. Sorry, Your Majesty, but there’s no way out,” a voice says, and Arix shoves me roughly behind him as a shadow appears in front of us.
“Bevix,” Arix grinds out. “I must admit, I was expecting Rachiv.”
Bevix smiles. “Rachiv is already dead,” he says, and Arix’s shoulders slump slightly. “We offered you every chance to hand over the throne. Now we’ll take it from you. Just another accident in this cursed palace.”
Arix snorts at that, looking completely unconcerned, and I almost roll my eyes. Trust him to face death with that “I don’t give a fuck” look on his face.
“You were one of my father’s closest advisers,” Arix says, as if discussing the weather.
Bevix shrugs. “You lost the last shred of your support when you began negotiating with the barbarians across the water.”
Arix smiles as screams echo down the corridor. “Those who do support me are currently killing each and every single one of your men. Traitors will never be tolerated in my court. It may have been necessary for me to take my time and appear defenseless and exposed while I discovered just who could be trusted, but you were never going to take my throne. Your numbers are much lower than you believe.”
Bevix bares his teeth. Then he turns to me.
“Don’t fret. There will be room in my bed for you. If you’re very good, perhaps I’ll add a second throne next to mine.”
“Fuck you.”
He frowns. “We’ll need to work on that mouth of yours. I suppose you don’t really need a tongue, do you?”
If he’s attempting to enrage Arix, it’s not working. The king doesn’t even look at me as Bevix draws his sword.
The castle shakes as something explodes, and Bevix’s eyes widen.
I laugh. “You didn’t think you were the only one who knew how to blow shit up, did you? That’s the sound of Arix’s subjects joining the fight. You see, they love him as their king. They don’t want you. No one wants you.”
Arix glances at me, surprise in his eyes. No, I didn’t tell him about this little plan. Sarissa and I scrambled to add to his ranks at the last minute. It turns out that of those who trade at the marketplace, most of his largest and strongest subjects much prefer him as king. And they were only too willing to help us. Somewhere out there, Dexar and his tribe have joined forces with Arix’s men, leaving Rakiz’s warriors to keep the main camp safe from the
